Recovery Week 3: Back in the Swing of Things?

Going to take it easy again this week and just see how it goes.  I am not totally ready to have a nailed down schedule and would like to just go with the flow, but of course my brain kind of likes having exacts.  Going with the flow really isn't my thing, but I am trying to make it more my thing.  Many of the great ultra runners and many of my friends who kick ass regularly just run what distance feels good and what deal feels right. I  want to be more like that!  Heck Courtney D doesn't follow a plan so why not wing it LOL!!!

I do want to back up a little and explain something that confused many and I got questions about, and also give an update.  I posted about my son and his performance anxiety/ bad practice we had on Saturday of last week.  We went to a group practice (we are given keys to the track and the parking lot, so we can go any time as part of our membership fees) to get our car inspected and to get some track time in.  I think Andrew was very, very intimidated by the kids that were practicing and it went to his head.  When he finally got out on the track, he puttered around and wouldn't go much above idle.

Anyway, we went back Sunday, as we believe the old adage, if you fall off of a horse, get back on and ride again.  We had the track to ourselves for a while and then shared it with another novice kiddo.  He was back to his normal self, driving a good speed for him and even being a little competitive again.  My concern with his "slow driving" is not that we want to win or we are pushing him to do anything he doesn't want to do.  He was the one who showed interest in this sport initially and continues to show interest.  My concern is that there is a minimum track speed that he has to maintain for safety reasons. I know that there is at least one novice kiddo who is older and is already going pretty darn fast, and I don't want him to run over or hurt my kiddo.  Yes, they normally have an older kiddo division, but it looks like there is only one older kiddo this year, so he will be grouped in with our kids.  I do think that this is fair, he needs to get track time with other cars.  Am I worried? Yeah,  a little bit after watching him drive.  So no, I am not mad or sad at my kiddo for not being competitive or "fast".  I just need for him to be safe and to do his best, whatever his best might be right now.  I don't care if he wins anything this year, we are just here to learn and to make sure this is something he really wants to do, which after Sunday I do think that he does.  I am working with someone on his fixed mindset to try and help him with sports and all endeavors that he tends to start strong and then fizzles out on.  We have lots of strategies, so we are going to continue to try and get better at our mindset, both his and ours.

time for the annual summer hair cut!

Monday:  Crossfit day.  Back to my back squat series.  Same work out as last week, so I knew going in it was to be tough.  Add in the fact that it was rather warm and stuffy in the gym and I was sweating like a whore in church.  I am not sure how I am going to make it through summer in this box without puking my guts up.  Me + heat + hard WOD = puke.  I got super sick last year just doing the ON RAMP in the heat, so let's hope i can acclimate this year a little better.  After we lifted, we did a WOD that was a AMRAP for 8 minutes of 8 ring rows, 12 burpees, and 20 seconds of hollow hold.  I got behind the rest of the ladies thanks to the burpees, but I gave it what I could and went from there.

the fields are planted and I can't wait to see things growing!

Tuesday:  Tried another round of running.  One mile with boom and then 4 miles with deuce and Stella.  I was very cautious due to my foot hurting the last time I ran. I am very happy to say that for the most part, all aches and pains were very quiet.  I actually was able to mostly enjoy my run minus the humidity (YUCK).

front flower bed starting to bloom

Wednesday:  Crossfit day.  I almost didn't go because the WOD included running.  I didn't want to anger anything by doing back to back runs.  I decided to try it and if my foot started hurting, I could do rowing instead.  We started with dead lifts first and then post that, set up for the WOD that included dead lifts, hang cleans, jerks and running.  On the first lap, I was kind of disappointed because I was dead last.  Me, the runner couldn't hang with the others.  I slowly made up time though and ended up finishing third overall in our class. This doesn't happen often so I am going to brag, I am usually last or pretty close to last:)  I think because I am an endurance runner, I could handle the 2,3, and 4th 400 meter run while others were getting tired.  I may not be fast but I can run long!

LOVE new to me beers!  Love left hand brewery milk stout and this one is even better with the raspberry

Thursday:  Pretty sore from Crossfit the day before, so decided not to run and just take a rest day.  I will probably run 3 days a week for a while before getting back to 4 and then eventually 5 for my 50 miler.  I may instead of 5 runs a week, do a day of doubles to keep me at 4 days of running a week, since that seems to be my body's sweet spot for running.

love seeing everything blooming!

Friday:  5 mile run.  I like having a base of 5 miles so that is my go to mileage.  I felt much better during this run and guess what, NO PAIN in my foot!  Whew!!!! One mile with boom and stella and then 4 miles with deuce and stella.  We went out around lunch time and boy are we not acclimated to the heat yet.  It was low 70s and we felt it for sure!

Saturday:  Tulip Festival day and easy longish run.  We have a annual Tulip festival in our little town that includes arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, bounce houses, and local entertainment.  Since we had our first race coming up on sunday, we were going to stay as long as possible at the festival as we could and soak it all up.

The last few years, the bouncy houses have been all down one street which is right in front of my favorite local eatery.  They have tables set out so I figure if I eat and drink from them all day, I can sit at their tables and watch my kiddo go from bounce house to bounce house.  The arts and crafts vendors are usually the same year after year so once you have seen them once, you have seen them so we did a brief walk through but mainly the kiddo bounced and I sipped peach tea and ate festival food.

blueberry shaved ice

mining for gems

I knew I wanted to get a longish run in at some point during the day, but also wanted to spend most of the day at the festival.  We ended up leaving at 5 pm, so I headed out to run around 6 to let Stella digest her food.  It was SUPER windy out of the North.  I don't envy the runners who ran the Heartland 50 and 50K today.  Those wind gusts were horrible and the sustained wind made heading north almost impossible.  We got it done, but I burped corn dog pretty much the whole way :)  Self induced and well worth it!

Sunday:  1st quarter midget car race of 2019!!!!!  I will write a separate blog post on this but here is a picture from the day.

and one more just because

There are also photographers at the race so I am sure I will have some amazing professional photos to share soon too.  Long story short, he did amazing and we are SUPER proud of him and his ability to rally after lots of tough conditions.  Stay tuned for my recap :)

Three runs this week and two Crossfit days!  I am glad to be back in the swing of things and glad my body is feeling up to the challenge.  Have a great week!