Week 5 of 12: Training for the Hell Creek 20 miler

I didn't take many pictures this week since storms derailed most of my morning runs.  Get ready for some memes that I have found over the week that are very meaningful for the situation we are in right now.  My kiddo starts back to school next week with mask mandates, which I am totally fine with.  Others in our community are having absolute melt downs and claiming religious exemptions.  I hope they understand that those religious exemptions do not protect them from being quarantined every time their unmasked kiddos are exposed this fall.  Heck we are a week away from school and 4 out of the 6 4th grade teachers are already quarantined and will miss the beginning of school including my kiddo's teacher.  You know how I feel.  We are vaccinated, we will wear masks if told to, and we pray for others safety even when they don't want to do the things to keep them safe.  

What I was suppose to do:

Monday:  Rest

Tuesday: 3 miles

Wednesday: 3 miles plus speed

Thursday: Cross train

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 5 miles

Sunday: 3 miles

Monday:  Rest day/Strength. I am an idiot.  Usually I drive my Tahoe to the race track on race day.  Our trailer was at the track overnight,  so I rode with Tony and I took my keys for some odd reason and then left them in his truck.  Of course, he left super early to go meet a client Monday morning.  That meant I was without keys all day and didn't get to the office till late afternoon.  Of course I can work from home but needed to print a million things that day and make phone calls from the work phone.  Oh well, got everything done, and Tony took Andrew to football so I could change gears and lift.  Did dead lifts with 2x10lb plates, back squats with 2x10lb plates, planks, donkey kicks, fire hydrants, walking lunges with a 10lb plate overhead and some incline push ups.  Kept it simple, took around 35 minutes to complete, and was dripping with sweat after.  Little red had a great first practice and was drenched in sweat when he was done.  I have a feeling before this season is over he will be a few lbs lighter and a little bit more in love with the sport of football.  

Tuesday:  3 miles easy or not.  Well, was suppose to be up and running around 6 am and woke up to storms and a splitting headache.  Laid back down to try and get another hour of sleep and got some, but not enough.  Woke up again to try and go back out and still storming and headaching.  Seems to be a common theme lately, storms roll in in the middle of the night, I get a horrible sinus headache in the process.  Unfortunately, I was slammed at work and it was a million degrees out, so no running occurred.  I thought about sneaking out post Andrew's football practice but then I had not eaten so was starving.  

Wednesday:  3 miles easy take 2.  Decided since it was just three I could get up and squeeze it in pre business network meeting.  It was insanely hot, feels like 83 at 6 am, but I just took my time, enjoyed my walk breaks, and got it done.  I did have my first run in my new saucony endorphins.  They are a very aggressive lug, but they felt good on gravel.  The problem is my feet and lower legs are still dealing with the damage the other shoes did that it may take some time to really know if I like these shoes or not.  They do feel much more heavy than any of my previous shoes, so that will take some getting use to.  

Thursday:  Woke up to lightening yet again.  The storm itself was north of here, but we were getting strikes close enough I was not comfortable running.  Woke back up to lightening an hour later.  Finally got away right before work started to get a quick 3 with boom boom.

Friday: I  feel like a broken record.  Woke up to storms all around.  Went back to sleep hoping they would move through and nope, still storming when I got back up an hour later.  Sigh.  Ended up leaving work a little early since I can work 24/7 and from anywhere :) and ran my 3 under some cloudy and humid skies.   Since it was only 3 and there was a ton of water on the gravel thanks to the storms, I brought Boom.  

Saturday:  My long run day called for 5 miles which isn't really a long run in my book, but a cutback week is nice and I will take it :)  The weather had called for cooler temps, so I figured I could sleep in a little since we had a very long night ahead of us at the racetrack.  Woke up to 65 but 93% humidity.  URGH.  The weatherman said the humidity was going to break so I had some coffee and some breakfast and then took off running.  Took boom boom since I knew he would have tons of water to get in on the way.  The crop dusters were out and we had quite the show watching them work on the fields around us.  We took every chance to take a break to cool off in puddles as it wasn't horribly hot, but the humidity was still not great.  I also got a lift session in where i got my front squats in 15 lbs x 2, some deadlifts 25 lbs x 2, some 30 second planks, some single leg balance work, and some kettle bell swings.  

Sunday:  Rest day.  Let me back up.  We had a night race at the track Saturday night.  I have a lot to say but I will leave it at this.  Andrew started well, got wrecked by two of his good friends, completely lost all of his confidence that he had built up, and to top it off, had a horrible wreck while riding a rip rider post race and had to be seen by a medic.  Luckily it wasn't his head he hit, he hit his ribs on the end of a picnic table. I am sure from the wrecks and that he will be super sore for a few days and that football isn't going to be fun this week.  We have some decisions to make about racing and with 4 races left, and I am not sure what they will be.  We could move him up to the Sr classes as he is old enough, but all of those drivers that are currently wrecking him will be in those Sr classes next year.  He has practiced non restricted in his Honda car, but not his Animal car, so we need to get lots of practice in in our already very busy schedule.  Or we could just hang up our hats and be done for the season.  We have put a ton of effort and practice time in this season to only be dealt lots of bad hands.  I would still have to work the tower as it is my obligation, but we could just be done and walk away and maybe try again next year.  Right now what is going on at the track makes me super sad, to see friends at each other's throats every week for what.  Being in the tower allows us to see but not really hear what is going on and it's very appalling what we see.    To have so many friends, adult friends at that in tears last night was just a bit much for me.  I'm incredibly sad and incredibly tired.  This season has just worn me down and honestly I can't wait till it's over.  This use to be my happy place, now I don't even want to go and I can't wait till it's over to get home.  I did get a 10 mile bike ride in but I cried most of the way and talked to my mom on the phone so it was more of a therapy session than a work out.

Monday:  Rest/Strength

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 3 miles plus speed

Thursday: 3 miles

Friday: 3 miles

Saturday: 5 miles/Strength

Sunday: Rest/Bike ride

Have a great week y'all!  We will be busy with football, back to school EEEEK, and race practice.