Joy to the Run Week 2

Joy to the Run week 2 is on the books!  Here is a daily break down because WHY NOT!  I feel like I haven't officially "trained" in a while and haven't really had anything to say about each and every day.  Well now I do :)

Monday: Easy run/Joy to the Run  #Bravelikegabe run.  I am use to Monday being a rest day, as I usually do back to back long runs on the weekends.  It's very odd to head out on a Monday for me, but I didn't want to miss the work out and miss the contest!  Plus, we got to tell everyone on our Facebook group what brought us joy.  I had planned on taking it easy, but Boom was not in the mood to go slow, so I think we actually had more of a tempo run than an easy run.  I have so many things that bring me joy right now.  A beer with friends, a warm cup of coffee post long run, my kiddo being so excited for Christmas, seeing so many houses lit up with Christmas lights at night, and my dogs just to name a few.  

Tuesday:  X to the T or Glute circuit.  I chose the X to the T since Tuesday is a normal running night for me anyway.  You could do both as it was an and or, but after doing the run, to be a southerner here, I was just plumb worn out.  The work out called for a 5 minute warm up,  and then 10 repeats of one minute "hard" and 1 minute "easy".  I chose to run full out for 1 minute, walk for 30 seconds to catch my breath and then a slow run for 30 seconds.  Even though it was only about a 30 ish minute work out, it kicked my butt SO hard.  

Wednesday: Recovery Yoga.  Okay honesty here.  I hate yoga.  I think it's mostly the fact that I have to be still, be in the moment, and kind of meditate, all the things I am NOT good at.  Pretty sure I have ADHD because my brain never shuts off, never stops going, so yoga is kind of like a torture session.  I always love it after I do it because it feels amazing to my body, but you'd better bet I hit stop several times on the video to see how many minutes I had left.  

Thursday: Ladder speedwork or Glute circuit.  I really didn't want 5 days of running so decided to skip the run and just do the glute circuit.  Except I realized after I did my glute circuit that this wasn't an either or day.  Whoops.  The ladder work out will have to wait.  Oh well.  This 30 minute circuit got my buns a burning and that is all that matters.   Andrew finally made his list for Santa.  Last year he waited till the very last minute to make his list and we got lucky that we already had what he asked for and even in the correct color.  This year he wants an oculus head set and a Nintendo N64 refurbished with games.  He is very into retro gaming.  Santa is on the headset but was a little unsure about the gaming system, even though Andrew found a website that sells refurbished systems.  Santa's elf Kerry came though though in a clutch and told me about an expansion pack you can buy for the Nintendo Switch that has most if not all of the N64 games he wanted.  Whew. 

Friday:  Easy run.  Was going to head to the park to get pics of the new lights they had just put up but my body had other plans.  Even though I peed several times before I headed out, the urge hit again and I almost didn't make it home. Usually I would just squat in a ditch but there was so much traffic in the industrial park and on our route home that this wasn't an option.  Oh well, got a picture of Mr. Serious. In none running news, Andrew announced to us that he had tried out for and made an honor choir.  While we haven't gotten an official notice that this is true, we are just SO proud of Andrew.  We are awaiting the details but I am blown away that he would step out of his comfort zone and do something like this.  I have always said he would LOVE to be part of either theater or musicals or something and he kept telling me NO.  I think he is going to really enjoy this and I am excited to see where this takes him.  

Saturday:  Etch a sketch run.  Long run day for me and not so etchy sketchy as my gravel roads are pretty much in a big box.  Rockin Robin went out earlier which meant Boom boom and I were solo.  I felt pretty sore from yoga and strength training in the days before.  Sometimes I think, why do I do this, it hurts and I want to not be in pain.  Then I finish and I feel such a great runner's high that I totally forget and go out and do it again.  

Post running we were on a mission.  First, a coffee shop in Manhattan was doing coffee flights and they looked amazing on their posts on Facebook.  We had gone once before and they were out of glasses.  We made the stupid decision to go into Manhattan on a day when graduation was going on and check it out.  Spoiler alert, it was not good.  The coffee was not labeled and I am not sure that they were in the order of the sign they had out as one was suppose to be hot chocolate and I pretty sure there was no hot chocolate.  Two of the coffees were cold and I can't do cold coffee as it makes me gag.  I tried, I gagged.  The other two that were hot were good, but I had no clue what was what to order more.  Then we headed over to the Discovery center where they were having a new exhibit about manufacturing and how things were made.  Andrew assembled a trolley, cut wax, learned how die molds were made, and learned how to use a 3 axis mill.  

I love the rotating exhibits they have as they are always very interactive and we always learn so much.  

Post having fun at the museum we headed over to the brewery to try the new holiday beers they had on tap.  I tried Tis the Saison and A house divided and they were both amazing!  Plus we played Minion Life and Trivial Pursuit and Andrew had some amazing hot chocolate.  All in all, a fun day in Manhattan despite the influx of out of town people in for graduation.  

Sunday:  Rest day.  We hit the mats at a small local wrestling tournament for Andrew to get some early season match experience.  We don't push tournaments as Andrew is not a fan, but my hope was a smaller tourny with maybe not the hard hitters might be good for him to gain some confidence.  You also at a smaller tourny run the risk of weight classes combining as they don't have enough kids at a certain weight.  I am pretty sure that at least 2 of the kids in his class were clearly over 120.  He was at 116 which meant he gave up at least 4 if not more pounds.  He had three matches and while he lost all three, two of them went three periods and had amazing things plus he got a take down and some points in two of the matches.  The third was the guy going for first place that was a good head or so taller and had thrown and pinned the other two kids in less than 30 seconds.  I had no hope for that one other than survive and don't get thrown on his head.  It really is the little things with this kid and I am totally fine with seeing lots of little things that will add up eventually.  

Leaving you with a funny:) Another four run week plus one session of strength and one session of yoga!  I call that a success!!!  Have a great week y'all!