Another Busy Week

Life has been very busy for me this fall, and it doesn't look to slow down anytime soon. I struggled to get my workouts in this week, but I did get a lot of movement in every day. And no, I have not gotten any miles on the Ice Age Trail yet for the Mammoth Challenge. I'm about to remedy that today--if you are reading this on Sunday, I'm in Whitewater earning some miles! I need 45 miles to earn my patch this year, and I have a plan to get it done, even with the limited time I have left in the month. 

It's all good busy, and I'm enjoying it. I just read a quote that resonated with me: "It's better to be busy than to be busy worrying". Being productive, achieving goals, and spending time with family and friends--that's the best way to be busy.

Weekly Rundown:

Sunday: walk 4 miles

Monday: travel to Salt Lake City; 5 mile combo trail/road run 

Tuesday: walk/12,100 steps

Wednesday: walk/8900 steps

Thursday: strength training

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: volunteered at Des Plaines River Trail race

After a very busy weekend, the fatigue was real, so on Sunday, I skipped my run but did go for a walk, just to try to shake off the fatigue and get some fresh air. It really helped! On Monday, I was out the door early for a work trip to Salt Lake City. As the medical provider member of my organization's Zero Suicide Team, I was invited to attend the annual Prevent Youth Suicide Collaborative with my teammates. We had a meet and greet in the evening, but as my plane arrived much earlier, I had some time to kill. Well, you know what I did! I laced up and did some exploring in my running shoes. 

I started by running to the state Capitol building. It is beautiful--it may even rival the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin! At the Capitol was the trail that follows City Creek. I ran down it, hoping to connect to the City Creek Canyon trail, which heads up a mountain. I hadn't considered that I would be at altitude--4600 feet, and I had to stop often to catch my breath. Sadly, when I did get to the trailhead, it was closed for construction! What the what? You know I looked for a way to break in, but clearly the construction company knew this would happen, and there was no way in. Grrrr... I ran back the way I came and enjoyed the downhill on the way back!

After sitting in meetings all Tuesday morning, my teammates and I took a short walk after lunch. I led them up to the Capitol, which gave us a little vert (200 ft) as well. We stopped for a photo and walked back down. Interestingly, our route took us through the Church of Latter Day Saints compound, which was fenced off. There was a large police presence, as well as news reporters and barricades. We learned that it was for the funeral of the church president. You just never know what you'll see on a run--or a walk!

We had a half day meeting on Tuesday, but a few of us got up early to catch the sunrise up high above the city. We had a beautiful view from above. We watched the sky grow lighter, but never saw the sun come up above the mountains--we had to leave to got back to the conference! I'm so happy that we were able to make the most of our short stay in Salt Lake City!

After a great night's sleep--it's so nice to sleep in your own bed-- it was back to the gym on Thursday! We continued with our powerlifting cycle, doing back squats 6 sets of 3 at 90% of our 3 RM and bench presses, 3 at 90% of RM.  For the back squats, I did 6 sets at 115#/ For the chest presses, I did 3 sets at 75# and 3 sets at 80#. 

It was completely dark when I left my house for my Friday morning run. The sky lightened quickly, and I was treated to quite the show! It was a seasonally cool morning, about 50F, and my legs felt strong as I made my way down the path. On the way back, I again ran into my friend Scott, and he pushed the pace for about 1 1/2 miles to the end of the trail. I made him stop once so I could take a photo of the sunrise over the lake. This was the perfect start to my day!

Off the Road...

While most of my time in Salt Lake City was spent in a conference room, we did go out both nights for food and drinks. The second night, we went to Monarca, a Mexican restaurant that apparently the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City frequently dine at. Two of my colleagues watch the show and wanted to go there, hoping to see them. (They weren't there lol). My son and his girlfriend apparently watch the show--who knew?-- and recommended we go there. The food and atmosphere were great! So even if you're not a fan of the show, I'd definitely check it out if you're in SLC.

Unfortunately, I came home to bad news. Because she is continuing to decline, my mom had to retake her neurocognitive driving test. It took her 2 months to schedule the test, and I had to keep nagging her and my dad to do it. No surprise to me, she failed the test and has to turn in her driver's license. She was understandably upset, but what surprised me was my dad's anger. He believes the evaluator (an occupational therapist) and her neurologist 'set her up to fail'. I guess he has to have someone to be angry at, but it was upsetting nonetheless. He is still struggling to accept her decline. We have a therapist coming to the home to talk to him, and it has been helpful, but this was a huge setback. I did speak with the evaluator, who provided me with details of the test. It wasn't pretty, and I'm glad she is no longer driving. One less thing for me to worry about. 

On Saturday, I volunteered at the Des Plaines River Trail Race with my Trail Sisters. This race has 4 distances: 50 miles, 50k, Marathon, and Half-Marathon. We arrived about a half hour before the 50 mile and 50k races were to begin and set up the tables with all the food. We had quite a selection, as you might expect at a trail race, but the marathoners and half marathoners couldn't get their heads around it. We had to keep reminding them that this was a trail race, lol. The races all started and finished at the same place, but started at different times, with the marathon starting at 8 am and the half marathon starting at 9 am. This worked out well for us, as we had runners coming through all the time, the busiest being during the half marathon. The half marathoners turned around 1/4 mile after our aid station, so we saw them coming and going pretty quickly. My shift ended at noon, and by that point, the 50k runners were coming back through. I really enjoyed this experience--being out in nature all morning, with good company, and cheering on the runners--it was just as good as being on the course as a runner. Dare I say I liked it better than being at the Chicago Marathon? It was way less hectic and laid back. I'll do this one again.

How was your week? How busy is too busy? Have you ever been to Salt Lake City? Do you watch the Real Housewives of SLC? Have you volunteered at a trail race?

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