Week Four: Training for the Hawk 50

Monday:  Rest day + rehab exercises + Tony's b day + Memorial day.  I haven't been to a store in probably 2 months therefor, I had no card and no present since I had banked on amazon being wrong on it's shipping for Tony's new shirt (above).  For once it was right:(   Oh well, I had a picture of the shirt to show him on the actual day.  We woke up, made homemade cards, and Andrew and I fixed breakfast in bed (cereal + coffee+ banana = my kind of cooking). 

Tuesday:  5 miles.  Woke up to rain which meant running post work. Boom has been feeling better so he subbed in for stella. I am going to keep her at 4 or less runs a week.  It was a wee bit humid but again, a nice breeze was blowing and there were plenty of puddles for doggy feet to cool off in.

Wednesday:  4 miles.  Again every gravel and trail is mud and we don't run on mud to protect the trails/gravel roads.  This means pavement running.  Yuck.  So hard on my body when it's so use to soft gravel or trails.  Oh well, we may be off of the trails for the next couple of weeks with the amount of rain we have been getting.  We ran through the industrial complex again to stay somewhat dry.  My stomach rebelled and i had to find a ditch quick on the way back. I have been battling some weird indigestion lately and now it has manifested into upsetting my tummy.  WTH body?  Usually this only happens when I eat certain foods but this time there has been no rhyme or reason and my usual indigestion medicine isn't working.  Sigh.  

Thursday:  6 miles.  Hubby again had a work thing early in the morning (spoiler alert, he did NOT get up), but it also rained so I slept in.  Later the rain chances were pretty much gone however it was suppose to be low 80s.  I as well as the dogs can handle heat without humidity SO much better than the combo of the two.  We headed out with our packs and water for the dogs with the intention of evaluation at every mile.  There were also lots of puddles on the road from the rain for them to get in if needed.  I honestly think Stella fared better than I did.  It was hot enough to my body that I felt sick to my stomach a few times, but heat acclimation has to be done.  She was smiling and sprinting all over the place, which usually means she is unfazed.   I checked in with her every mile and she kept giving me great response, meaning we finished the entire 6 miles.  I was SORE. I am hoping that this is just from the first week of 3 runs in a row, but I felt sluggish, heavy, and sore.   

Friday:  Rest day + rehab exercises.  My plan was work + eat + early to bed.  My plan did not happen.  We instead went to the track post work and got some laps in.  Tony has been changing lots on the car and Andrew has not enjoyed the changes.  Last trip the changes were so much to Andrew's little brain that he had a huge meltdown and refused to do any more practicing.  Tony had mostly changed the car back except a couple of little things. Well Andrew is SO sensitive to the way that car handles that he had another mini meltdown.  We fixed what we could at the track without tools and such and he went out and finished strong, but Tony admitted he needed to change a few things back still.  I don't like the meltdowns, but I do appreciate that Andrew can feel the differences, even if they are ever so slight.  We as parents need to channel that into words that he can use to tell Tony how he wants his car adjusted instead of huge meltdowns.  We got home super late, ate a super crappy dinner, and collapsed in bed.  

Saturday: Long run day.   With all of the rain, we knew the trails would be a no-go meaning that we had two choices, our normal route or go to Marysville to hit the crushed limestone trail there.  Since the temps and humidity were suppose to stay cool and low, we decided to leave around 5:30 am to be at the trail head by 6:30 am in Marysville.   

We love the beauty of the Marysville trail and we figured there would be TONS of people out biking or running.  We got the trail head and there was one car with a kiddo and a big sister and then two ladies who looked like they were completing a virtual race as they had matching shirts on.  Don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining, but it was a perfect day to run/walk/bike/hike and I can't figure out why more weren't enjoying it.  

I ran for the first time this year with my bladder giving the dogs plenty of water.  I had used this bladder and hose with my old Ultimate Direction pack, but not my new Salomen Adv Skin 8 pack.  Got the bladder in place however I had NOT figured out how to thread the hose.  Got creative with it but hoping to find a better way for next time and maybe will be cutting the hose to make it shorter.  Had plenty of water for Stella, however I did take only one bottle for me and even thought it was not hot outside, I made it through one whole bottle before we got to the end.  No big deal, drank Stella's water instead as we had plenty but yuck, sink water is not my favorite.  

I am having issues with my calf muscles again during the run and I am not really sure what to do about it.  I think I will try running with my compression sleeves to see if that helps.  I would hope that my legs are adapted to the zero drop shoes by now.  I only have about 180 miles on my shoes, BUT i have been wearing them 24/7 hoping that wearing nothing but zero drop would help my whole body adjust.  I have a new pair of Altras just waiting to be worn and maybe now is the time.

  

Sunday:  5 miles.  I dreaded this run mainly because I was SO sore post long run.  I woke up a little stiff, but not too bad on the soreness.  My running partner had the same experience soreness wise, not sure what is going on with both of us. Flat should not equal this much soreness! I decided to give stella another rest day and took Boom a loom instead.  He was fine till we got back to the neighborhood and everyone had their dogs in their backyards and the squirrels were also out in full force.  His brain exploded and leaked out of his ears, which resulted in a big tongue hanging out due to a mini pitched fit.  I am liking being able to take them both out separately and may continue 3 runs with stella and 2 runs with boom for now.  

I am glad to have made it through another week and looking forward to a little bit lower mileage during the week with some big long runs.  Have a great week!

Week Three: Training for the Hawk 50

Woke up to this announcement on our FB page for the race.  I thought I would post it here, unfortunately though, it is kinda hard to read.  Basically, they don't know what is going to happen and we will know when they know about the race.  I know both of the RDs and with any RD, the decision will be made with lots and lots of care and sleepless nights I am sure.  We have decided that even if they cancel the race itself, we will do some sort of virtual event out at Clinton Lake and our families will be our aid stations and crew (if allowed).  We are going to continue to train and hope for the best!

Monday:  Usually chiro day except Andrew's teacher decided to hold a zoom meeting with the class the last two days of school at the exact time of my appointment. I am fine with that as last week wasn't the best with regards to me getting my exercises done.  I am glad that we are hopefully done with the big benefits audit we were dealing with that we got randomly picked to be in (Lucky us insert eye roll). Normally, I would take a full rest day on Monday, but this is the last week of  running 4 days a week, so I am going to have to shift to working out Mondays and Fridays anyway.  I have been doing really, really good with my hammy/glute exercises however, not so well with my core stuff.  Bad me!!

Tuesday:  4 miles.  I debated on what to do.  Take stella or leave her?  Take boom too or leave her and just take him?  In the end I decided to take her by herself and let her stay off leash when we got to the gravel.  She is an amazing dog off leash and pretty much runs with us either right behind me or at Robin's side.  It was 100% humidity according to Robin's phone, so I was interested to see how she handled it.  She was fine HOWEVER she wasn't pulling.  I did make an appointment to get her belly and underside shaved and more grooming for her coat.  I try and get her brushed out once a week, but groomers are worth their weight in gold and can do such a better job than me.  Post IMPA and azathioprine and total coat loss, she has the THICKEST undercoat EVER!  She also had an adjustment and of course she is having the EXACT SAME ISSUE as me with regards to her psoas getting tight and pulling things down.  Sigh.  Why do we have to be so alike?????

Wednesday:  Last week of not running on Wednesdays. Going to enjoy it for now. Loving my new iphone 11!  Taking lots of portrait pics lately.  LOVE this one of my Stella ella and our pretty porch flowers. I usually don't spend money on annuals and prefer perennials,  but this year I couldn't resist the pretty colors.

Thursday:  4 miles.  While the temps were okay and the humidity was low, it felt super duper heavy out.  We got our four in with stella hanging behind me for a lot of the run.  I really hope we are not seeing exercise intolerance due to heat :(  I need my girl to train with me, however I have to do what is best for her in the long run.  Boom is ready to sub in at any moment, but I am not sure i am ready to give up on my girl.  I will be watching her like a hawk.

our new hobby.  Drinking a beer post work and watching our neighbors :)

Friday: Rehab exercise and rest day.  Fridays and Mondays will be my rest days from now on and my new rehab days.  I have to make myself do ALL of my exercises.  I have been keeping a spreadsheet to keep myself accountable.   On my non running days I do at least 4 of hammy/glute and 4 of core.  Please help me stay accountable!!!!

Saturday:  Long run day!  12 miles. It's funny how hard doing this distance is for me now.  I am sore and sluggish and cue the foreigner because it feels like the first time :)  Thanks to having not one, but two dogs with diarrhea and having to clean floors and butts when I got up, we didn't get gone till almost 7.  We started out with clouds that quickly burnt off, but the humidity wasn't horrible and there was tons of water on the road.  My running partner is much faster than me and I tried to not stay right with her and keep my long run pace that I like to hit.  I was still huffing and puffing but that is just me getting use to a) having gained about 10 lbs of new fluff, b) acclimating to a glimpse of summer running, and c) 1.5 beers the night before.  I am going to have to get into my nutrition mindset versus save all of the local businesses by buying growlers and cheese dip and eating out mindset.

Sunday:  Shorter long run day.  I was up at 3 am with a puking dog.  The vet had given us canned food to feed both diarrhea dogs and while Deuce LOVED his, Boom was not thrilled.  I mixed his with a little bit of kibble for his dinner and I am hoping the food just didn't agree with him and we are not dealing with a blockage.  Both dogs went accident free all night so I call that I WIN!  We woke up to temps in the low 70s and humidity in the mid 80s.  There was a breeze but we decided to reevaluate at every mile to see if we needed to turn around.  We had plenty of water for the dogs and there was still water on the road for them to get their feet and tummies wet.  It was beautiful out however, I feel like we are still going to have to get up even earlier very, very soon.  I am so #teamwinter over here. 

I should also add in to this week that Andrew finished school for the year.  He won an artist award and got a very nice collage of all of his classmates that his teacher made for them since they didn't get spring pictures taken.  His teacher also made them a collage of words that other teachers/kiddos said about them and his was shaped as a moped.  My favorite word about him is friendly because if anything, I hope my kiddo is kind, friendly, approachable, and inclusive.

Have a great week y'all!  Scared and nervous to get back to 5 days a week but hoping for the best!

Week Two: Training for the Hawk 50

Week 2 and all is well!  Let's keep it that way!

Monday:  Rest day and Chiro day.  We worked on some new exercises and again tweaked some old ones. I have nerve pain/issues after doing kick stands and trunk rotations (hard to explain, need to load a video) so discussed that.  While it does flare the nerve, we are going to keep doing them as we are doing them right.  I hope we can figure out the why because the why is what drives me nuts.  We talked about doing some little mini work outs in sequence with several of my exercises and reducing the number per set, but increasing the sets (i currently do 10 per leg or side and call it good but do them throughout the day)

Tuesday:  4 miles.  It's so weird to only be doing 4 miles, but I am going to enjoy it while I can.  It was 40 degrees with 90% humidity.  Oh Kansas, you need to knock it off.  The humidity is totally killing our already slow walk run pace however, it does this every year, so it is what it is.

love my pretty columbine!  Planted some new this year so hoping it blooms different colors next year!

Wednesday:  Rest day for now....We kind of thought about running because Thursday's weather looked like all storms.  Then the wind kicked up and we were having huge wind gusts and it was dark and scary looking. We decided to take our rest day and take our chances.  I only got through half of my exercises since I thought we might run, whoops.

Thursday:  4 miles.  Tony had some work to do early in the am which meant we had to change our run time till later.  We had storms forecasted all day, but specifically for  our post run run time.  We headed out with lightning trackers and radar in hand. We heard some rumblings from the clouds and never saw any lightning until we were about 1 mile away from home. My tracker pinged once although I saw nothing on the map.

When I got home I looked at my tracker and saw this.  Uh tracker, you were suppose to be going off if lightning was this close!!!!!!I guess the one ping was all of the dots????  We got lucky as we were on the east and south side of the blue dot but still scary!!!!!

Friday:  Rest day.   Do lots of stuff at work day and be busy every single minute and not get your work out done.  Oh well.

Saturday:  Due to mud being the story for most all trails due to some late week rain, we decided to try a trail similar to our Linear trail yet in a totally different city.   The trail was a very nice crushed limestone trail that went all the way  into Nebraska if you wanted to go the full way.  We just needed 10, so 5 out and 5 back worked for today.   One of my running friends keyed me into this trail and it will be perfect for when the trails are shut down due to mud.  It's flat as a pancake, but very scenic and mostly shaded and very pretty.  We will be back for sure.  Note to self, carry plenty of water for the dogs.

There was also a nice coffee shop downtown that had one of the best mochas I have ever had. Their town is famous for black squirrels and like our Totos around town, they have statues of squirrels all over.  I love that they are wearing masks!

Sunday:  We were again on the hunt for new to us trails.  We decided to try a trail we had all heard about but never seen in Manhattan.  Manhattan has a small but very nice zoo named Sunset Zoo and we had heard there were trails around the outside that lead to Linear Trail, our local crushed flat limestone trail.  We had a map however it was a little hard to interpret.  Alltrails had nothing so we just picked what looked like a trail and took it, straight to a dead end or so it appeared.  We quickly headed back and thought hmmmm, even though this path doesn't look like a trail, maybe this is it? It was just a freshly mowed strip that lead to the trail head that quickly dumped into a rocky, steep, single track trail.  It must be used by mountain bikers because it had several features for bikes.  We also saw rebar sticking up in a couple of places that I would think would be horrible for bikes and runners.

I will be honest in that it is a interesting trail, but not very runnable and not fun for me strapped to a dog to complete.  I would like to take my kiddo back out there some time and hike for sure, minus dogs.  It was pretty and I loved hearing the animals at the zoo making noises.  I know we only saw a part of it too and I would love to check out more it.

We also had a bit of a scare when we got back to the cars.  The weather was very nice, low humidity and a comfortable 56 degrees. I had brought my hand held and had it full of ice and water.  Mel and Robin had theirs as well.  Stella was rearing to go and was not enjoying being the last dog.  Unfortunately I am not very adept on the trails, so we commonly get behind.  Stella was NOT happy with where we were and was pulling very hard.  I had to stop numerous times and give her water and try to get her to calm down.  It was like she was working herself into a frenzy.  When we got to our turn around at mile 3, she had drank most of my water in my hand held.  I started looking for places on our way back (the trail backs lots of local businesses) that might have a hose to fill up my bottle and hose her down.  She didn't feel hot though, it was weird.  She was just super duper worked up and the more we stopped, the worse she seemed to get.  Anyway, between Mel and Robin's handhelds we felt like the dogs had plenty of water.  We got back to the car and i had a large jug of water to fill up their bowls.  As i was filling up Stella and Boom's bowl, Stella started staggering and having trouble standing.  Mel grabbed her and quickly started dousing her with water.  Again, she didn't feel hot, so I am not sure it was a reaction to heat or just her frenzied state.  Mel just held her and massaged her and I kept giving her water to drink as needed.  I am so puzzled.  It wasn't hot or humid out, we had a very nice cool wind blowing.  She isn't heat acclimated yet, but she has never had trouble before getting heat acclimated.  She is 9 this year, so this may come with the territory from now on out.  I am going to cut her back to 3 runs a week while we acclimate for a while and may have to do either loops or stay closer to home where my hubby can come and get her if she has troubles again.  I think I will also start bringing ice and towels just in case we need to cool her down a little quicker.  You aren't suppose to use cold water as it is too shocking to the system, but it would be nice to be able to put the ice in the towels to put under her arms and in her belly region.  Again, she didn't seem overly hot just worked up, but I don't want this ever happen again, even if that means running by myself so she isn't trying to catch up to anyone :(

Have a great week everyone!  We have one more 4 day a week run before we ease into 5 days a week so pray my hammy can stay happy :)

Week One: Training for the Hawk 50

Here we are!  Week 1 and excited and nervous, but determined.  I am doubling down on all of my rehab exercises so I can get to the start line this time!

Monday: Rest day and chiro day.  Got to work on a few of my exercises I had been struggling with.   I know, I probably shouldn't be paying 50 bucks a pop for an adjustment and to work on rehab exercises, but mentally I need it. It's my therapy and my ability to make sure this pain (which still comes and goes periodically) stays at bay.  Plus, just like I love my two massage therapists, I love my chiro.  Even though she doesn't understand why i would want to run massive amounts of miles for no reason other than to say I did, she is committed to helping me stay pain and injury free.   Monday was also Stella's 9th Barkday!  How is it possible that this dog is 9 years old???  She certainly doesn't act like it!  For some cute pictures, check out my blog post here that I did for a birthday years ago.

Tuesday:  Got up at 5:20 to hit the road by 5:45 am.  Meant to get up at 4:45 am to let my stomach settle and I hit snooze and went back to sleep.  GAH.  It was a chilly morning, but I totally overdressed and felt toasty warm.  I still am totally loving my vest I got from Another Mother Runner.  I had my first ditch dive in a long time as my stomach rebelled.  Must remember to NOT drink beer the night before a run, as I am sure that doesn't help.

Wednesday:  Right now this is a rest day, but it is not complete rest thanks to my rehab exercises.  I need to talk to my chiro about the kick stands.  Any time I do those exercises, they really irritate that nerve, and I am sore for rest of that day and the next day.  I know we need to strengthen things, but maybe this is a key to the puzzle that is whatever this injury truly is.

Thursday:  Another run.  Was suppose to be 3, but we went 4.  Oh well, the weekly mileage this week on the plan was less than what we had been doing, so I don't think going over by 1 or 2 miles is going to be a bad thing.    We tried not waiting around at the beginning to try and avoid Boom's screams, instead timing it where Robin came out of the house with her dogs and we immediately started our watches and went.  That worked.  Till we came to the last house on our way out and the little yappy dog that lives there was out in his yard.   Dear lord, boom sounded like he was a dying  animal as he was trying to return the volley coming from the little dog and or reach him.  I was trying to wrestle him away from pulling me sideways to my death via face plant on asphalt and get back on our path.  Once we got passed all of that fun, he was fine other than pulling.  He pulls like a sled dog, which is nice in a race, but not so nice on an easy run.  We have a lot of work to do before he is going to be the best running dog ever, but I am up for the challenge.  

my new goodrs and my new mask

Friday:  Rest day.  Do rehab exercises and drink yummy beer at night day.  Sigh.  My weight is up so much right now that I really need to stop with the yummy beers and cookies, but a girl has to support her favorite local eateries right?

Saturday:  8 miles at Clinton Lake

We wanted to get to the trails, but we weren't sure where to go. I want to go explore the Randolph area except those are horse trails and not well maintained.  Plus, a fellow runner said she had gone out there last spring and gotten covered in ticks and chiggers.  NO THANK YOU!  Clinton had gotten a bit of rain, but they do a trail report on FB, so we waited to see what they would post.  Was almost asleep when my phone dinged and I had been tagged in the trail report.  Some mud but OPEN!  Yipeee!!!!!  Since it was suppose to get cold the night before, we figured we didn't have to go out quite so early, as most people wouldn't be out so early clogging up the trails.  We saw two little boys on their bikes and some what appeared to be high school kids on another trail above us out hiking.  Other than that we had the trail to ourselves.  The streams were flowing, there was a tiny bit of mud here and there, and the flowers were all blooming.  I got to show Robin several places where we do trail hawks races, and let her see the beauty and the technicality of the white trail.  We did drop down on blue a couple of times just to see how bad it was and the parts we were on, they were fine.  We also went down to Lake Henry and I showed her different connectors and how you could loop.  My hammy was not angry at all which means my rehab has to be working!  Knock on wood that this continues as my mileage goes up!

Sunday:  We decided to check out a local trail that was new to me.  I figured if it was a dud we didn't have to go back to it again.  After digging around I found a document that said the trail itself was a 1.5 mile trail.  Not the greatest to get 4-5 miles on, but doable, especially if it was pretty.  The trail itself was pretty smooth and had several little connectors that lead down to the river and back up and also to the park itself.  The park had some playground equipment, a big disc golf course, and two dog parks.  We had heard that there were lots of people who went out with loose dogs, which kind of scared me, but hoped that if we got out there early enough, we should be okay.  Melly met us out there, rockin robin and I drove together, and a new friend Jennifer met us at the dog park and we set out.  I am happy that we only saw 2 loose dogs and both were under vocal control and did not bother our dogs at all.  We had a nice run together, staying 6 feet apart I might add, and would love to go back to that trail when we need an easy short run.  Jennifer even told us that this was her first trail run and we can't wait to show her more trails in the area!

Happy Mother's day!  Have a great week! I am going to enjoy my present, a percussion massager from our local running store.  I think we can all use it so bonus for all of us.  See ya next week!

Last week before official training begins

Scared?  Yep.  Ready?  Nope.  One more week before we start training again!  I have modified the plan I found to do several weeks of 4 runs a week before we go into 5 days a week and I hope that helps my body adapt a little easier.  

Monday: Strawberry Pie from our favorite local eatery The Friendship House and a bike ride post work with Rockin Robin.  Perfection.  

Tuesday:  Super raider award plus sunrise run.  Perfect timing since Andrew finished both his common core math work book and his common core English work book.  He wanted to keep the sign, but it goes back unfortunately so it can go to other super raiders.  Glad the school is doing something fun to lift these kiddo's spirits.

Wednesday:  Any day with art in the lesson plan is a good day for my kiddo.  He had to draw what he wanted to drive when he grew up.  Of course he drew the M and M car.  Sigh.  At least he likes the car and not the driver....yet.   Started on my new exercises regime. I have about 16 exercises mixed with core and hammy/glute stuff.  On my non run days I have to pick 8 (4 of each and do them).  On my run days I have to just do 4 total (2 of each). I like this plan and it gives me an excuse to get up from my desk periodically all day.  

Thursday:  5 miles at 5:45 am.  Enjoying seeing the sunrise again, but not getting up.  Get with the program body, warm times are ahead.  That first week is always the hardest.  My stomach rebels the whole time we run, and I am ready to go to bed at 8 pm.  

Friday:  Happy May Day!!!!  Second set of exercises done and the 100 rep challenge officially finished.  Of course last day was burpees, but I broke them up to 10 at a time and did not do the push up, just plank to squat and then explode up.  I hate burpees with a passion so I was super proud to get through all 100 in a day and not die.

Saturday: Headed out to Fancy Creek for 8 miles.  We were doing well and having a great time till my running partner fell and cut her hand.  At lease she had a wipe to clean it with in her pack (and I will be adding antiseptic wipes to my pack for future runs.  We were able to put the wipe on it and then tie a poop bag around it.  We did see one biker on the trail and towards the end, several hikers (with loose dogs URGH).  We both felt like the days of hitting the trail at 8 am were over and that we were going to have to get up and run much much earlier to beat the heat.  Sigh.  Not ready to feel so tired all of the time.  Afterwards met with my other running partner and went over our plan to run the Hawk 50.  I have found a way to tweak it to make sure we have several week of 4 day a week runs before we dive right into 5 day a week runs.

Sunday:  Slept in a little due to having beers and burgers and smores the night before.  YUM!  It was so worth it.   The weather was warm but with a nice breeze.  I took Boom boom and he got hot, but handled it well.  I have a feeling very soon I will need to run with both of them to get them both heat acclimated.  Stella will probably still be my main trail dog though.  Afterwards we had another fire in the back yard with all of the sticks and wood we have collected lately in our yard and our neighbor's yard.

Have a great week!  Scared but looking forward to starting a new training cycle.