I Needed To Run!

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It has been A WEEK. 

Volatile weather, wild swings on the stock market, and 3 trips out to see my parents kept me on my toes. Add to that all those extra work projects I'm involved in. I had to be flexible with my workout schedule and I got it all in except for one run. I'm really leaning into my workouts for stress relief as well as committing to them as 'my time'. I'm going to do my best to not let anything get in the way of that.

The week ended on a high note, though. On Saturday, I had a date with Erica at a sound bath in the city. After that, I met up with the kids for some beers. It's always so great to see them and any time I'm in the city, I do my best to connect!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: trail run

Monday: Strength Training

Tuesday: Fluid running

Wednesday: trail run 9 miles

Thursday: Strength Training

Friday: run

Saturday: run 6 miles, Sound bath with Erica

We were up at the lake on Sunday, and I had hoped to get some miles on the Ice Age Trail. But, alas, it was not meant to be. On Saturday, we went out for lunch. Several hours later, I started to feel off--my tummy was acting up. I never got 'sick' but I had bad pain most of the night. When I got up in the morning, it was pouring rain and 35 degrees. That, coupled with my residual stomach pain, made me DNF my planned run. When we got home, it was 70F! That was so tempting, but no. I had a big week ahead of me, and I needed to rest.

When I woke on Monday, my Oura ring gave me a readiness score of 91 and a sleep score of 95. I was feeling better but not 100%. I went to the gym for my strength class and was glad I did. We started a new 4 week strength cycle! Again, we rotated through 4 different activities. We had 10 minutes to complete each rotation before moving to the next:

-Rotation 1: 4 sets of 8 landmine clean and press per arm. I struggled with this one--it required a level of coordination that I do not possess. It was also very difficult even at the lightest weight (35#).

-Rotation 2: 5 sets x :40 with 1:20 rest of goblet squats (35#)

-Rotation 3: AMRAP ladder drills. These were fun--worked on agility.

-Rotation 4: Slam ball broad jump laps: 30#, 30#, 40#, 50#

Wednesday morning was stormy and pouring rain. A look at the weather radar was not encouraging...until I spotted a break in the rain. Do I risk it and go? The treadmill just wasn't going to give me what I needed, if you know what I mean. So, hoping my timing was right, I donned my Brooks High Point jacket (it's waterproof) and Cascadia GTX (also waterproof), put on my ankle gaters, and off I went to the preserve. It was lightly raining when I got there. There was no thunder, no lightning when I tucked into the woods. I spotted a few deer early on and they just stared at me like the weirdo that I am.

I continued around the woods, slopping through the mud and rain and loving every minute of it. My heart felt light. The birds were singing, and things were greening up. As I wrapped up my run, I reflected on the joy that being in nature gives me. Now more than ever, I need these runs.

Thursday's strength training sesh was another burner. We rotated through 3 different stations:

- Rotation 1: 4 sets of 8 seated dumbbell press (20#) per arm

- Rotation 2: 3x max effort pull-ups. I did 1 set of 5 banded (red) and 2 sets of 5 assisted with SJ. Ooof

- Rotation 3: 4x 10 per side medball (12#) twist throws. Standing with one side facing the wall, we rotated outward with the ball extended and twisted towards the wall, slamming it into the wall, catching it, and repeating. Once I got the hang of these, they were fun! And hard!

We finished up with :20 assault bike sprints doing an E3MOM x15 minutes. Full out effort. HARD!

Saturday was gloomy but dry, so out I headed to the bike path to make up for the run I missed on Friday. I wore my Brooks Hyperion Max--I swear these shoes have extra good juju in them because they made me run fast. My legs weren't having it, but the shoes wouldn't listen, so I pushed myself. And you know what? I'm so glad I did! I ran this 6 miler faster than the Shamrock Shuffle. It made me happy, and it made all the stress from the week evaporate. Sometimes, you get exactly what you need from a run. Isn't it the best?

Off the road...

I've had a lot of quality time with my parents this week:

On the way home from the lake, we stopped by my parents' house to drop off a new pill box that I bought for my mom. Despite having an alarm on her phone, she's still not taking her pills. This new pill box has an alarm that you have to shut off. Of course, it's not guaranteed that she'll take her pills, but I have to do what I can. I also put an AirTag on her car keys in case she gets lost or forgets her phone. I'm tracking her on the Life 360 app.

On Tuesday, I left work early for another trip out to my parents' to accompany them to see a hematologist for my dad. His primary sent him after several years of abnormal blood tests. Most likely it's not bad news, but it was a 'we need to work this thing up' kind of appointment. He's going to have a bone marrow biopsy, and then we'll have more information. 

And on Friday, I skipped my morning run and drove back out to meet with the speech therapist who is doing neurocognitive therapy with my mom to help her with her memory. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about memory--but is this going to help? My parents joined us for my mom's appointment, and I observed this very patient therapist work with my parents on their calendar/planner. My dad is starting to show some signs of memory loss as well, and oh, I left there feeling very overwhelmed. And sad.

After I posted about going to the Integratron with my sister last month, Erica reached out to ask me if I wanted to join her for a sound bath in Chicago. Of course, I said yes! On Saturday, I met her at the yoga studio for the event. Her friend Sapna met us there. Don't laugh, but after the Integratron, I was a little underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful experience. It just wasn't the experience I had in California. But I would definitely do it again. It was also great to see Erica! We discussed planning another run tour and I'm definitely going to make that happen!

Following the sound bath, I met up with my sons and their girlfriends after at a brewpub, where we had a few beers and lots of conversation! I was thrilled to catch up with them. It was just the perfect ending to a very challenging week!

How was your week? Have you been experiencing crazy weather? How do you stay committed to your workouts? 

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.