So Much Water!

Not only did we have a lot of rain this week, but I also spent a lot of time on the water. I love being on the water, whether I'm in the boat, on a ski, or in my kayak. I was able to do all those things this week!

I also worked on easing my knee back into running--as you might expect, it didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. But I got some good mileage in. The rain didn't keep me inside, although the humidity was off the charts. There was no escaping the water this week!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: trail run 6 miles, kayaking

Monday: auxiliary strength, yoga with Adriene

Tuesday: run 5.7 miles

Wednesday: trail run/walk 7 miles

Thursday: auxiliary strength, yoga with Adriene

Friday: run/walk 5.5 miles

Saturday; waterskiing

I had big plans on Sunday! But first...a trail run. I decided to run the main trail at the forest preserve, hoping for a decently paced 6 miles around the loop. I was also hoping to avoid insects, particularly the black flies, which are so annoying. The insect repellent I use claims to repel them, among other pesky insects. Maybe so, but they continue to buzz my head. I figured I wouldn't see anything interesting on this loop--maybe a deer or two--but it turns out I was wrong. 

I saw all kinds of cool mushrooms along the trail, along with several deer! I even saw the mama deer with one fawn. I saw the other fawn about a half mile away. No photos because this mama did a good job teaching her babies to be afraid of people.  I also saw the sandhill crane family. You may remember my sighting two months ago of the parents taking the chicks for a walk. I was happy to see that the babies survived and are getting big. 

Later that morning, I drove to my hometown for my friend's annual Kayak Krawl. You may remember this from years past. She usually hosts it on the Friday around her birthday. This year it was on a Sunday, and I was so happy that it worked out for me to join her!

The weather forecast wasn't looking good, so a few people canceled, but she still had a good turnout. We paddled down the Fox River, stopping at 3 bars for food and drinks. It was so much fun! 

The skies turned dark as we headed to our last stop, and the thunder rolled in. Yes, we got wet, but we were already wet! I waited for a break in the rain and paddled back to my car to head home. I was exhausted, but very happy about my day!

Monday's auxiliary strength was the same format as last Monday, with different activities: 

Pyramid set: Strict press (barbell) 8-6-4-2 reps: 40#, 45#, 55#, 65#. For fun, I did an extra set to challenge myself: 70#

Accessory set: Good mornings (barbell) 6 x 8: 45#, 50#, 55#, 60# oops, I only did 4 sets lol

Explosive power set: Box jumps. 6 x 3 The PT wanted me to take it easy so as not to anger the knee. I started jumping to a 45# plate, then 2 45# plates. Then she sent me to the box (yay!) and I did 3 jumps to the 16" box; followed by the 20" box. My knee still felt good!

I stayed after class to work on this week's summer challenge, the Life Longevity Challenge. We had 4 'tests' to complete:

Test 1: 5 x 1 minute farmers hold, 75% body weight (total). For me, that was 50# KB in each hand. I completed this exercise.

Test 2: Suitcase (single arm) DL x 50 reps using the same weight as above (50#KB). I saved this for Thursday

Test 3: Get up from the floor 40 times without using hands. I surprised myself by doing this from a cross-legged position without any problems! Exercise complete.

Test 4: Accumulate 3 minutes per leg of single leg balance with eyes closed. I plan to work on this all week.

I was up and out the door at 5:30 on Tuesday to get my run in before work. Just because I wasn't sure how my knee would do, I kept my run to my neighborhood streets. I did 4:1 run/walk intervals--the PT said I didn't walk enough when I talked to her later. She was probably right--my knee was bothering me when I finished the run. When will I learn?

I probably should have gone to the pool on Wednesday to give my knee a rest, but I really wanted to go to the trails, so I could do some exploring. My knee was a little achy, and after 3 miles of run/walk on the gravel trail, I had to stop running. I had a little pity party, but it didn't last long because I saw a mama deer standing guard while her fawn crossed the trail. Not much longer after that, I saw the other mama with her twins munching on some foliage adjacent to the trail. I stopped to watch them, and they stopped to watch me. They didn't run, but one of the fawns stomped its hoof on the ground, as if to scare me off. Eventually, they wandered off into the woods. I also headed into the woods on the single track, where I happily looked for mushrooms. I found some new varieties to add to my 'collection'. I'm full on nerd now. I shared more on my IG if you'd like to nerd out too!

Thursday's auxiliary strength followed the same format as Monday's: 

Pyramid set: Hip thrusts: 8-6-4-2 reps: 135#, 155#, 175#, 195#. Just for fun, I did one more set: 200#. BOOM!

Accessory set: Pullups: 5 rounds x max effort: 5 sets of 5 assisted pull-ups. YES

Explosive power: Bear Hug Carry: 6 x 1 lap: 100# x 4 laps, then I struggled, so I did 50# for the last 2 laps. I know I got in my head for those. I hate heavy bag carries.

After class, I stayed to finish this week's summer challenge, doing the Suitcase (single arm) deadlifts with one 50# KB, 50 reps each arm. I broke it up into 5 sets of 10 on each arm. This was hard, y'all! Even more difficult was the single leg balance with eyes closed, 3 minutes accumulated per leg. I worked on those before class. I actually felt a little queasy when I was done with those.

I woke up to thunderstorms on Friday, but by the time I was ready to head out, the storms had stopped. What to do? Pool running? Treadmill? Or take it outdoors? I didn't want to take a chance on another storm at the pool, so outdoor running it was. I made a decision to do 2:2 run/walk intervals, which made my runner's heart and my knee happy. The humidity was 96%, which felt kind of gross, but I was able to finish my run with 5.5 miles done before I needed to get ready for work. 

Off the road...

We were up early on Saturday and drove to the lake house. The weather was iffy, but we were optimistic that it would improve. We dropped Cocoa off at the house and drove to Baraboo for blueberry picking. We went back to the same blueberry farm that we accidentally found last year. It's early in the season, so there were a lot of green berries on the plants, but plenty of ripe ones, and we ended up with almost 9 pounds of blueberries! I may have sampled a few, and they were yummy! We will freeze most of them for use over the winter. And yes, it rained briefly. 

After we finished, we had lunch at Tumbled Rock Brewery, one of our favorite spots right outside of Devil's Lake State Park. The skies were still cloudy, but we ate outside and enjoyed some of their yummy brews as well. Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and the hubs took me for a ski. The water was rough, so we drove to a secluded bay to find some calm water, where I could ski. It felt good to be on the water! No photo this time. But you all know what it looks like, lol.

How was your week? Did you receive a lot of rain? Chicago got 3 inches of rain from one storm--we did not, thankfully, because we only live 25 miles from downtown. Do you like to be on the water? Have you ever gone blueberry picking?

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