Week 6: Training for the Rockin K Trail marathon

I no longer have to say the word "REAL" in my titles because I previously hadn't gotten to week 6 before hitting the reset button and starting over.  Whew, shorter title.  On a sad note, my Aunt Bab's passed away in her sleep over the previous weekend.  She was 81 and had lived an amazing life.  She was the picture of what hard work is.  She was still bowling at her age regularly, going to tournaments, and having lunches regularly with her friends despite her COPD.  She is my mom's closest sister, so please keep my mom and aunt nancy (her other sister), and her 4 kiddos and numerous grand kids in your thoughts and prayers.  This week was all about figuring out how to get to TN and still get my runs in.

I love this picture of my aunt and andrew.  I think this was at his first birthday party

Monday:  Back squat day and Cross Fit fun.  We are almost to our max out for this series, so I upped the weights for this round.  The work out was pretty straight forward just going from 65% up to 90% and then doing a few extra rounds at 85%. I told my coach later this felt too easy and I was worried I had grabbed the trainer bar by mistake (which she said I did not).  We finished with a 1K meter row, which I got another PR on reducing my time down to 4:43 for that distance.  My legs felt pretty weak at the end thanks to the 16 miler I had done on saturday.  I am still not rowing the way I need to be.  I feel like I correct one thing and then I create a new problem.  I was leaning back way too much when I was pulling (is this the correct term?) so to try and stop doing that, I am now not getting full leg extension and returning the handle too quickly.  Sigh.  1 step forward and one step back.

Tuesday:  7 miles and travel.  Once all of the funeral arrangements were set, I could get a ticket and plan my trip.  I needed to get my mileage done before I headed out to the airport to beat the snow storm that was coming in. I decided to add a couple of extra miles so if I needed to do less tomorrow, I could. Then I headed to our local airport early to beat the snow. I sat, and sat, and sat, and sat.  They delayed my flight and delayed and delayed.  I just had a good book, my phone plugged into an outlet and some good snacks so I wasn't too worried.  Except my mom on the other end was going to be driving in late and then driving us both back super late.  I told her we could just get a hotel but she is super woman and was wide awake so no need to sleep!  She even let me sleep till 10 am the next day, glorious!

Wednesday:  Easy 5.  I planned a route from my mom's house and then some weirdo kept following me which made me change everything.  It's a long drawn out story, but he kept blocking my way through the park at the end of their road and making me feel very uncomfortable, so I just did hill repeats up and down my parent's street for 5 miles.  At one point it was pouring rain, but I was in my tech T and shorts and it felt SO good to be outside and not freezing my buns off!

My aunt babs with my mom

Thursday:  Rest day and funeral.  We laid my Aunt Babs to rest and visited with family.  I hate that it takes something like this to get family together, but we sure did have an amazing time visiting and catching up.  We are all scattered from TX to KS to North Carolina.  There were 6 cousins and 2 second cousins there, and even though we range in age, we all had a great time.  Plus, my brother in Atlanta came up and stayed with us all afternoon and night. 

We ate, drank, and told stories, and it was beautiful and sad and amazing all rolled into one.  My aunt Babs touched a lot of lives and it was very heart warming to hear stories and meet people that she had influenced and loved.  The best part was one of her distract managers at Walmart came and talked during the funeral services, and he told the best stories that made us laugh and cry.  The rain that was forecasted that day held off, and I would like to think my aunt had a hand in that:)

my why can't the walkers stay in the correct lanes face

Friday:  Easy 5.    When it was time to go run, it was pouring outside, and i just didn't feel like doing a rain run.  I hit up my mom's gym where there is an indoor track and treadmills.  Nine laps = one mile, but I decided to trust my watch's indoor setting and just do it.  There are very strict rules about the way you handle the track, but no one follows them.  It's always fun to be running in between walkers and getting blocked by them walking three and four abreast, as they constantly are NOT in their lanes.  My knee was throbbing about half way through, since you HAD to run the same way at all times.  My Cross Fit coach told me I should have done some miles backwards LOL!  I had thought about doing my dead lifts post run, but Coach Erin said no since I had an 18 miler the next day.  It turned out that one of my best friends from growing up was in town as well planning a funeral for her grandma so we met up for a late lunch/early dinner.  I wished we had gotten some pictures.  We ate at this really awesome local brewery called Rockin Dough and it was amazing, both the beer and the food.  I am hoping to go and visit Mendy down in FL, because she lives very close to the beach and not far from Orlando.  I think Andrew would love it!

what I was trying to outrun

Saturday:  18 miles.  The forecast looked horrible, but the prospect of running 18 miles on an indoor track sounded horrible, especially after just doing an hour was like pulling teeth.  I decided as long as there was no lightning, my butt was going to be outside.  Rain wouldn't make me melt.  Sidewalks however are not my normal running surface, so my body was not happy about half way through.  Between my mom calling and step dad calling every time it rained, I was feeling very safe and loved and glad i had aftershokz headphones.  I headed out of their neighborhood and did some out and backs in an industrial area and listened to This Podcast Will Kill you and Another Mother Runner.  It's amazing how good podcasts make you forget how long you have been running.  No weirdos at all, just a few honks, and a nice quick conversation with a homeless man about how drenched i was.  After a shower and some rest we once again had a late lunch at my favorite pizza place Snappy Tomato.

Sunday:  Rest and travel day.  Mom and I got on the road super early and to the airport in plenty of time.  Both of my flights were on time and I got to dine on some real chicago pizza at the airport!  Yes, I think the theme of my trip was pizza and fried chicken and I had a couple of cheat days but it is what it is. 

blue skies and 50 mph winds

I arrived home in plenty of time to do 8 loads of laundry and clean the house from top to bottom (typed with a very sarcastic font), but I am just thankful that my hubby took on the challenge of three crazy dogs and a 6 year old solo so I could get away and be with my family. 

As always, I am linking up with HoHo Runs and Wendy at Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.  Please forgive my typos and incoherent sentences as I am typing this up late Sunday night:).  This is the last week for the weekly wrap hosted by these two ladies and I am very, very sad it is ending.  I can't wait to join some of the other wrap ups but this one will always be my first and favorite.