Weekly Rundown- I Ran a Race!
Hello! It’s Sunday so of course I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown. I’m also joining San and our fearless and creative NaBLoPoMo Crew for 30 posts, one for each day of November. The week started with some aches and pains, and ended with a race! In between, there was very little running. If you remember, last week my sleep was terrible, I had a mysterious pain in my hip, AND, my foot hurt. Believe it or not, I don’t mention every single ache and pain on this blog. Between work and working out, there’s always something. The outside of my foot had been hurting after every trail run, and I deduced that it was probably from my trail shoes. I hoped that a lot of rest would heal it up before my race on Saturday. Let’s see how that worked out… Monday Leg day at the gym! I did this more out of fear than anything else. I didn’t get to the gym last week, and I knew if I took TWO weeks off, I’d be so sore I wouldn’t be able to sit down the next time I went. Squats, deadlifts, abs, and hip stability exercises. Tuesday Sigh. Instead of running, I did this: 40 long minutes. I don’t like the stairclimber, but I like the endorphins I get from it- ALMOST like running. I followed this up with the abs machines. Wednesday In the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, then spent the rest of the day grieving my loss of faith in humanity. I was going to wait one more day, but in the afternoon I decided a run would be just the thing. 3 miles, and nothing hurt. Victory! Thursday I did this MadFit standing abs and arms workout. I’ve really been neglecting upper body lately! And I did my hip stability exercises. Friday I did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, and that was it. Saturday Race day! This was a race in the same state park where I ran the Dunes 50K two years ago. Luckily no dunes in this one- we ran a a 4.3 mile loop on a trail over and over again. I ran 27 miles! Well. According to my Garmin. My official mileage was 25.8, but let’s not quibble. Let’s just say I ran an ultra and call it a day, ha ha. Part of the discrepancy is due to the fact that I took a wrong turn TWICE and went off course (more details coming in the race recap tomorrow!) Given the fact that my training for this event was sub-par- my longest run was 15 miles- I’m very happy with 27. That’s somewhere between my conservative prediction, and what I was thinking in my wildest dreams (if the weather was great-it wasn’t- and if I were feeling amazing, I had toyed with the idea of running 50K.) Anyway, I’ll happily take 27 miles (or, 25.8- whatever.) I ran this race in my road shoes. It was a little dicey at times, but I think it was a good call, because my foot was fine. Next on the agenda: finding new trail shoes. Sunday On tap- oh, maybe a little 10 mile run. JUST KIDDING. I will obviously be taking today off. I’ll sleep in, eat waffles and enjoy some football. How was your week? Do you have any races coming up?
A Little Joy
Ohboyohboyohboyohboy!!!!! The Starbucks holiday cups are out! It’s one of my favorite days of the season. We need all the cheer we can get right now. Speaking of which… last night was our final high school football game of the season, and we WON, Our team had a perfect season for the first time ever!!! (The regular season, that is- playoff games start next week!) I always sit near the band because I love watching them. Not only do they play (obviously) but they have all sorts of choreographed moves and vocals. They look like they’re having so much fun. At the end of the game, after the teams congratulated each other, the band was still playing and the football team came over and danced. After the week we’ve had, it felt good to see everyone so happy and celebrating together. If you’re reading this on Saturday morning, I’m out running 4.3 mile loops around a trail right now! Maybe I’ll still be running in the afternoon as well. I’ll be back on Sunday for a report and the Weekly Rundown. Happy Saturday! I hope you find a little joy today.
Moving On…
Many of you will be relieved to know that I’m not going to talk about the election for a while. It’s not that I don’t care (I do), or that I’m not still sad (I AM). I just feel like it’s time to lighten up a little. Life goes on, right? Tobia has started a Cool Bloggers Autumn Soup Challenge, and luckily I made one recently that fits perfectly. It’s the Cozy Curry Noodle Soup from Minimalist Baker. It’s cozy! It has noodles! And curry! What’s not to love? If you look at the photo on the website you’ll laugh, because my soup looks nothing like hers. I made it with tofu, and used broccoli instead of bok choy. Also, she knows how to take great food photos and I obviously don’t. But this was delicious, and I’ll make it again. In other news- I’m getting excited about my race on Saturday! To review: last May I recklessly signed up for a 12 hour race. The format is, you run a 4.3 mile loop on a trail, as many times as you can/want to for 12 hours. I had some big hopes and dreams- THEN, I spent the summer battling a mysterious and frustrating calf injury. Sigh. So, I won’t be running for 12 hours. But that’s okay! Here are my new goals for this race: SHOW UP AND HAVE FUN. I should be able to achieve this one. PUSH MYSELF. I’m not going to stop just because it’s hot, or I’m tired. 20 miles seems like a reasonable distance to shoot for. BUT… HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO STOP IF SOMETHING HURTS. This might be the hardest one. I know I won’t want to stop early- but the last thing I need is another injury. Today I stopped at REI for some race fuel, and I got one of these: I’ve never tried this flavor! I feel like it could be super gross, but I just had to get it and see for myself. I AM still the Crazy Pumpkin Lady (although… the December flavors and scents are starting to seem awfully appealing!) Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend? Top photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash
November 6, 2024
Well, it was quite a day. I don’r work on Wednesdays, so I had the luxury to alternate between seeking comfort, trying to distract myself, and crying. I’m still trying to make sense of it all, and I’m still extremely sad. I cried when I saw the election results. I cried when I told my daughter what happened. After I dropped her off at school, I came home, sat on the couch and cried. Then, I got myself together. I made some tea and oatmeal, and sat on the couch with my cat snuggled nearby, reading blogs. Most people (unlike me) had gone ahead with previously scheduled posts, so there wasn’t much talk of the election results, which was very comforting. After a while I took a short nap (because I didn’t sleep much the night before, obviously) and then I sprang into action. On the way to school my daughter had a mini-meltdown, saying she doesn’t have anything to wear. Well- I’m not sure that’s our biggest problem right now, but it IS a problem I can do something about. I headed off to the mall. This was a dangerous excursion, because remember, I live in Florida. It’s not like I’m surrounded by a like-minded community. But I did notice a couple signs I’ve never seen before: Ah, retail therapy. I browsed! I bought crap I didn’t need! I didn’t even bring my own bags. And then I got a Coke Zero from, of all places, Chick Fil-A. I grappled with that for a moment, but they’re the only place in the food court that has it so finally I thought “Just get the damn drink, Jenny. It doesn’t matter.” This was a good diversion- I only had one bad moment. In one of the stores, a woman was talking loudly on her phone. She said ‘Well, we got rid of the democrats, so now we can start fixing things.” Um- did you ever stop to think that maybe not everyone voted the same way you did, and we don’t want to hear that? Oh wait- “Trump supporter” and “compassion” don’t go together (oops, sorry. I’m very sorry! I try to go high when they go low, but I don’t always succeed.) On the way home, I got a text from my son in answer to a message I had sent him earlier: He’s right. Of course, he doesn’t know what will happen during the next four years; no one does. But there are people who this will affect much more than me. I mean, look at me: “Oh no! Trump won the election! Well, I’m off to the mall to buy soap!” I really am privileged (but I’m still extremely sad.) One more thing- I’m so grateful for this blogging community. Of course I have like-minded friends, and I have my sister, but I don’t have a local community to turn to. Thank you, blogger friends! What did you do on Wednesday? Top photo by Simeon Muller on Unsplash