Weekly Rundown- Not Like Other Weeks

Well, it was quite a week!  We had a trip to Tampa, I had an amazing trail adventure, and we ran a race!  Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown.  Let’s get right into it. Sunday 15 mile run!  Sometimes when I set off for a long run I’ll say “I’m going to do X-ish miles, depending on how I feel.”  I’m really glad I didn’t say that this time, because I didn’t feel great at any point during this run.  Nothing hurt (other than my hamstring, which is always a 2 or 3 on a pain scale of 1-10) but it just… wasn’t great.  But I did it!  It was partially on a cross country trail and partially on pavement. Monday I did Day 1 of Caroline Girvan’s “Tempo Week” workouts, which was chest, shoulders and triceps.  Because I knew I would only get to the gym once this week, I considered this my “push” day. Tuesday 4 mile run in the morning… …and then in the afternoon I went to the gym.  Words can’t really express how much I DIDN’T want to go to the gym- my upper body was sore from the Caroline Girvan workout, my quads were sore from the run on Sunday, and I was just tired overall.  If there had been any alternative I would have taken it, but this was my only day.  So I went. I did a combination “pull” and leg day.  It wasn’t the best workout I’ve ever had, but it was good- as always, I was glad I went. Wednesday A quick 3 mile run… and then we blasted off to Tampa!  Woohoo! Thursday No workouts, other than walking all over downtown Tampa and supervising three 14-year-olds.  We were there for the FMEA (Florida Music Educators Association) All-State convention- my daughter and two of her friends played in the middle school band.  They had rehearsals and we also went to the exhibition hall where they could try different instruments, get information about summer camps and colleges, and of course, purchase merch.  One of my favorite moments was when we looked at the 2023 All-State hoodies- the names of all the kids who participated were listed on the back.  The kids were so thrilled to see their names on a hoodie!  My daughter asked “Is $58 too much for a hoodie?”  No, not in this case. Friday After doing MAJOR kid duty on Thursday, I handed those responsibilities over to my husband for the day.  I dropped my daughter at her rehearsal and drove about 30 minutes out of town to an incredible trail.  It was huge and beautiful.  There was a main trail and lots of colorfully-named offshoots.  I quickly realized that the main trail was very runnable while the offshoots were more technical and often had standing water.  I stayed on the main trail for the most part but couldn’t resist taking this detour: and also I ran on “Hogwild” because… well, how could you not?  These trails are used by runners and hikers, but are also for mountain bikers.  The last offshoot I tried was “Techno Pig” which was a mistake!  It had roots, rocks, and was very twisty.  Other than that I would say these trails were 95% runnable. I absolutely loved this run- 10 miles in the most perfect weather you could hope for.  I want to come back and run more sections of this trail. Afterwards, I went back to our hotel and TOOK A BATH.  I haven’t taken a bath in… 5 years?  10 years?  Long, luxurious baths just don’t fit in with my lifestyle, so this was a huge, huge treat.  And then I took a nap. This day is in contention for the Best Day Ever. Saturday My husband and I had signed up for the inaugural FMEA 3K run, which started at 6 am.  Late on Friday a cold front blew through, and we knew it was going to be in the low 40s, and windy.  My husband said “Do we have to do it?”  My son’s response was “What would David Goggins say?” In addition to the “Florida cold” temperatures and wind, it was lightly raining.  But as always, this race was FUN!  I’ve decided the 3K is my new favorite distance.  Or maybe from now on I’ll just do 50Ks and 3Ks, ha ha.  You know how that last mile of the 5K can be so painful?  Just lop off those extra 2Ks!  It felt good to run fast, although I use that word loosely.  But it was fast compared to the trail running I did the day before. My daughter’s concert was at night, and we drove home afterwards.  It’s a four hour drive so we got home very late! Sunday On tap for today… sleeping in, tea, waffles, Dolphins game.  Getting my son ready to leave and bracing myself to say goodbye- he goes back to school tomorrow. It was an amazing week.  I loved being in a different city, with different weather and different people.  (We did miss our cats though.)  This next week will feel very dull- but at least I’ll be able to finish getting the Christmas decorations put away. Have you ever run a 3K race?   Have you ever been to Tampa? – It’s a beautiful city!