Basically the Best Long Run Ever
I’ve had a couple people express horror, astonishment, and concern for my sanity about getting up early on Sunday morning to run eighteen miles. Well, let me explain! In February I’m running a 50 mile race. Although maybe “race” isn’t really the right word. I’ll be making my way 50 miles from point A to point B before the time cutoff. Maybe “event” would be a better word for it, or even better yet, “adventure.” Let’s try this again. In February I’m participating in a 50 mile trail adventure (there, that’s better.) To prepare for it, I’m gradually increasing my long runs. Since the race is a trail race, I run on trails whenever possible. This past Sunday I ran eighteen miles on a trail near my home. I was really worried about the heat (it was in the 70s and 93% humidity when I started), but it turned out to be one of the best long runs I’ve ever had. I got started at 6:30 am and first ran a 10 mile loop (well, actually it was out-and-back, but somehow the trail looks different on the way back so I think of it as a loop.) I had my double hydration vest, so I could carry two bottles. One had water, and one had Tailwind, which is a powder that you mix with water. According to the package, Tailwind has “everything you need.” It has calories, carbohydrates, electrolytes, and the raspberry flavor also has CAFFEINE. Well- I can tell you that somewhere around four or five miles into this run I started to feel AMAZING. Was it the Tailwind? Very, very possible. After 10 miles I ran back to my car to switch out my bottles for cold ones, and went back out for an 8 mile loop. I kept waiting for the heat to get me, but it never did. At one point it even RAINED, just a light sprinkling of cool drops, which is the best thing that can ever happen during a Florida run. I finished the run actually feeling energized, and it wasn’t until after I stopped that I realized “Hey, it’s pretty hot.” I checked the weather and the “feels like” temperature was 89F. HOW DID I NOT FEEL THAT??? I have no idea. I felt awesome. I know it sounds hard, and maybe even unpleasant, but honestly there’s no place I would rather be on a Sunday morning than out on the trail. Do you have any trails near you? If you run, have you ever tried Tailwind?
Weekend Scenes
As much as I miss the days when my kids were little, I have to admit I love the freedom I have now on the weekends. For any of you juggling kids and a job (not to mention housework and all the other obligations we have) just know that IT’S ALL TEMPORARY. My weekends still include some obligations, but this past weekend was fairly typical for me in the stage of life I’m in. To begin with… I work on Saturday mornings. BLARG! But it’s only 9-1, and then the rest of the day is mine. On this Saturday, I came home from work, ate lunch, and then drove my daughter to the flute section “Friendsgiving.” This was the event she was dubious about but felt obligated to attend, and of course it turned out fine. She avoided the girls she doesn’t like and made the best of it. They made bracelets… …ate pizza, and then it turned out that almost everyone brought a dessert. She said they all ended up feeling ill, ha ha. While she was gone, I had a delightful afternoon watching football and reading blogs. I had a furry friend to keep me company. My husband was working all day and evening, and my daughter ate (ahem) at the Friendsgiving, so I was free to just throw together a quick tofu scramble for my dinner. My daughter spent most of the evening in her room, practicing and talking to friends. I puttered around, getting things ready for the next day and went to bed by 10:30 BECAUSE… Sunday morning I got up at 5:30 am for my long run. Sometimes I wonder what normal people do on their days off? I got out to the trail as soon as it was light, and had an incredible 18 mile run. So incredible I’m going to do a whole post on it soon. When I returned home, I found that my daughter was up (sometimes she sleeps REALLY late on the weekends) and my husband had put together her breakfast. Hooray! I heated up my own breakfast (leftover pumpkin pancakes from a few weeks ago) and I don’t know what came over me, but I drank my tea from this: Usually I’m a stickler for waiting until Black Friday to pull out the Christmas mugs, but well… rules are made to be broken, right? After I ate I did some errands- the library… …the grocery store, and I stopped at Starbucks to get my daughter an iced gingerbread latte. Then home for more football watching and blog reading! It was a sad weekend because the Dolphins didn’t play, so I watched the Tampa Bay game. I started to get really sleepy, so I put my head back and just let myself drift off to sleep. I LOVE spontaneous naps like that! Once again I had a furry companion. Funny how Sundays will turn on you. One moment you’re napping on the couch, and the next thing you know it’s time to start dinner, and throw in a load of laundry, and tomorrow is work and school… bleh. I made skillet enchiladas from Vegan Richa for dinner, and it was tasty! We have enough left over for tomorrow’s dinner too, which makes me very happy. Sunday night is all about prepping for the morning- lunch box, finishing laundry, cleaning the kitchen. SIGH! But the weekend was rejuvenating, so I feel ready to face the week again. How was your weekend? Were you able to relax? Header photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- It’s Still Florida
Oh, hello! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown. Every Sunday I link up with my virtual workout buddies, Kim and Deborah, to talk about our workouts for the week. And, I’m doing NaBloPoMo with San and an incredible group of bloggers- 30 blog posts in 30 days- we’re doing it! Here’s how the week played out for me… Monday I started the week with a lovely 4 mile run. So many good things about this run- instead of running entirely in the dark, I started in the dark but the sun rose as I was running. Don’t be telling me we shouldn’t turn the clocks back! I won’t listen. It was 60 degrees for this run, and the humidity was “low” (I mean, low for Florida.) It felt amazing. Tuesday Leg day at the gym! Sled pushes and pulls, squats, deadlifts, tibialis raises, calf raises, and side planks with leg lifts. Wednesday I don’t work on Wednesdays, and I like to do a long run on this day… usually. This week I moved it to Sunday. Instead I took my run to the beach! I didn’t actually run on the sand, but on the road that goes along the ocean. After 4 miles (with some fartleks thrown in) I got in the water- oh yes, this is why we live in Florida! Thursday Strength day at home. Runner’s Touch, squats, Bulgarian split squats, overhead press with dumbbells, and negatives on the pull up bar. In spite of my fantasies about “No Core November” I’ve also been doing some core every day- planks, dead bugs, crunches on my stability ball… the usual. Friday Another 4 mile run. Same deal as Monday- I started in the dark and ended in daylight. Saturday Off! I was able to sleep in until 7:00, then I got up and had a leisurely breakfast before work. After work, I relaxed on the couch with football and blog reading. A really nice day. Except… (cue the ominous music) a heavy blanket of humidity has returned to South Florida, and I hate it. Mainly because… Sunday On tap- 18 mile long run. I’m kind of bummed because running has felt SO GOOD, and now I have to deal with the heat and humidity again. Oh well. I’ll be bringing lots of ice! How was your week? Do you like humidity? –Hahahaha… that was a trick question. No one does.
NaBloPoMo Check-In, Part 1
I’ve decided to revisit my NaBloPoMo theme in parts rather than all at once, because let’s be honest- there are a LOT of blog posts to read every day, and no one needs to be reading a 1000 word post from me about how my month is going. And I’m also baking butterscotch brownies tonight- more on that later! My theme for NaBloPoMo is “Every Day Counts,” and I identified three ways I’ve been known to waste my days, rather than enjoying each one: Comparing what I’m doing to something “better”; letting other people’s negativity bring me down; and setting myself up for future failure by not taking care of myself (i.e. sleeping and eating well.) Let’s take a look at that second one. I’m usually pretty good at not taking things personally. Years of difficult relationships have taught me a few things, and one is, everyone is truly doing the best they can. Of course there are plenty of situations where we certainly wish someone’s best were, ahem, a little bit better, but the truth is, everyone really is doing the best they can with what they have to work with in this moment. So, I’ve been doing well with not letting other people affect my mood, but I did have an interesting situation this week. The day after my daughter found out she made the all-state band on flute, some pretty snarky talk started going around the flute section at school. A “frenemy” informed her that one girl was criticizing her playing (saying she has an “airy” sound) and another girl was saying my daughter was disrespectful to the older students by thinking she was better than them. Why are girls so mean to each other??? Anyway, my daughter was taken aback by this and a little confused about how to proceed. We talked about it a little but didn’t reach any amazing conclusions, and the next day at work I ruminated about the situation for the entire day. I kept thinking about what she should say to these girls, and what I could say to her, and wondering how she was doing at school. Finally I caught myself- HEY! I said I wasn’t going to do this! Right??? That was a great way to waste a day. The comments weren’t even directed at me; I didn’t know the full story; and my daughter was at school handling it in her own way. The truth is she has a pretty thick skin, and probably forgot all about it a lot sooner than I did. Tomorrow the flute section is having a “Friendsgiving.” Oh BOY- that should be fun! My daughter is bringing a poison apple pie— JUST KIDDING, of course. Actually she’s bringing butterscotch brownies. I would have gone with something more seasonal, but it was her request. It’s an old favorite of hers- I just use a blondie recipe and add butterscotch chips. How is your November going so far? Any special challenges this month?