Weekly Rundown- Race Week!
Hello and welcome to the weekly rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah. It was a week of runs, workouts, a little bit of tapering, and a fire in the Everglades. And oh yeah… we won something. Read on to find out what it is! Sunday Ah, what a great day. I ran nine miles on the trails and absolutely loved it. My foot felt fine during the run, and okay for the rest of the day. In order to not keep talking about my foot over and over again, just assume that it still hurts, maybe a little less, and usually not while I’m running. I’m just forging ahead with my running life and will see what happens. Monday Easy day- I did a yoga class, as always on the Peloton app (all classes this week were on Peloton) with my yoga bff, Denis Morton. Tuesday I decided to switch things up a bit since I have a race on Mother’s Day. Instead of a run, I did a heavier lower body strength class. It was Matty Maggiacomo’s 30 minute class, and I used 15 pound dumbbells. I know squats, lunges and deadlifts with 30 pounds isn’t heavy strength, but it’s heavy for me right now. I want to get back into doing this kind of strength work, as opposed to body weight and lighter weights. This is a good, hard class. Followed it up with a Rebecca Kennedy core class- her classes are also hard! Wednesday I did a 3 mile run on slightly sore, very heavy legs- exactly how I wouldn’t want to feel while running a race. That’s why I made sure to do lower body strength early in the week! Followed this run with pull-up work. I did 15 negatives- where I pull myself up using the band, then slip my leg out of the band and lower my whole bodyweight down very, very slowly. So now my lower AND upper body are sore- perfect! Thursday Another yoga flow with Denis and core class with Rebecca. As I was taking my daughter to school I noticed a burning smell, and realized that it was very smoky out west. I figured there must be a fire in the Everglades, and then heard on the radio that lightning struck in the natural area just west of us, WHERE I DO MY TRAIL RUNS, and started a fire. They warned people, especially those with respiratory problems, to stay indoors. Eek. Friday Another 3 mile run, and this one felt much better. The fire was still burning to the west, but luckily the air quality was fine while I ran. We could smell smoke on and off throughout the day and into Saturday, sometimes stronger than others. It must depend on how the wind is blowing. Since I’m liking Matty these days, I decided to do his core class. It was good! I especially liked his description of how to do the bear plank- make sure your back is flat “like you’re balancing three perfect martinis. Don’t spill a drop!” Good cue, Matty! Saturday Another yoga class (yay! I did yoga three times this week) and Matty’s martini core class again. So, today my husband announced that the gym at the school where he works is being redone and they’re getting rid of the old equipment. Unbeknownst to me, he put his name in a drawing and won… a stair stepper. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. First of all, I’m wondering how big it is, but those gym machines are pretty big, right? The second thing I’m wondering is where in the world we’re going to put it. Right now I use my son’s room as my “gym” but I don’t think he’ll be happy if he gets home next week and there’s a huge stair stepper in his room. So, it will have to go in the garage, which obviously is not air conditioned and furthermore is where we keep the cats’ litter boxes. I’m really not sure how this is going to fit into my exercise routine, but I’m slightly excited about it anyway. It’s always good to have options, right? Sunday On tap… a 5 mile race! Although my foot has prevented me from doing any real speedwork for a long time, I’m really going to push myself in this race. I tried to give my legs a break for the later part of this week to set myself up for a good run. It’s not going to be fast, but I want to run as fast as I can right now. Then I’ll take that time and figure out some paces for speedwork moving forward. Race recap coming up on Tuesday! For the rest of the day I’ll be relaxing, reading my book, and drinking tea out of my “Baylor Mom” mug. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who is celebrating!!! Did you do a Mother’s Day race? Do you have a home gym? Would you have room for a large stair stepper?