Week 3 Training for the Rocking K trail marathon

Ordering some new shoes this week.  I need some road shoes, as my Bondis are about done with their mileage and usefulness.  I am going to try an ATR version from Hoka, the Stinsons.  They seem to have the same amount of cushion as the Bondis and no rock plate.  The lugs seem aggressive enough to deal with trails, yet not too aggressive for the road/gravel.  I haven't tried my Hoka Torrents again on the trail with the insert in, so stay tuned for that as well!  I am hoping the inserts help and that they can be my dedicated trail shoes and the Stinsons can be my road shoes.

Monday:  Rest day.  Still sore from those dang lunges from Thursday!  OUCH!

Tuesday:  Easy 5 with a few strides thrown in/Cross Fit.  Took a different route thanks to the creeper (see my post from last week about the guy who followed me).  Makes me mad that I have to change up what I do to keep away from craziness.  I also tried out my new jacket that I got from my Mercury Mile box.  It was feels like 21 so I thought it might be cold enough.  Number one, there was only one pocket (a fact I must have missed) and it was barely big enough for my phone and placed on my chest (which I thought was an odd place for it).  I was able to jab my phone most of the way down in there, and yes my phone has a mophie case, but i have found in winter in KS you really need a back up battery because the wind and cold drains cell phone batteries.  The jacket was nice and snug and did ride up a little bit, so had to be pulled down, but I like jackets to be fairly tight.  I did notice when I took the jacket off, that I had several soaked spots with sweat, but I never felt cold and wet.  I would like to try it when we are a little colder for sure as it does seem like a 0 and below kind of jacket.

Cross Fit was fun! I worked on my front squat, but yet again my wrists gave up before my legs did.  Damn wrists!  I tried a wrist wrap and it did help, so coach is going to bring me some for the next time.  For my EMOM, I did shoulder press with dumb bells, kettle bell dead lifts, and air squats.  I tried with each cycle to get more reps in, and it was once again hard but fun!

our Elf peanut.  He isn't very good about finding new spots or being very clever.  Not sure why :)

Wednesday: Rest day. Work two jobs day.  Fun.  Yes, I am still trying to be a scientist sometimes.  I am still taking care of my beetle stocks at KSU, and still dealing with an occasional customer for our genome sequencing/physical mapping.

Thursday:  Easy 5 and Cross Fit.  Again, I tried a different route to avoid creepers and was delighted to see police presence out on my route.  I did a route with a couple of hills, and I really need to do that more!

It was worth each and every calorie!

I also had peanut butter chocolate pie with home made whipped cream at lunch.  Wow.  YUM!  I need to get my nutrition under control, but not today :)  Cross Fit was later and fun as always.  Erin had me work on my hang cleans more to get my elbows up in front rack position, and also had me work shrugs.  For my AMRAP I did 12 hang on the bar/knees up, 12 weighted step ups (12 lbs, 6 per leg), and 12 kettle bell swings (44lbs I think).  After that was all over I had to 300 feet of farmer's carry with one kettle bell, so I had to do 300 feet per side.  My grip was toast by that time so while i felt like the weight was nothing, my hands were done gripping hard metal and I had to give them a break every 100 feet or so. 

Friday:  Rest day.   I really need to coordinate another cross training like getting my bike on the trainer (or Santa needs to bring me a Peloton hint hint).  Since I run and do Cross fit on the same day, I have way too many rest days on my schedule.  Or maybe I need them?  We also got to see our pictures from the Santa Experience.  One word.  MAGICAL! 

Saturday: Easy 5 or long run.  Hubby had to work, but as usual had no clue how long he would be gone.  Kind of hard to plan my long run, so figured I could always pop on the dreadmill if he worked late.  We also had our very first gym Christmas party later on in the day.  He ended up coming home in time for me to eek out a 5 miler outside before we had to get ready.

The dogs were super happy that we got outside as it was cold but gorgeous!  Then home to clean up and head to get some dessert to take to the party.  We brought something naughty and something nice for dessert, some fruit for those counting marcos and some really yummy cookies for those who weren't.  The spread was AMAZING and we both got to play flip cup (me with water, the hubby got the good stuff).  We also had a white elephant gift exchange that had some really awesome gifts!  We brought biofreeze and a hot and cold pack because I figured people could use that.  A cooler of Stella beer and gift cards also were in, but I ended up with some sweat pants.  They actually were cute and a guy got them originally, so I stole them to let him be able to get something else :)

Sunday:  Long run day!  I needed to get to trails and while the weather is nice and I can still drive to trails, I decided to either hit up fancy creek or Clinton.  I sent a FB message to a lady who I ran with a little at Saunders Saunter and she was up for doing a few miles with me and showing me the lay of Clinton Lake.  I feel like I have done enough races out there that things look familiar, but I still am very scared of getting lost.  Enter in miss Mary Ann to the rescue.  She is a long time trail hawk and SUPER nice.  She helped me figure out a nice 4.75 mile loop that took me to the trail head almost every hour, so I could re fuel and not have to carry all of my bottles with me. I still took two bottles just in case, but it was nice to know that I could just take one at a time.  There is also a camp toilet up there which would be nice to use if needed.  The miles just flew by as we talked and got to know each other.  While Stella wanted to herd her dog, the girls got along as Ziva is very laid back and just ignored her being bitchy. 

The trail got softer as the sun came out and warmed everything up and Mary Ann had to leave me around mile 8, but Stella and I got it done and then grabbed some popeyes (chick fil a was closed since it was sunday BOOOOO) and headed back to Wamego.  As predicted, it took me around 4 hours to get 14 miles, and my watch read short, but the mileage of that loop was 4.75 so I ended up probably closer to 14.25 actual miles with 3 loops.  Other than some chaffing between my legs (thanks ill fitting pants) the run was perfect!  PF stayed quiet thanks to new inserts in my torrents and heel cups.  Foot hurt in another spots, but I think I can loosen the laces and get rid of that pain.  

What a great week of running!!  Have a great week and hoping the weather is as nice where you are as it is here!