It's Summer!

It sure felt like summer this week, with the heat, humidity, and storms! Still, I was able to get all my runs in. This time of year sure humbles me when I lace up my running shoes. All the strong running of the spring--POOF!-- is gone. I keep telling myself that these summer miles bring strong runs in the fall. Stay tuned for that!

Weekly Rundown:

Sunday: Trail Sisters run 4 miles

Monday: Yoga with Adriene, strength training

Tuesday: Yoga with Adriene

Wednesday: trail run 7.2 miles

Thursday: strength training

Friday: run 4 miles

Saturday: rest day

I went to both Trail Sisters runs this weekend--one on Saturday and one on Sunday at a different preserve. Ilisa, our leader, decided to add a Saturday run to accommodate the runners who can't run on Sundays. But oddly enough, it's still the same people coming out no matter what day it is. Ilisa has added me to be a co-leader, and in August, she and I will be attending a Trail Sisters Leadership Summit in Colorado. I'm honored and excited to be included. Hopefully, we will get some ideas about attracting more members to our runs.

There were only 3 of us at the trailhead on Sunday morning. It was fairly humid, but not nearly as bad as Saturday. Still, we did 4:1 run/walk intervals. It worked fine for the first 3 miles, but by mile 4, the conditions had taken a toll, and we walked the final mile back to the parking lot.  Acclimation is a process!

On Monday morning, I woke up to a thunderstorm and a really achy body. I wasn't sure I would be able to do the snatches that were on the whiteboard for our strength workout. But after some yoga at home and the really great warm up at the gym, I was pretty loose. We did an E2MOM x 10 rounds of snatches, building to heavy. I struggled with the first couple of lifts, but as my body recognized what I was trying to make it do, and some encouragement from SJ, I was able to build to 55#! It wasn't perfect, but it was my heaviest snatch to date.

We finished up with some spicy accessory work:

4 rounds/15 minutes:

-8/leg weighted) single leg step up (16" box) with leg drive

-seated banded rows to failure

-10 box jumps (16")

-10 chest throws (10#MB) to the wall

It's been a really steamy week! Hoping to get a decent run in before it warmed up, on Wednesday morning, I had my feet on the trail by 6:30 am. It was actually really pleasant for most of my run. As soon as I started running, I came upon a mama deer and her 2 yearlings enjoying a morning dip in one of the ponds off the trail. As soon as they saw me, they ran out of the water, but not before I could get a photo.

I saw quite a few deer on my run and heard lots of birds overhead.  I also saw this angry looking crawfish, which reared up on its hind claws when I approached. I see them every summer! There were a lot of downed trees blocking the trail--I needed to use this tree to take a detour across the creek after I came upon a large fallen tree blocking the trail and much of the surrounding area. 

Thursday's strength workout had us doing heavy cleans. After an extensive warm-up, we did an E2MOM of 10 rounds, building to failure. Once again, I failed at 95#. I just couldn't get under that bar! The camera tells the story, lol. More of the same to come...

Our accessory work was 4 rounds of:

-8-12 pendalay rows (55#)

-:20 battle ropes

-:40 hurdle medley course

After another night of terrible storms, Friday morning was calm and clear. The DOMS were strong, and I was feeling fatigued, so I cut my morning mileage to 4 miles. Even at a slower pace, I struggled with this run and was happy to be done. 

Off the road...

On Thursday, I drove out to my parents' house to fill my mom's pill boxes--believe it or not, no one else will do it-- and to help my dad with his iPhone. My dad has really been struggling with his phone. Among other things, he accidentally calls us multiple times per day. He blames his phone, but he has essential tremor and hits the wrong icons all the time. He didn't want a simpler phone--he likes watching videos on YouTube and taking pictures with his camera, so I did a deep dive and discovered that the iPhone has an option called Adaptive Assistance. It's an interface designed to lighten cognitive load for children, seniors, and anyone else who needs it. And guys, it is amazing! I set it up with my dad, selecting his most used apps, and let him pick the layout. The icons are big and colorful, and for the most part, using the apps once they are open is intuitive. As of this writing, I have not heard from him, so I assume all is going well. 

However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Last week, my dad and sister pressured me into reducing my mom's caregiver hours to 4-6 hours per day, a decision I do not agree with.

Cocoa goes to doggy day care once a month while I have my house cleaned. For Pride Month, they have been having special events on Fridays. This week was a rainbow charcuterie board of vegetables and fruits. Cocoa really hates going there, but I'm pretty sure she enjoyed this!!!

On Saturday, we were up at the lake. No waterskiing due to windy conditions. But it was otherwise beautiful! The hubs and I went strawberry picking and came home with over 17 pounds of strawberries. They are so tasty! He will freeze most of them, and we'll eat them all winter long. 

How was your week? We had some wild weather and lots of severe storms, including tornadoes, around the area. Anyone else? Is the heat and humidity slowing you down? Have you ever gone strawberry picking?  What's your favorite way to eat strawberries?

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