Week 9 of 24: Training for the Run Amok 50 miler

Get ready for a crazy week!  With Tony being out of town a few days and Andrew being sick and then sharing, all plans of a scheduled week kind of went out of the window.  Can I have one week of just calm, cool, and collected?

Monday:  Normally rest day, but to avoid two days on the mill, decided to run Monday, move the speed work out till Tuesday (on the mill), and rest Wednesday.  We had a much needed break in the heat, meaning Stella could go again.   Back up though, I didn't get much sleep the night before.  Andrew was running another weird for no reason fever, and he was sleeping down stairs with daddy.  I just couldn't sleep not knowing if he was okay, but I kept telling myself that tony had it under control.  I guess his fever got as high as 103.5 at one point!!!!!  I started playing the game of if I go to sleep now I will get X amount of sleep.  When 4 am hit, I was in a deep, deep sleep and dreaming.  Why does that always happen?  I rolled out of bed, fueled and had coffee, and then met Robin to get our 8.  It was in the 60s, but the humidity was super high at 94% . Ick.  Add on to the fact that there was an interesting gentleman walking around at 5 am with a full back pack and a road vest (making him very visible), and just acting extra odd and you get the vibe of our run.   There was lots of wild life out too which made it extra spooky!

Tuesday:  Andrew was up at 5:35 am running another high fever. I let him have my phone to watch some cartoons while I tried to get a few extra Zs.  Our plan of him riding his bike and me running quickly went out of the window, since Tony was out of town by this point.  The next idea was a run on the mill in the afternoon.  As soon as i got off of work, I headed to the mill to watch some Schitt's Creek and run. 

I will be honest in that 6 miles flew by.  I tried to do two 30 second sprints per 4 minute run and then enjoy my one minute walk.  I think I made it through 3 episodes or so and really enjoyed it. I did have to hop off to pee a few times, but it was quite I dare say enjoyable.  Post running I had a PTO meeting.  We are in the home stretch of the Back to school Bash I am helping plan and my nerves are running high. I  know it will all work out, but I keep thinking i have forgotten something and that is driving me up the wall.  We only have 13 runner signed up for our 1 mile run, and while I know that number will increase as it always does, it makes it super hard to order T shirts and food.  Last year we had 112 runners in both the 5K and the 1 mile and who knows how many kiddos in the fun run, plus all of their families.  Our meal is free to runners who register and free will donation for those who want to stay and eat but aren't running.  So how do you plan numbers for that????

Wednesday:  Rest day.  Normally speed work day but with me moving things around we slept till 7 am and enjoyed our day.  Well, enjoyed our day as much as you can with a workman's comp audit and lots of financial stuff to do at work.  Finally got my debit card working post all the fraud issues in town so felt like a new woman being able to buy things LOL!!!!  I can't remember if I talked about the huge fraud issue that hit our little tiny town, but someone stole debit card numbers and pin numbers and took them to Wichita and had a field day.  I was only out around 600 bucks but others were not so lucky.  I must have turned my card off quick enough because some had theirs used at an ATM and got their accounts cleaned out!!!!  I was very lucky and my bank was very awesome about the whole process.  At this time they still haven't found the skimmer/individual.   I also got my new water bottle.  I have always wanted one of those bottles that tells you how much to drink and when.  When I saw this cute bottle on Etsy with the dogs and the dog paw I had to have it.  I don't have any issues getting this much in at the designated times, but I am in the bathroom every 5 minutes and and my pee is like water.  I know that drinking water and the amount is personal and can't be a designated number that everyone has to or can drink.  I will try this for a while and I think any water i get in is a win in my book, since I am probably chronically dehydrated.  Plus, it kept me from consuming my normal morning diet soda, something that I have gotten super bad at doing.

Thursday:  8 miles easy.  We found a leather chair that seemed in good condition on our route.  It had a crushed beer can in it, so someone had been using it.  We continue to get blessed with amazing weather and Robin and I are so loving it.  Temps in the 60s and very low humidity make it actually nice to get out and do longer runs.  I wish this would stick around for the rest of the year, but I know it won't.  Going to enjoy it while we can though.

Friday:  Usually rest day, but kind of liked getting one of the weekend runs done pre weekend.  I know there is a whole point to the back to back long runs, but I still think it serves a purpose the way I sometimes do the shorter long run first.  The shorter long run called for an hour and 45 minutes and we almost got a full 9 miles in, oh so close.  It was warmer than the other days but no humidity with a nice wind so VERY nice. I can only pray that it is this nice again for my long run.  The chair was gone, but the rigs were going full force, and it was fun to run through the cold water.

Saturday:  Long run day!  22 miles on the plan and the 3rd run in a row.  Decided to try going to bed around 7:30 pm and getting up at 3:30 am to hit the road around 4:30 am to beat some of the sun.  It was still hot, 70 degrees at 4:30 am, BUT the humidity was super low.  I had prepared my bottles and pack a head of time to save time and be able to get on the road as soon as possible.  I had planned to do an out and back and then some loops in the shade if at all possible when the sun came up. Of course i always plan something and then completely change it when I am running. I got 10 in the dark and headed back to the house to get ice cold tailwind bottles.  I had planned on going back out and getting another 10 stupidly on the gravel and full sun, but Robin sent me a message asking where I was.  I hooked up with her and we headed out to do some town miles in the shade.  We caught a break with the sun, so got out and did some hills  west of town before coming back into the flatter part of town.  I had trouble with my water bladder not wanting to squirt into Stella's bowl which was hugely frustrating.  I have no clue what I was doing wrong and occasionally could get it to work, but finally had to resort to sucking on the tubing and filling my mouth up with water, and then spitting it into her bowl.  I know dogs aren't picky but still. 

We got back into town and tried to stay on as many shade covered tree lined streets as possible.  Robin ended up doing 8 miles with me which was a very nice distraction on how I was feeling.  I was hydrating like a boss, taking big sips of my tail wind every time i had a walk interval and going through my one bottle per hour plus some jolly ranchers for pick me ups.  I was feeling very sore (i guess not use to that much pavement miles) and just not great.  I hit up the house for another ice cold bottle of tail wind and some coke, plus a honey stinger waffle to chew something.  Cued up some music and headed out to finish my last four.  Stella did two more with me before she was getting pretty hot and tired, so took her back to the house.  At this point I was just crisscrossing around our side of town getting as much shade as possible.  I am sure the neighbors thought I had lost my mind as I ran by their houses again and again. Finally finished and sat on the porch for a bit just trying not to puke or pass out.  I was having weird pains shooting through my toes and fingers and was feeling very nauseous.  My hubby brought me some more regular coke so I could sip on it for the nausea.  Needed to run to work so post shower grabbed a sweet tea and some french fries from McDonalds.  Got to work, took my temp and hmmmm, 100.9.  No wonder I was feeling like pure dog doo.  I really feel like it is probably the virus Andrew had earlier this week and not anything heat related but honestly I do NOT have time to be sick right now.    I am hoping this is also why this run really sucked in so many ways. The heat was not really that bad till probably my final four miles.  Spent most of the day in bed, which honestly was nice post 22 miles, but could have done without the achy body and the chills.

Sunday:  Rest day.  Foreshadowing that my body wanted me to run on Friday maybe?  Either way, super glad to have two rest days to get over this mess, yet again.  I really don't want to miss anymore runs like i did last time. The fever got as high as 102.5 and I finally had to take some advil to get rid of the headache.  That knocked it down to the 99s so I could get some sleep and rest.  The rest of the day I just took it easy,  As I type this, I need to make a decision about a concert I was going to attend in KC.  Part of me wants to go and just take advil around the clock to control my fever.  The other part of me wants to stay in bed today again and rest and get better and not drug myself all day.  We shall see what happens.

It was a hectic week but got it all done! Pray that this stupid virus only hangs around 2 days so I can get back to training next week!

Summer Runfessions

Okay I haven't done one of these in a while, but I need to get some stuff out so here it is.  Diving right in now to get this stuff off of my chest!

I runfess I am so fed up with the house we live in.  We were SUCH naive new homeowners and we really didn't look past the pretty-ness of the house or the enclosed privacy fenced back yard.  Since living here we have taken out one leaky skylight completely and put a patch in, repaired two more multiple times, re roofed the house, replaced three skylights totally, replaced the plumbing from the downstairs bathroom all the way to the back alley (80 feet of pipe to dig out and replace plus a second mortgage to pay for it all), completely replaced two floors, re-finished one (and all three need to be refinished again),  am needing to replace two sections of dry wall now due to leaks (not excited to see what is behind said dry wall), put in a new furnace,  new bigger AC unit, and two water heaters, and are constantly pumping water out of the basement.  I have had it and don't know what to do.  I feel like we have put WAY more money into this house than what it is worth or will sell for, so do we just stay and let more and more things fall apart or run away screaming?  Next up after we take dry wall out and re install and paint will be fixing the crumbling foundation that leaks ground water in our basement and settle our house making giant cracks in our dry wall.  Fun right?  I do runfess I love the location, within walking distance of the K-2 school (and shuttle bus to the other schools) and the high school, plus a couple of blocks from the city aquatic center, our cute Oz themed down town, and all of the festivals our little town has to offer in city park.  Sigh. I am done adulting for a while okay? 

totally enjoying our city's new aquatic center

I runfess we have had a great summer and I am NOT ready for it to end.  There is something so nice about knowing that we can do whatever the heck we want if we really want to for the day.  Yes, we still had a schedule as I do work, but we played hooky a few times and we had fun doing so!  Plus, Andrew had a ton of fun doing a variety of camps this summer.  I was really worried about him making friends with new subsets of kiddos but thus far he has really enjoyed everything we have thrown at him!  I also runfess that we haven't done much in the way of schooling and it shows.  We have just enjoyed our summer and not put a ton of effort into his work sheets and reading.  Most nights I collapse into bed exhausted and we don't even get one book read :(  He has had fun at Boys and Girls club as his reading teacher during the normal school year taught Kid's lit this year, and they did do a lot with the library, so there is that.  He did finally started tutoring post baseball and my parents being here the first week of July, and while it isn't the tutoring he had last year (x2 a week for 2 hours a session), it's something and more than most get.  I still feel a ton of mom guilt especially when I look over and see all of the work books we were suppose to do this summer still sitting on the shelf un-opened. 

Last runfession, I runfess I am pretty scared about my upcoming 22 /24/26 mile runs in this heat.  I have been quizzing my distance friends and basically short loops is the answer.  If I short loop from my house and use my house as an aid station and use lots of ice, that might work, but I might loose my mind as it would be all out and backs on road and gravel or all road.  Trails would be ideal, but my typical 3ish mile loop at Clinton is underwater, and not sure about Fancy Creek.  The distance doesn't bother me at all, but this heat is kicking my ass.  I want to stay safe because heat exhaustion is real and not to be played with and high heat makes me generally sick for more than just a few hours post run, but I need to get this mileage done!!!! 

And there you have it, good to let it all go.  You should totally runfess, it's kind of fun!

Week 8 of 24: Training for the Run Amok 50 miler CUTBACK WEEK!!!!

YES!  Made it to another cut back week and it honestly couldn't have come soon enough.  We have high temps on the docket and of course 100% humidity at 5 am.  Bleh.  Hello summer!  I did the most miles I have ever done in a week last week with a trail run thrown in for good measure.  I am still looking at tweaking my plan a bit because I honestly don't need to do the high mileage it suggests to get to my goal.  I also need to get my tired hiney back in the gym to do some sort of lifting because the lifting and the cross fit is what is or was keeping me injury free.

our shop toad Frogger

Monday:  Rest day. I had two back to back rest days and I needed them!  I will admit, I kind of liked getting my long run done during the week and my second long run out of the way so I could have one weekend day for resting and then another to start off the week.  Might have to try that again this week!

This is  "I won't look at the camera and you can't make me" face

Tuesday:  5 easy peasy miles.  I was pretty sore from running 5 days in a row and I needed to take it super easy and we did.  My watch was dead when I woke up so I had to manually time our 4:1 and I only screwed up a few times by not hitting start.  I also learned taco salad is not a great thing to eat before any type of run.  Lesson learned.

Wednesday:  Well, the heat is finally on us.  We only had 3 miles on the plan so we decided to sleep in since it would still be hot no matter what time we went out.  I left miss Stella at the house since most of the road puddles have dried up.  It was HOT and just doing 3 miles was TOUGH.  I dread the rest of the runs this week because it is only suppose to get worse.

Thursday:  Feels like 87 and 74% humidity = no go for Stella.  There was a south wind, but I don't think it would have been enough to cool her down.  I took water for me and drank almost all of it.  The walk run intervals kept us from totally overheating and we were SUPER glad when we were done.   We did take a couple of breaks to take pictures and one for me to go visit the corn field for an emergency pit stop, but other than that, we got it done minus the dogs.

Friday:  Normally this would be a rest day, but I needed to shift everything around to accommodate next week's crazy schedule.  We decided since we just had 10 on the schedule that we would get it done at 5 am and then get a bike ride on the weekend.  Cutback weeks only have four runs, so I can get away with this and so I shall :) I was up at 4 am to fuel and we hit the road around 5.  Feels like 85 degrees, but the irrigation rigs were out in full force and there was a slight wind, so even with the high humidity we were staying reasonably cool.  Didn't bring the dogs and I am glad we didn't.  As soon as the sun came up it became an oven.

Saturday:  Rest day.  We had a no agenda day and it was amazing.  Slept till the dogs made me get up, spent all morning outside grooming them and doing toe nails on both them and my child, cleaned ears including my child's ears (LOL), and then headed to Manhattan to tool around and have some family fun.  We hit up Rock a Belly deli for some amazing steamed sandwiches and summer beer.  They make theirs with vodka, mic ultra, and lemonade.  Plus if you want, they add strawberry puree and that just makes it super fresh and super deadly.  You really do not taste ANY alcohol. On a hot day, i could sit and drink those all day (and probably pass out).  Andrew didn't like his grilled cheese so he ate my sandwich instead, which makes me super happy because it was roast beef on sourdough with lettuce and tomato plus Swiss cheese.  He usually won't eat "salad" on his sandwiches.    We also had pretzels and hot mustard and chili con queso and chips, so I was super full from the chips anyway and didn't need my entire sandwich.  A MA ZING!!!!  Post lunch we headed over to Varsity doughnut, another local favorite to have doughnuts and play games.

We had a mean game of apples to apples JR going on where there were many laughs had.  They also had the ping pong table out so Andrew and Tony attempted a game of ping pong.  While in Aggieville (Manhattan's bar/shopping district) we also hit up the local bookstore that carries used and new books. I scored three used books that I had been wanting to read for 5 bucks a piece.  You can't beat that!  

Sunday:  Active rest.  The plan called for active rest instead of a 5th run and Robin and I wanted to hit our bikes for the first time of the season.  Yes, we are a slightly behind in our bike riding adventures.  I didn't get any pictures during since we were gabbing away, but post riding the whole family came out and got our ride on plus we got some coffee.  

I really, really enjoy cut back weeks and am really really glad I went with this plan.  I am going to tweak it a little going forward but mostly leave the week day runs the same.  Have a great weekend and enjoy your week!

The Snake 10 miler 2019

Okay get ready.  With two photographers taking lots of amazing pictures, this is going to be a very picture heavy post :)  You are warned.

My most favorite picture from last year's race

What can I say about The Snake 10 miler? I did this race last year and was SUPER hot. I almost pulled Stella at mile 3 because she was SO hell bent on catching up to all of the others she just about gave herself heat stroke.  The last few miles got super humid and we were basically having to power walk it in to stay cool enough.  I decided to try again this year since the water was up everywhere and some of the trails were underwater, which isn't good for running, but great for cooling puppers off.

I decided to dog out and go all paw print for the race.  I also got a new bladder for my pack that would supply water for Stella during the run.  I got the biggest one they had and I probably could have gone smaller but oh well you live and you learn.  I also broke the rule of nothing new on race day since I hadn't technically tried it out.  It was delivered 5 minutes post me getting done with my long run and i had planned to do another mile with Boom later to get an even 20 and try it, but it just didn't get done.  The good news bad news is:  good news, it keeps my pack from bouncing in the front which causes pain and chaffing, so eliminated that problem; bad news, it's like running with a 10 lb weight in my pack and i didn't burp it enough so it sloshed the entire race.  Oh well, lesson learned, still glad I got it and glad I asked some of the Trail Hawks how to make it less sloshy.

Let me back up and say we had done 19 miles the day before for our long run.  We had a busy weekend planned with my race Saturday morning and then Andrew's car race Saturday night into the wee hours of the morning.  I knew there was no way I would want to finish my long run post race or pre race for that matter or run Sunday after being up all night at the car race.  To say I had dead legs is an understatement, but for me, most races aren't really "races" because I am a back of the packer and I just enjoy being there.  My plan was to get to bed around 7 pm Friday night and get up around 3:30-3:45am Saturday morning to get to Lawrence.  I was able to execute said plan because the boys went to a Royals game and got home super late and slept downstairs. I was also SUPER excited because this had gone down the day before:

Cindy had reached out to the RD Gary to see if they would allow us with dogs to start an hour early.   We were not there for awards or placements, we just wanted to have fun but keep our dogs safe.  He not only replied YES but made a division for the K9s complete with awards!  Well, all the dogs got a box of dog biscuits for finishing, but the top dog got a gift card!  For those of us who are always at the back and always last this was SUPER cool, plus it was safer for the dogs to get out an hour earlier since the course was partially on roads and exposed fields.  Truly the best part of this all was that when I got lost, instead of being last and not having anyone to help me, I ran into the faster runners that were catching up with me and they got me set on the right way!

There were four of us starting in the K9 division with Miss ziva and Mary Ann leading the way with me and Stella in the middle, and Cindy and Miles and Beqi and Domino bringing up the rear.   

We started out heading  through a grassy field that was wet with dew (good for dog paws to stay cool) and then quickly dumped on a nice hilly road.  

From there we got on some dry trail before hitting the first big water crossing at mile 4ish.  I was able to hang on to Mary Ann and Ziva till we got to the trail. 

I am just not a fast trail runner when it comes to root and rock, so Cindy and Beqi were able to catch up to me at the water crossing.  This is where things get comical.  I had unhooked Stella so she could swim and I could use the rope to cross Mud creek.  I started out and thought she would follow me.  She did until she decided to quickly turn back to shore to try and cheat and not swim.  

She got caught up in the brush and brambles and then tried to get back in the water and stay close to the shore which wasn't possible.  She finally took off the other way back up the trail with me frantically calling.  I was already across and then the other two dog runners crossed hoping she would follow.  

She finally decided since we were all across that she would join us and she swam straight at John the photographer who was standing in the water (God bless him).  Finally got her completely across and buckled back up.  

We dumped from the trail into the camp grounds were the first big aid station was.   We had dog water complete with ice, dog cookies, and many many aid station volunteers there to greet us and take care of us.  Stella got her own personal attendant as Sherri cleaned her up and gave her much love.  We headed along a grassy field before crossing the road and heading up and around Bunker hill.  I really wish I had my phone to take pictures, but decided against in just in case I fell in the water crossing.  I had no room for it in my pack to keep it high and dry.  Luckily Mary Ann is taller and took her phone and got pictures!  

  

picture borrowed from Mary Ann and Ziva!

This is about the time the faster runners caught up to us and started passing.  This was kind of nice, Stella got pep in her step and was ready to finish giving me a gentle pull.  We meandered up and around Bunker hill and then back down and back to the road.  We went up a massive hill and then back through a camp ground road. I totally spaced out and missed the turn back into the field and continued down the road, but saw the flags off in the distance and back tracked back to the flags, where I found a fast runner headed the right direction.  He did tell me a missed a turn, so I turned and started following him for a bit and got back on course thank goodness.  We had another short stint on trail and another water crossing named Cry Baby canal.

Cry baby canal taken by the RD

This crossing wasn't as deep, but I wanted to keep her on leash just in case.  She wasn't interested in drinking, so we kept going on.  A side note, all of that water I brought wasn't really needed but I am glad I had it for her just in case.  I did have one small section of road where I felt like she was getting too hot and I stopped and fixed her up a bowl of water, but that was it.  

Of course there were several hikers by this time and one told me about an aggressive German shepherd she had crossed up the trail that tried to attack her.  GREAT.  Probably that same one I had run into before that the lady said was leash aggressive so couldn't be ON leash.  Sigh.  Lucky for us we got off the trail and back onto our mowed fields for the finish.  

Finish photo provided by timer.  Add an hour to my time since we started an hour early.  

We were greeted with the blowing of the horn and cowbells and Stella took off like a SHOT!  She loves hearing cheering!  Of course we had to finish with our snake and finish we did.  Oh yeah, we all had snake names and my is Red Aussie Snake LOL!!!!!  We had some finish line food, beer, and drinks and I took that time to rest, hydrate with some coke zero and chill.  This race is so much fun and we LOVED the alternate course even if it wasn't all trail.  I love the variation because the trails at Clinton to me are hard to just let go and run, so it was nice to get to runnable sections where we could really stretch our legs and let go.

Stella loved all the attention she got and of course the dog biscuits and love.  I love an RD that thinks about their K9 participants because if we would have started with the regular group we would have had pretty high heat to deal with.  I loved having the faster runners to follow instead of being dead last and freaking out about being lost.  

Stella and I left tired but happy.  Seriously look at all of this swag!

A field guide to KS snakes, a really cool original medal, a beer stein that is SO awesome, a snake name, snake tattoos and a box of dog cookies.  Plus all of the amazing photos from John Knepper and Gary Henry the RD.  WOW.  I seriously want to frame all of them.   This is why I love the Trail Hawks and all of their amazing races!  We will be back in 2020 for sure!  

Enjoy one of the many videos people made with their GoPro here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfQBb1-kO-U&fbclid=IwAR193gf-KqFB5hgK2XjSoIoQ9bPiNBJEJ0ItWMjftCZpCwvZrhZuGtKQah0

Week 7 of 24: Training for the Run Amok 50 miler and THE SNAKE 10 miler!

Race week!  Well, I should say, it's have fun at a trail race week because I sure as heck don't race when it is this hot out.  I am going to have to shift my week around to accommodate a Saturday trail race and a Saturday night car race.  Buckle up!

Monday:  Rest day. Y'all I am going to be super honest here.  While I know baseball and the stress of all of it, plus running and lifting and getting up at 4:30-5 am was contributing to my fatigue, now that that is done, that fatigue is still there.  It helps me to sleep in as late as I can and I am getting to bed earlier, but it's still there this is the main reason I am not getting up and going to Cross Fit right now.  If i can fit it in during the day, great. If not, it's just not happening.  I do miss my one on one session with coach Erin and really wish I could just afford to do that versus classes.  I am trying to get at least one lifting session a week on my own, but I really, really want to get in two.  It is what it is and I am channeling my inner Elsa and letting it go.

Tuesday:  When I woke up at 4:30 am, I heard thunder.  I checked the radar and storms were on their way.  I couldn't tell if we would be done prior to them hitting or if they would hit while we were running, so decided to err on the side of caution and go back to bed.  My running partner said good call because the storms were only 12 or so miles away at that point.   I never did go back to a deep sleep thanks to the storms, but I got more sleep than usual for a Tuesday, which I probably needed.  It did seem cooler post raining, but as soon as the sun came out, ouch.  My plan called for 7, but since I am doing 10 instead of 7 for my 1 hour 30 minute run, I am taking a few miles off of my weekly runs to even it out.  I am still not totally at the mileage recommended by the plan, BUT I am at the mileage I need for me and my body.  It was hot by the time we got out, but the humidity was much lower.  There was tons of puddles for Stella to get in and the corn now is tall enough to make a good shade on one side of the road.  We took our water and made it work.

Wednesday:  5 miles of hills.  We had been doing hill repeats, but since I was alone, I had planned a really hilly course period that snaked through town.  When I got up to feed the dogs and get ready to run, it was 77 with humidity at 91%.  The dew point was 73, which is a not something I wanted to submit Stella to or even myself for that matter.  I decided since I was alone that I would wait and either run later when it would be hotter but no humidity and Robin would be home, or run on the mill after work.  Bleh. We finally both got out around 2:00 pm and it was feels like 87, but there was very little humidity and we tried to find the shadiest and hilliest route.  I was fine till we hit the turn around then for whatever reason, I had a side stitch I could NOT get rid of.  It was more like an upper ab stitch that I guess was left over from the big lunch I inhaled.  Robin was very gracious to let me walk as I needed and we got lots of talking and burping done.  I did power walk up a few of the steeper hills, but that is what I do in a trail race anyway.   It wasn't our best time, but we got it done and got it done safely. 

Thursday:  Easy 6.  Again doing one mile less than my plan calls for since I will be running 10 miles Saturday.  Thank the LORD it was only 65 because the humidity at 5 am was 93%.  Ouch.  It was so humid every time i tried to take a picture, my camera lens on my phone instantly fogged up.  Again the miles flew by with Ebby and Robin leading us out.

Friday:  Normally this would be a rest day but since I have a race scheduled for Saturday and a night race Saturday night into Sunday, Friday was the best day to get it done.   My schedule said 18-20. I got to bed early but my body woke me up at 2 am with horrible cramps and heavy bleeding. I think post advil and some moaning and groaning I got back to sleep around 3 am for one hour before my alarm went off.  I had some quiet time with my coffee and fuel before getting ready and heading out on my normal route.

It was once again 91% humidity at 5 am and there was a humidity fog that hung on my route for at least the first hour or so.  It was cool at least on my skin.  

There was still plenty of water on the road for Stella to take a dip in. I had clean water and a collapsible bowl for her to drink from.  My plan was to do an out and back and get around 10ish and then either do another out and back to equal 20 or stay closer so if I needed to dump Stella off I could.  The temps weren't bad at all and as the humidity lowered, we both felt better overall.  After a quick refilling at home, we headed back out to the gravel.

The humidity fog had layers and was quite interesting to look at.  When the sun came out full force it burnt off.  

When we went back out, the corn gave us some nice shade.  We decided to just go for it and if Stella got too hot, I would just call my hubby to come and get her.  We were fine until I ran out of Tailwind.  My hubby drove out and gave me an ice cold bottle of Tailwind and refilled Stella's bottle.  We had one mile to go to get twenty when we turned down our road.  I was soaked with sweat and really not happy with life and just really didn't want to finish without Stella but really not wanting to do much pavement with her either.  We called it good.  19 miles for our long run with one more run for the week and then two glorious rest days in a row.  Ahhhhh.   

Saturday:  Race day THE SNAKE!  I think I will do a separate post for race day since there is so much to talk about, so look for that.  Basically it was a super early morning, we had so much fun in the K9 division, and we can't wait for next year!  Post run I had to get back, shower, and get Andrew ready for his night race.  We had the qualifying, heat race, main schedule, which seems to be his favorite.  

He was third fastest in qualifying, 2nd in his heat race and 2nd in his main.  What i was most proud of was he hit the wall HARD, had to pit to repair his car, got sent to the back and worked his way all the way to the front and ended up in second place.  This is resiliency and he is starting to show he has it!!!!!  I have waited 7 long years to see this happen and can't be more happy.  Maybe this kid does have grit after all.  

I don't care where you finish, if you try hard that is what counts, and I felt like this race he clawed his way out of some not so great situations and persevered.  I think if he would have had about 5 more laps, he could have taken 1st but he didn't and that is okay.  I headed home from the track as soon as the race was done to try and get some sleep since I had been up since 3:45 am, but of course I was amped up and couldn't sleep and had to take melatonin and didn't fall asleep till after 11 pm.   Probably the all day caffeine binge didn't help the situation of not sleeping as well.    

Sunday:  REST DAY!  I had so much to do around the house and needed sleep and rest more than anything in this world.  I picked up this baby and it needed filled and hung.

Bryan did an amazing job making my new medal holder and I was super excited to get it ready for display!  He also gave me a buckle holder for my upcoming buckle races :)   Talk about motivation!  Since i am publishing this a little early, I will say that the day hopefully was spent resting and recovering and not doing a ton of anything strenuous or exercisey!  

Have a great week! I  have a cut back week coming up and I can't wait!