Recovery week 3

Since it is back to being dark on most of my runs, get ready for some hugely random photos!

Random lab selfie. I so love this sweatshirt color and how soft it is!  Academy 10 bucks:)

I guess I should be careful what I wish for.  If you read my December runfessions, I admitted that I enjoyed being home with my kiddo.  Well, I guess my kiddo must have read that statement as well, because right after getting to my KSU job on Monday, his school called and said he was dry heaving.  POOP!  I needed to get some work done at KSU, plus there had been a huge wreck on east bound 24, which is the main road I commute on.  Luckily daddy was in town still and could go and get him, but I needed to head back as soon as possible to relieve daddy.  Plus, technically he didn't have a fever and had not thrown up at that point, but I honestly did not know if I could argue with the school or not.  I fear that he may have inherited my nervous stomach that comes from my granddaddy.  I had numerous tummy issues growing up and they were pretty much all mentally induced. I really, really hope he doesn't have to go through this like I did, because it does create some anxiety, which compounds the problem.  Anyway, post getting him home, he was completely fine, no fever and no tummy issues.  He ate like a champ and played like nothing was wrong.  My other running partner Robin suggested making home not so much fun when he comes home "sick", so we spent the afternoon doing school stuff, reading books, and not glued to our Ipad or TV cartoons.

I did download ABC mouse and sign up for a subscription and I have to say, why didn't anyone make me do this sooner!!!!!  This is one AWESOME app and money well spent!  I love the games and videos, and while I think a lot of what he is working on right now is a little easy for him, he is still having a ton of fun doing it. I am enjoying it as well as it is teaching me some new ways to approach teaching basic concepts.

Another one of our freezer meal prep dishes.  One of our favs thus far, Asian noodle bowl

Tuesday dawned with me and Mel getting back on our regularly scheduled program.  Our mileage will probably stay low and loose for a few weeks, but I needed to get back on a regular schedule of getting up early and going to bed early.  We had a little bit of a scare and then a laugh.  One of our fellow runners was headed out to a running expo in TX, and he was driving through downtown as we were running through.  He proceeded to hang out his window and yell at us, and our sleep addled brains couldn't figure out who the crazy man was yelling at us.  Of course the dogs went ape sh#t trying to get him, and I of course jumped behind Mel, as I tend to do when scary things happen #doubleblackbelt #myrunningpartnerisaninja.  When we got closer, we realized it was our friend and started laughing, but at first  I was a little scared and worried about who this guy was (mel was ready to kick his ass).  The rest of the run wasn't as fun, although we saw two foxes and ran through the park to see the Christmas lights.  This is the time of year that I don't mind running in the dark because the lights look so beautiful!

Tuesday also kicked off the start of Red Raider's Club Wrestling!  This is our second year participating, and it is wearing andrew out, which is a good thing!  We plan on doing 2 practices a week this year till he needs a break, and then drop back to one.  Not sure how many tournaments he will do other than the home tournament.  I will leave that decision up to him and his desire to compete. 

I really need to set an alarm to move this dude.  I have almost forgot twice now and we just started this gig!

Wednesday ended up being a unintentional rest day.  I had plans of doing strength or doing something, but I ended up being a coach potato instead.  I need to get that motivation back to get back to my strength training for sure! 

Another great freezer meal.  Greek chicken with us adding fresh green beans and sweet potato

Thursday was another easy 4 mile day, and I had a new running partner join me.  She was looking for a group to run with and some motivation to get up, so I told her to join Melly and I.  We had so much fun just talking about life.  She has a kiddo in kindergarten, plus she is a teacher, so I know I am going to enjoy picking her brain.  We were talking about a Christmas lights run like other groups do.  I need to figure out a route that sees the most lights in town and then plan it!  I have noticed other Christmas light's runs donate canned goods or other things so maybe throw in that element as well!

Friday was another unintentional rest day.  Meh.

Saturday was our Girls on the Run 5K.  I plan on writing another blog post about my experience with GOTR, but I will say that I was pretty darn emotional on race day.  Some of the girls in our group have tried really, really hard and have improved SO much.  It has been SO much fun coaching the girls that come every practice with great attitudes and try.  The girls who don't want to be there and have horrible attitudes?  Well I can say I really tried to get them to at least participate and at least love the program and the group, if not the activity of running.  I have been pretty emotional about these  girls and tried my best to figure out how best to motivate them and cheer them up and on, but I feel like I have failed.  I know that sounds so gloom and doom, and I have tried to be super excited about the success of most if not all of the girls, but I am a little bummed.  I hope we get a wrap up with the coordinators of the GOTR group in our area, because I would love to brainstorm on how to better deal with the ones that need that extra bit of motivation that I can't seem to be able to figure out.  To the girls that came every practice and tried hard, I love you and your spirit and I can't wait to see y'all again next fall.  To the others, I hope that my encouragement and silliness and talking and even tough love on those rough days did something for you.  I hope that I was a bright spot in your day even when you told me you hated me.  I hope you found some tools useful and kept them in your toolbox for life and I hope next time you see me, you an at least give me a high five and a smile.

The piece of rebar I tripped on previously.  Evil little thing.

Sunday was long run fun day.  Except Andrew fell asleep super early and I thought meant he was out for the night, but ended up truly being a super long nap.  This meant I was up entertaining him and trying to get him back to sleep till past 11.    This kid.  Anyway, since it is pretty cool in the mornings, I don't have to be up pre sun rise to get mileage to avoid heat, which means I can get a little bit of extra sleep if I need it.  I had a range of miles from 6-8 miles, so I decided the dogs and I would split the difference and do 7.  I had decided I wanted to try and keep my heart rate around 140 so I could identify a pace range that made that condition successful.  While i don't like seeing 12s or higher on my watch 12:20-12:30 seems to be where it is at, so that is going to be my goal from now on.  Of course effort can be determined by many other factors including humidity, so I know that can change, but it is nice to set a guideline to kind of be near.  This has to be working because I have set two PRs recently and I was pretty much in the 12 or higher range all summer. 

It is really nice to be back to a regular plan after some time off. Now I just need to get my rehab exercises, prehab exercises, strength training, and cross training back on track.  All in due time :).  Have a great week y'all!!!!!