Springing Forward

For once, the calendar and the weather matched up--it feels like spring! At least what spring feels like in Chicago. Coolish with a tease of a warm day here and there, gusty winds, mud, and rain. But the birds are singing and dive bombing, the squirrels are squirreling, and the deer are out.

The portapotties are not yet out. Sadly.

My favorite part of this time of year is shedding all the layers when I run outside. That also means less laundry! IYKYK. Springtime here can be frustrating--it takes so long to finally come, and then when it does, it's summer... not that I'm complaining...

Weekly Rundown:

Sunday: Trail Sisters Run 8 miles

Monday: auxiliary strength

Tuesday: Fluid running

Wednesday: trail run 6.25 miles

Thursday: auxiliary strength

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: yoga with Adriene

When I woke up Sunday morning, the temperature was 25F and there was a brisk wind out of the east. Local folks know what that means....that wind is coming off Lake Michigan, and even though we live 25 miles from the lake, we feel it. Brrrrr. I consoled myself that since my run was in the woods, the trees would help mitigate the wind. For the most part, it did.

I met up with 5 Trail Sisters at a different preserve this week--I've run there before, but it's been a while. The trails there are all single tracks, built by the local mountain bike club. There are signs with directions the bikes must follow; runners must go in the opposite direction. Almost as soon as we started, we saw a large herd of deer running through the woods. I hoped to see more, but we didn't get so lucky. 

I would NOT want to brush up against this tree, which was next to the trail.
The Seek app identified it as a Honey Locust

We looped around a section of the woods, and when we returned to the starting point, we had completed 4 miles. One of the other women and I wanted more miles, so we continued to another wooded section. We underestimated the length of the trail, though. I would have pushed through (we probably would have gotten about 9 more miles instead of 4!), but my friend wanted to call it a day. So we took a spur path out to the paved trail and ran back to the parking lot--with the wind at our backs!

On Monday, we started the final 4 week cycle of our auxiliary strength training. We had 3 sets of movements and 15 minutes to complete each one. My group started out with the Explosive Power movement, which was 6 laps of broad jumps. I took 90 seconds of rest between each set. The next movement was a Pyramid set of dumbbell bench presses, 8-6-4-2. As the number of reps decreased, the weight increased. I did 25#-30#-35#-40#. Even though I only had to do 2 reps of 40#, I needed our coach to provide me with a little assist on the second lift. Those were heavy! We finished with an Accessory Set of 20 Goblet Lunges (I subbed in goblet squats) (40#KB) x 4 sets. 

I woke up early on Wednesday, feeling achy and stiff. I've been battling an impending cold and was tempted to skip my run, but decided to go and give it a try. I'm so glad I did--how often do we say that when we feel like bailing on a run? It was foggy, and that always keeps things interesting. I also saw a ton of deer, which made me happy! Since I stopped to watch them and take photos, I had a lot of breaks. I went farther than I thought and finished feeling very happy about my adventure!

Thursday's auxiliary strength session followed the same format as Monday's. My group started with Farmers Carries, 2 laps x 6 sets. We had to go HEAVY, and I used 53# kettlebells. The Pyramid sets were dumbbell deadlifts, 8-6-4-2 reps, with increasing weights. I did 45#, 50#, 55#, 60#. Lower than what I did last year, but it felt heavy to me! The Accessory set was 4 sets of barbell strict presses x 1 minute. I used the empty 35# barbell and completed all 4 sets--something I struggled with last year. 

The forecast for Friday morning looked stormy, and I was prepared to do another TM run. However, it was 43°F and foggy, so I opted to run the bike path for the first time since December. My legs felt strong, and I felt like I was flying! For the most part, I had the path to myself, but I did pass a group of my fellow path runners. Some things never change. It felt good to be back out there.

Off the road...

Sunday was my dad's 86th birthday, and we took him out for dinner. My youngest sister was in town, staying with them and working on safety for them. It's an ongoing challenge. I'm glad to have the support of both of my sisters--having aging parents is tough!

We've had a foggy week! On Friday, my son sent me a sunrise photo from the 74th floor of the Sears Tower--yes, he's still working up there. What a view!

How was your week? Are you feeling spring or are you right into summer already? What's your favorite time of year? Mine is fall, but the transition from winter to spring is a close second.

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