Weekly Rundown- A Few New Things
Finally! I truly felt normal this week. After having a reaction to the Covid vaccine (two weeks ago) and then tweaking my leg while running in the pool (last week) this week just felt like a good old, regular week. Phew!!! I did try out some new things though! I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown. Here’s how it went: Monday Day off, as always. Tuesday Three mile run followed by Runner’s Touch exercise. I actually don’t even remember this run so it was clearly nothing out of the ordinary. Wednesday I started the morning with squats and deadlifts. Since I didn’t do any heavy lower body weights last week (thank you, pool running “injury”) it felt good to get back to it this week. After I took my daughter to school I did a five mile run. Two things about this run- I added in some rickety tempo miles (haven’t done speedwork in a while) and also, due to the fact that it’s been getting up into the 90s here and I did this run pretty late, I opted for shorts and just a sports bra, which is my summer uniform. A quick word about this- I don’t run without a shirt because I love the way my stomach looks. As a matter of fact, I would prefer to cover it up. BUT, it’s about 100 times more comfortable to run in the heat with no shirt. If you haven’t done this, I would urge you to try it out this summer. Thursday Day off from running. Upper body weights including pushups and pull-ups. Friday A four mile run where I tried something new. I was pretty sure that my long run on Sunday would be on pavement rather than the trail, so I wanted a softer surface today. I tried running on the grass right next to to sidewalk, and it worked well. I kept thinking “This is great right here, but when I get to the next section I’ll have to switch back to the sidewalk” but the grass was run-able almost the whole way. I would say for the four mile run, only about a quarter mile was done on the pavement. Saturday A three mile run (again on the grass) where I tried out my NEW HYDRATION VEST! I wanted to test it out on a short run before committing to a long run with it. Sunday When I ran to the beach on my birthday (and had my husband pick me up) my son’s reaction was, “What’s the point of running somewhere if you can’t run back?” Grr. The beach is both too close and too far for the perfect long run right now- it’s nine miles away, which is too short for what I want and yet too far- right now- to run there and back. My husband and I concocted a scheme where I drove to the beach and ran back. He rode his bike there and drove the car back. It worked great! I ran a couple miles in the area before starting the nine-mile run back home. The big thing for this run was trying out the Orange Mud HydraQuiver hydration vest! A couple things. It has two little pockets in the front that are perfect for gels, and in the back it has a larger pocket where I put my phone. It was easy to reach back and grab the water bottle while running, but not so easy to get the phone out without taking the whole pack off. That was fine- it was kind of nice to run and not think about trying to take pictures along the way. The two things I was worried about- being too hot or having it bounce- did not happen. That part was great. The problem was… I did chafe. Other than that I loved it, so I’m going to figure out how to make it work. This was a fun eleven mile run! The chafing did not ruin it. I just had that “OUCH” moment when I got in the shower. Anyone have any advice for this? I can’t wear a t-shirt to run in the heat, and reviewers said they wore it with a tank top and didn’t chafe. Maybe my skin will just toughen up??? Anyone else getting hot weather now? We feel like summer has arrived.