Sanders Saunter 25K week!

borrowed from the Sanders Saunter 2018 FB page

Another week another race. Again as I have said previous, I call them "races", but I am not running all out!  I am excited to try a new to me race again and be back on the Clinton trail system.

handing out lap bracelets to the girls

Monday:  GOTR day/rest day.  We are starting to decide on what group we are doing our service project for and it's a tough compromise.  The girls all had great ideas, but it boils down to what we can do with the money we have and the time we have.  The girls decided to do something for veterans in hospital.  Stay tuned to see what we actually do for these veterans!  I ended up doing one lap total, as Andrew was at practice with us, and he wanted to earn a bracelet.   He had had tummy issues earlier in the day and had been sent home from school,  but seemed fine after a bathroom break.  One lap in, his tummy started bothering him again :(  I hope this isn't some sort of virus as he has a very odd tummy that likes to do odd things periodically.

Tuesday:  5 easy miles.  Took Deuce and Stella out for an easy run.  It was our first feels like below freezing days and it was amazing!  I also did a lunch time cross fit session with coach Erin.  We worked on 5 x 5 with dead lifts at 100 lbs, some banded monster walks (side to side, front and back) and some sets of good mornings with just the bar.  For the WOD I did 15 throw overs of the 40 lb sand bag in which I not only had to throw over the boxes you use for step ups, but also had to try and jump over them to throw the bag back over.  Erin said I could get over them anyway I could, except i couldn't put my butt on the boxes.  I am not a fan of banging my shins on those boxes, so Erin took mercy on me and put a pad on the top.  I also had to do 15 wall ball sit ups in addition to those 15 sand bag throws for 10 minutes.  It was a really great work out and I was pouring sweat at the end!

Wednesday:  Rest day.  Life is about to get very, very busy so I am enjoying my slow days and resting like a boss.

Thursday:  hilly 4 miler.  While I prefer to hit the trails on the gravel these days, I needed some hills and the best way to do that and not drive was to find all the hilly streets on the west side of town and go up and back down them.   Not sure if it was because it was cold or  the fact that i am strengthening all the things, but those hills felt GREAT.  Yes, I said it, the hills felt great!!!!!  I felt strong going up, not out of breath and dying, and my heart rate stayed in a great zone the entire race.  I ended up canceling Cross Fit, because of the snow and the possibility of bad roads.  I don't regret it even if the roads were perfectly fine. You just never know.

Friday:  Rest day.   Pre-race pizza and early bed time for stella and I.

Flat Stella and flat Michelle were ready to rock.  Packet pick up was bright and early and we were headed out around 6 am to get there about an hour before our race started at 8.  I will probably write a separate post about the race so stay tuned.

Saturday:  Race day!  Saunders Saunter 25K at Clinton Lake.  Read my recap here!

Sunday:  Rest day.   When we got back from the race, I was real quick to get in a tub bath as hot as I could stand with some salt.  I was pretty sore and felt pretty beat up.  Kudos to those who do big races on that trail because 15 miles seemed like more than enough for me!  My feet in particular felt super sore.  I soaked for at least 30 minutes.....while my son sat on the toilet and pooped while watching people play mario brothers on youtube.  Sigh.  Such is the life of a mom.  The rest of the day I laid around as much as I could and just rested.  I couldn't really eat because my teeth hurt so bad. YEs, for some odd reason the whole left side of my jaw, top and bottom teeth, hurt so badly that I couldn't chew anything.  Not even soft french fries.  I am not sure what is going on, maybe I was running with my jaw clenched or maybe I was keeping the tailwind liquid in my mouth for too long?  Maybe I need the bottles with straws instead so it doesn't sit in my mouth so long before swallowing?   

Andrew and I just took the day to get some errands run and hang out.  Nothing too strenuous or exciting since hubby was at the chief's game and i was in full recovery mode.  I have a couple of weeks of in between so I am going to use them wisely and rest, recover, and do some strength training!

Have a great weekend and stay warm!!!!