Week 4: Joy to the Run

SO many things this week.  Christmas.  16th wedding anniversary.  Helping customers with their storm damage.  My heart is super full and grateful right now.  Lots of pictures ahead, have fun!

Monday: Snowman Run.  Since I didn't get my back to backs done on Sunday, I was up for a speed sesh on Monday.  Boom and I are really enjoying the snowman runs and are going to try to keep them in our routines post this month.  It was a full moon and boom was full of pull.  

Tuesday: Strength training.  I debated between walking and strength and decided since I kind of skipped strength last week that I needed to do it this week.  Dimnity had posted a new routine and it looked like fun, so we tried it and didn't die!  I will admit, I did have to take a few breaks, but we got it done and it was a great butt burner.  

So love this dress!  Found it on a sale rack as I was walking out of the store and fell in love.

Wednesday: Rest day#1  Covid booster and Covid shot #1 for Andrew.  Let's just say I should have never told him we were doing this in advance because he has been completely freaked out about it for over a month now.  He has at times literally made himself sick to his stomach.  He has been through every emotion about it from total freak out to wanting to be protected.  Tony went with us and he sat on Tony's lap and talked to me.  He didn't even know she had given him the shot as he was just jabbering away to me.

He's had me take a million photos, as he is so proud. I am so glad he is able to get a shot now for Covid and the first one has had little to no side effects.  I was able to get my booster and I felt like I was hit like a mack truck with fever, chills, and aches and pains, but I knew it was coming and planned accordingly.  I was able to hold it together long enough for dinner with the hubby to celebrate out 16th wedding anniversary at Bourbon and Baker.  

Thursday:  Rest day #2.  I knew this was coming but I was hoping it wouldn't.  I woke up feeling like dog crap and the feeling stayed all day.  I was achy, tired, feverish, and just had no energy.  I binge watched The Flight Attendant.  Hubby brought me home flowers to cheer me up and I ran Coleman Electric from my bed. 

Friday:  Christmas Eve.  I felt much better, so work and a short run was in the cards.  Worked till noon and went to lunch at our favorite country store in St. Marys, Sugar Creek.  They do this amazing gingerbread house competition every year and we had to go see them before Christmas.  Here are just a few of them because they are simply stunning!

This one won 1st place this year!  Can you see the little wizard?

A chicken coop!

After a quick lunch we headed back to Wamego and got ready for a run.  I honestly didn't know what my body might have in it, but I figured I would get what I could and head back or have my hubby pick me up when I petered out.  Rockin Robin was up for whatever, so we headed out for a hot buns run.  

Yes, I still have fourth of July decorations up.  We got 4 miles in with our squats, lunges, and jumping jacks.  Hot buns run is a favorite of mine, even if Stella tries to kill boom every time we stop.  

Saturday:  Christmas day!  Okay every year I think I write this but here is a huge dose of my honesty about this holiday.  I am not sure why Christmas day gives me such anxiety, but it does.  We don't really have a ton of traditions, sometimes family comes up and sometimes they don't.  We go with the flow, we don't have matching pajamas, and we have different types of meals every year.  I am honestly okay with the flexibility of this. Something about knowing my son, who always has a ton of "stuff" is getting more "stuff" sends me into a little tail spin, and I am the one who buys the STUFF, so all fingers pointed back at me. Now that he has gotten older, it's mainly clothes and Lego sets he gets, but the thought of having to find places for "stuff" really starts me into an anxious mess.  We don't have an attic or any type of storage space, and even though his room is huge, we don't have a great way to store stuff there either, so most of his hot wheels/Thomas stuff/Legos are in tubs or boxes along the wall.

 

Post watching him tear into presents, I immediately had to clean the house.  I know, I am weird.  I had to bag up all the wrapping paper and get the boxes to recycling.  I then had to wash all of his clothes and put everything away or hang up.  Of course when I went to put things away, his room was a mess again, so I had to clean his room which then lead to me cleaning my room.  While my family spent family time, I was upstairs vacuuming, sorting clothes, and dusting.  I wish I could shut this OCD off in my brain, but I honestly couldn't rest till I had everything cleaned, sorted, and put in it's place.  I am very happy to say that this year we really toned it down with presents and it surprisingly went over well.

  

He got one thing from Santa (his hoverboard with cart kit, so he can sit on it and ride instead of stand) and then he got most of his wrapped presents from Tony and I. A majority of his presents were clothing (he is in a men's small now, wahhhhh), with 2 Lego sets, and some new watercolor markers.  Much less than normal.  Mom got him mainly clothes and he loved everything she got him.  

Hubby got a huge bottle of Gentleman's Jack from Andrew and I, and a gift card from my mom, and I got a gift card to the running company from my mom and a gift card to my local hairdresser  to get my hair cut and colored however I might want.  All very useful gifts this year.  Just wish I could get rid of the weird anxiety that hits me every year, so I could just sit, relax, and enjoy. 

My goal was to get out and get a 5K done before we had Christmas dinner/late lunch.  I had hoped Andrew could ride his little board while Boom and I followed along.  Unfortunately the dang thing died when we were about 5 minutes  into the run, so I had to pull him back to the car and head back to the house.  I will admit, it was a good strength training session and boom even tried to pull him.  

I dumped the kid and the board off and headed out with both dogs to get a Christmas 5K.  

We weren't in shorts and a t shirt like the day before, but I was still dripping sweat in DECEMBER!  

We had decided instead of tony slaving away for two days on the traditional foods and then me having to clean the mess and once again become a hot mess trying to figure out where to put all the leftovers, we would try something different.  We have a local Wagyu beef  farm that just opened up a store front and Tony decided grilling these amazing steaks would be our alternative. Plus, the weather was very conducive to grilling!  Let me tell you if you haven't had a chance to try Wagyu beef DO IT!  The meat is worth every penny!  One of our clients had brought us twice baked potatoes as a thank you that went along great with fresh green beans and locally made rolls.  It was an amazing meal and no leftovers were had!!!!  For desert we had pie from the Friendship house that was chocolate cream and to die for. We sipped gentlemen's jack and diet coke and played cards till bed.  Other than my OCD kicking it, I think Christmas 2021 was a success.

Sunday:  Long run day.  Was planning on 6 but in the end got 7.  No eagles just 2 very big hawks.  I overdressed and really could have ditched my vest, but I needed it for storage.  Fueled with peppermint patties from my stocking LOL!  Felt great other than sweating profusely.  

Christmas week is a wrap!  Glad that everything went smoothly minus my weird OCD/anxiety.  Another year of believing for Andrew even though he asked a ton of questions this year and started to point out some obvious truths.  I just hope we can make it a few more years before he learns the real truth.  I think he must have watched videos or talked to his friends and had some non believing friends this year, so the seed has been planted.    Next week will be a travel week, so not sure what I will get done on my Joy to the Run, but it's been a fun challenge to attempt and I am glad I tried it!  I see why AMR programs are so fun and engaging and there is nothing more satisfying than checking off boxes.  Have a great week y'all!

  

Week 3: Joy to the Run

This was a very abnormal week for us.  We had our first dry hurricane experience.  We are SO lucky that we had very little damage, but now we are slammed trying to take care of all of our clients that have had major damage.  I haven't seen a number for Wamego specifically, but I have seen 80-90 mph wind gusts recorded around us.  

Monday:  Snowman run.  After a very long and stressful day the last thing I wanted to do was go run, but I convinced myself to just put on my running clothes and then see how I felt.  After much debating in my running clothes, I decided to do a shorten version (I normally try and get 50 minutes) and just try to do 3 or so snowmen.  I ended up getting 4 snowmen done and cutting my cool down short, as I was right by the house at the right time to stop.

Tuesday: Cross training.  Decided to try a long walk instead of strength training.  I was quickly reminded why walking in a urban setting with my dogs is not fun, particular  with Stella.  She marks just like an intact boy dog, so I felt like I was dragging her the whole way as she wanted to stop every 2 minutes to pee on something.  It was an amazing night though for walking, warm temps and lots of christmas lights to look at.  The calm before the storm for sure.    

Wednesday:  Sugarplum Yoga.  Boy did I ever need a recovery yoga session.  We knew the weather was going to be weird when we got up that morning and it was so warm.  It was almost 80 degrees and it's December.  We had been told that we would have wind gusts up to 70 mph, but I honestly didn't believe it.  Strong winds are a common thing in Kansas so I didn't bat an eye. I got back to the shop post my Wednesday meetings and the wind was around 30-40 mph.  Again, that's kind of common in Kansas, which is odd to say.  As the day went on, the wind got worse and worse and our metal building we rent for our shop sounded like it was going to explode.  We saw that also thunderstorms were forming and would be hitting round about the time school was to let out.  Sigh.  My hubby ran to go get andrew and get back to the shop at pick up time praying we could get him before they hit lock down.  We had guests in the shop and had to evacuate everyone thanks to the now 80 MPH WINDS!  As soon as we all got to our house, the tornado sirens started going off and we all headed to the basement.  Of course we had to hand the very reluctant dogs down the steps since they are straight down and very hard to navigate, and as I was coming down with the cat, the cat freaked out and started attacking my leg.  Great.  Lucky for us the tornado went north and I don't think there was very much damage but the wind was not done.  It howled and blew for hours and trees all over town got uprooted.  We are very lucky that things didn't get worse and that we had very little to no damage at the house or shop.  Our empty trailer got moved quite a bit away from it's original parking spot showing the power of the south wind. 

 

only my kid.  Christmas, Halloween, and Art.

Thursday:  Rest day.  I usually run on Thursday, but another stressful day at work and no lunch prevented me from doing anything productive.  I listened to my body, had prime rib for dinner and a beer, and went to bed early.  Some days you have to do what's best for you no matter what the schedule says.  I am very glad so many called us to help out with their storm damage, just wished that we had more electricians to attack all of the jobs.  I hate turning people away :(

Friday:  Hot buns run.  The family went shopping while I went running.  I gave them a target list and hoped for the best LOL!  My son is really into collectible figures right now, think a barbie doll sized figure that you put on a stand and just look at it.  It's his thing and he had a $100 gift card from his grandma to spend.  He had his eye on some ghost buster's figures, but ended up coming home with some He Man figures as they are making a resurgence, go figure (HAHAHAHA a figure pun).  

Saturday:  Long run day.  THE EAGLES ARE FINALLY BACK!

The weather was super conducive to seeing my friends again.  Super cold, windy, and gloomy plus, the snow geese were back.  I didn't see the eagles till I got about 4 miles out and there was a field with at least 8 just hanging out and occasionally flighting and flying.  I had the most incredible video and it some how got deleted.  I finally started getting cold, so I had to get going again.  On my way back, one of the eagles had landed on one of the telephone polls over by the feedlot.  As I was trying to be quiet and take pictures, Boom found some roadkill that had been dropped and started chowing down. I had to wrestle him to the ground and get whatever it was out of his mouth.  It was disgusting and in the end I was covered in slobber and dead stuff.  Thank goodness it didn't smell, but I was covered and had to run all the way back home with gross hands.  I am pretty sure I got most if not all away from Boom, but am currently watching him like a hawk for any signs of parasite ingestion or bacterial issues.  The eagle of course was not phased at all and looked as if he was laughing at us wrestling on the ground.  After my run I had a lot of trouble getting my body temp regulated and sat and shook on the couch under 2 blankets.  I finally got in the shower and I guess had the water too hot and almost passed out.  I ended up puking up my hot chocolate I had just drank to try and get warm from the inside out and spending the afternoon in bed. So weird.  I use to get like this post the big half marathons I would do when I was chasing a time goal, but I was not chasing any time goal this time for sure, just going out for a nice easy long run.  

  

Sunday:  Run?  Cross train?  I woke up feeling fine.  Andrew had a b day party that involved ice skating mid morning.  I haven't ice skated in years but decided to try and see if my body remembered all the trips to Memphis to the big rink at the mall.  I use to go with a friend and we would skate for hours.  This is a small rink in Manhattan, so not well maintained ice, but still fun.  Andrew spent most of his time hugging the wall or on his butt, but we still had fun and I got quite a work out.  I decided a walk later with Stella while the boys were watching the new Spiderman movie was enough for the day.  I also did 500 loads of laundry, cleaned the house, and picked up sticks in the front yard from the storm (still have side yard and back yard to go, sigh).  When is house work going to be considered cross training?

Have a great week y'all!  I am looking forward to true winter temps minus the wind and hopefully four runs again and a little less work stress.  

2021 Racing with Stella and Boom: Straight from the Dog's mouth

 Hey Y'all!  Stella ella here, the one and only.  I don't have to remind everyone what a bummer 2020 was.  We had no live races and both of our 50 milers were canceled.  2021 was a little better as we tried again for our last 50 mile buckle, as well as helped Robin and Kitty complete their first marathon AND ultra.  

First race up was the Prairie Spirit Trail 50k.  Mom did this race without me once before (the nerve) and I did part of this race course pacing mommy's friend Jackie for her 100 miler.  It's flat and sort of shaded and we had the best weather ever!  My friend Kitty kind of lost her brain for a while over all of the squirrels, but she settled down and we got er done!  Don't we just look amazing in our pictures?

Our second big race was our A race (A for apple race or what???).  This race was suppose to be our last 50 miler and our chance to get that belt buckle mom says she needs.   Whatevs mom, you don't even own a belt so why do you need a belt buckle?  I digress.  Mom was kind of worried about me and doing this distance, as I turned 10 a few days later, so she brought my stinky little brother Boom just in case.  I did something weird and wasn't running with my usual joy, so mom subbed me out at mile 19.  Let me tell you, I was NOT pleased about the situation, but I did get lots of treats for pulling mom those 19 miles and I got to take a trip to Manhattan to get mom roses.  Boom got to finish the second part of the race with mom, so I will let him take over the blog from here.

Hi I'm BOOM!  I like to run and talk and play and run and run and run.  I am non stop go.  Mom says I have ADHD whatever that is and I have trouble focusing but heck, I am a boy dog and I won't mature for at least 2 ish more years!  I was SO excited when mom decided to let me come to her race.  Even though I am not the greatest at being a running dog like my sis/aunt Stella, I really try.  Mom was pretty tired and sore by the time she picked me up around mile 19, but I was ready to GO!  Mom kept telling me to calm down and knock it off, but I had NO clue what that meant.  Mom finally started walking a bunch and I tried to pull her to keep her running, but she said her foot really, really hurt and she didn't know what was going on.  We ended up having daddy pick us up on course as mommy just didn't think I could pull her 9 more miles to the aid station to work on her foot.  I still call it a win in my book as we all collective did more than a marathon together. 

Boom here again.  Mom's running partner decided they needed to do a 20 miler out at some place called Wilson Lake. I call it sticker lake because boy were there lots of stickers in the grass.  Mom doesn't like training in the summer and neither do I!!!  It's so hot and humid here in Kansas even at 4 am.  We did the best we could when we could, and hit the trails for 20 miles.  The temp was perfect, but boy the humidity was high.  After battling it for over 11 miles mom decided it was better for me to power hike the rest of the way.  Mom says Kansas fall is so hit or miss and boy was she right.  Who would have thought it would be 95% humidity in October????  It was a very pretty course, but mom was hurting again and I had to pull her most of the way.  I finally figured out on the downhills that mom didn't want me to pull as hard as possible, that sometimes I am better to steady her and stop.  Mom keeps saying she isn't a mountain goat but duh, I know that, she's a human.  I got my first official medal and first full race official pictures.  Don't I look awesome pulling my mom?

Stella here!  Mom said I was done racing and then I had to sub for my stinky little brother who ate cat food and got sick. Hahahaha. I ate some too, but I have an iron gut, nothing stops me!  Mom and I had a little saunter out at Sander's mound.  I have run this race before and it's a doozy.  Lots of rocks and roots and uphills and downhills to pull mom on.  I was a good girlie and tucked in behind mom most of the race and let her do the work.  Except of course when I saw Mile 90 photographers and I needed to show off for them, then I got in front and acted like I did all the work.  Mom keeps saying I am retired, but I continue to show her I.AM.NOT.  

I mean just look at me, I am a gazelle!  I still have what it takes for an old lady!  And bonus, I still smile every mile.

There you have it, racing from both the red aussie crew this year.  See ya next year!!!

BOOM and Stella

Week 2 Joy to the Run

 Another week of fun work outs and amazing sunsets.  Enjoy!

Monday:  A run was on the calendar, but I did strength instead.  I need a place for my elliptical and then I could include it as cross training.  I guess I just need a bigger house LOL!  The strength training was very simple on the surface, you started with 12 of a movement and then 11, then 10, then so on and so on.  I should have just watched the video, noted the exercises, and then done them at my own pace, lesson learned.  You do two rounds of the 12-1 and the exercise included lunges, burpees, squats, and planks. It was a very effective yet short work out with all exercises body weight only.  I just couldn't seem to keep up with the pace and also keep good form.  

Tuesday: Snowman Run.  Okay y'all I was dreading this work out because a) it's speedwork b) I haven't done speedwork in forever, and I had NO clue what speeds I could even accomplish with easy, easy +, medium, and hard.  Hard is easy, just sprint, but the others, eh, not sure.  I started out with my warm up and then stayed at that same pace for easy (11:30-12:00).  Easy + I tried to stay under 11:30 as best I could so more around 11:15-11:00.  Medium I tried to do under 11 so more around 10:30 and then when hard hit I tried to put the hammer down and go below 10:30, more around 9:30.  Each set was a snowman built and I built 4 snowmen.  I will sheephisly say this was fun and I wouldn't mind incorporating this back into my training plan for good.  I took Boom only and he had so much fun sprinting.  

Wednesday:  Yoga.  This time my yoga went much better because I knew what to expect.  Again, I was like the tin man with no oil, but I did feel like I could get a tiny bit more into poses.  I had Andrew take the above picture. I can't ever do anything without both of the dogs being a part of it.  Boom was licking my bare feet and stella kept chewing the plastic milk bottle right in the way of my arms or face.  They make relaxation challenging at best.  I almost didn't post this picture since I was in my pjs and ready for bed and in the bedroom where the floor isn't finished (and has been that way for five years now because who has time to put a floor down).  I posted on the AMR page and WON a prize package!!!!!

Thursday:  Rest day.  Chiro day.  Not on the plan to rest but after having some serious painful work on my shin, she suggested 24 hours of rest and she was right.  

Friday: Hot buns run.  Did this run last week and Stella and boom tried to kill each other meaning Stella got to stay home this run.  Boom was still a little bewildered every time I stopped to do my exercises and kind of had a mortified look on his face.   Don't be so judgy Mr. Boom.   Pretty sure that is a smile on his face post run.

Saturday: Fa LA  long run.  I am trying to build back to 10 miles as my long run on the weekend so last week was 8 meaning this week was 9.  It was a beautiful crisp, cold day.  The dogs loved every minute of it and while I was not 100 percent and kind of felt dehydrated the whole run, we got er done.  Probably need to get back to wearing my vest and carrying at least one bottle of something to sip on. 

Sunday:  I had options but to either get my fourth run in for the week OR do strength training.  After a long night with very little good sleep, I chose a strength session over a run.  This time instead of watching the video and trying to do the moves with the host, I got the run down on paper and went at my own pace.  Much better for me to keep good form and not be straining my neck and guessing what rep we are on.  

Have a great week y'all!  I am getting back to 4 runs next week no matter what!

Week 1 Joy to the Run

Joy to the Run through Another Mother Runner started this week.  While I am going to have to modify it to fit my running schedule of Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday/Sunday, I think it will work and will be super fun!  

Monday:  Last Girls on the Run practice.  I am at the part of the year where I already ready for a break from coaching till track club in the spring, but also super sad to not be at the school in these kiddo's lives for the rest of the year.  I know with over 20 girls and two teams that we will have repeat girls next year, but we are loosing 9 girls to middle school next year :(  Glad we have a program now in the middle school so these girls can still run and have fun together. 

Tuesday:  Spent the afternoon/night at the vet clinic with Deuce.  He was still having issues with guzzling water and accidents and I was worried that he might have a UTI or something worse.  I was suppose to run, but after getting out from doing test after test after test and not finding anything wrong (good problem to have) I just wanted to eat and go to bed.  Go figure, that very night he only had one accident versus the 4-6 he was having.  We now have a great baseline for senior bloodwork, so I am happy about that, but I am sure the bill is going to be a wee bit high.  

Wednesday: Sugar Plum Yoga + run.  Since I didn't get my run in on Tuesday, I decided a quick run and then yoga.  Let me just say I am not a fan of yoga.  Never have been even with amazing teachers.  I think I just am not good at sitting with my own thoughts.  I seriously was counting down the minutes till we were done and it was only a 35 minute program.  I am not saying it wasn't good for me, it was amazing. I just didn't do very well sitting there and waiting and trying to relax.  I was also pretty sore and stiff afterwards, meaning I really needed to be doing yoga.  Now to just get my brain to deal.  Many if not most  of the positions while super simple, I couldn't even half way attempt, but it is what it is.  

Thursday:  Hot Buns run.  This run was very fun, but oh my, I was super sore a day later.  The premise was you were to run for 10 minutes then stop and do 10 air squats, 10 rear lunges, and 10 jumping jacks with a repeat every 10 minutes for up to 50 minutes.  My dogs thought I had lost my mind every time I stopped and started attacking each other.  Only my dogs.  We ended with a little more than 4 miles.

Friday:  This was suppose to be pick a present day of either strength or cross train, but I made it rest day since I needed to run Saturday and Sunday.  I will catch strength or cross next week on Monday.  I worked late and joined the boys at the winery for a cookie decorating class by our local cookie maker.  She is an amazing teacher and we all really enjoyed learning the techniques she uses to make her amazing cookies.  Also being at the winery we could have a glass of wine while we decorated which made decorating so much more fun.  The boys decorated while I watched.  

Saturday:  SPIBelt Saturday long run day.  I am slowly building back up to 10  miles on the weekend, so since I did 7 last weekend, 8 it was.  I am always on the look out for my eagles, and while we didn't see any, we did see lots of snow geese flying at least.  I am thinking thanks to the warmer weather, it may be a while before I see my eagles.  

After my long run we had the Girls on the Run 5k.  Most if not all of my girls rocked their practice 5K, so I knew they would be fine as long as they didn't get caught up in the excitement and go out too fast.  I am so super proud of all of them for working hard all season and giving their all at the race.  I think many of the girls were super surprised at how well they did.  As always I was sad to see the season end, but ready to have my two days a week back so I can just work my butt off at Coleman Electric.

Later we headed to Holton to hang out with the Beckers.  We sponsor their kid's dirt race car and we just love hanging out with them.  Their super cute little town has a Christmas parade AND they have a local brewery, Wilcott Brewery that I had been dying to try.  Wilcott had a nice spiced ale along with a food truck that had a variety smoked meats.   We had fun learning about Holton and how it was built in a big town square, but next time since the space is so small in the tasting room, we need some music free time for future visits so we can talk without yelling.  

Sunday:  Rest day or run day. Since I am still trying to get back to 4 days a week running I opted to run since I took a rest day Friday night.  I just did a quick 5K since I had a million and one things to do.  I needed to clean house, do laundry, finish getting leaves raked up, get the Christmas tree decorated, and do work.  We also wanted to go to another local sip and shop, this time in Manhattan.   Once I got my anxiety brain a little calmed down, I started tackling the day and got most everything except the Christmas decorations out. We also opted out from the sip and shop when my running partner called and let us know it was very packed.  While I am vaccinated, I am not boosted, and Andrew is still waiting to get his shot.   We decided to have a super late lunch of pizza at Old Chicago along with some good beer.  Since we went later, it was practically empty and I had some yummy Breckenridge Christmas Ale, one of my favorites.  

Week one ish done!  Having to modify but having fun.  Looks like winter is officially arriving this week, which is fine by me since i am getting creeped out wearing shorts and t shirts during my runs.  Have a great week y'all!