Weekly Rundown- We Made It!
Hooray! Once again, we made it through a South Florida summer. I didn’t die, or lose my mind and move to Alaska. We had an amazing cool down this week, which lasted for… two whole days. Now we’ve warmed up a bit, but it’s always like that in October. We go back and forth, but 80s are still better than 90s. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Let’s get right into it. Monday It was the eve of our big cool down, and we were treated to temperatures in the 60s early in the morning. Yes, please! I ran 3 miles, and then did a leg day at home. I’ve had to admit that two “heavy” (ahem, heavy for me, that is) leg days at the gym are too much for me now that my long runs are getting longer. I did Runner’s Touch, tibialis and calf raises, Bulgarian split squats, and squats with a 35 pound dumbbell. Since that’s lighter than I squat at the gym, I focused on getting REALLY low, with my butt almost touching the ground. Tuesday Well, we woke up to this: Tragically, this was not a running day for me (but my day was coming!) I did upper body strength at home- I got out the pull up bar right away (before I could talk myself out of it) and did negatives, assisted pull ups with a band, and some extra hanging from the bar (trying to increase my grip strength.) Then overhead dumbbell press and core- deadbugs and planks. I’m making an effort to do core every day this month for “Coretober.” Wednesday Oh yes. A 15 mile run on my favorite trail. Wow. It was upper 50s when I started, and SO MUCH EASIER to run in the cooler, drier weather- now I remember why we live in Florida. I really enjoyed this run. Later in the day, I went to REI and got myself a little something… Thursday Yes! I got the FWD Experience, Altra’s new non-zero drop shoes (they have a 4 mm drop.) I knew beforehand- from watching a YouTube review- that Altra, for some bizarre reason, made the toe box a little less wide for this model (NOOOO! WHY???) If you’re used to Altras, you would think they were kind of narrow. But coming from a traditional shoe they still feel wide. I felt like I was doing them a disservice, taking them out for the first time the day after my long run. My hips felt tight, but my feet felt GREAT. I walked a mile and ran 3 miles, and it was actually a pretty good run. Friday It felt weird that I hadn’t been to the gym all week! It was time for a serious leg day, starting with sled pushes and pulls. Then squats, deadlifts, heel raises, Runner’s Touch, and core. Saturday Second run in the new shoes! It was 65 degrees (as opposed to 90) and this 5 mile run felt great. I hope this won’t be like my last two shoe experiences, where I initially liked them but ended up hating them (Hoka Cliftons and New Balance 880s.) Right now I’m loving these shoes. I also saw a bunch of pretty cool-looking trail shoes at REI… so I’ll be going back to try those on. Sunday On tap for today- sleeping in, pancakes, and watching football. I know- I’m diverging from my usual waffles for one week. Pumpkin pancakes are calling my name! How is your weather? – Last week I was too miserably hot to hear it, but now I’m ready to hear about beautiful fall weather again! Any trail shoe recommendations for me? I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I need a wide toe box.