January Runfessions

Oh boy, first month of the new year!  Let's sit down with a nice craft beer in hand and get some runfessions out of the way mKay?  I am loving some local favorites like Snow and Tell from Boulevard right now!  Heavy dark beers are my winter go to:)

We decided to discontinue Andrew's tutoring at Sylvan.  I runfess, while we LOVED the progress he made during his time there, we were doing something every single night of the week and it was exhausting for all of us. Plus, he is getting extra attention at his school and I honestly wanted to eliminate one variable (outside tutoring) and see what might be causing him to be suddenly so much more successful.  We have noticed a HUGE difference in his attention at wrestling, so we were hoping it was spilling over to his classroom.  We got a wonderful progress report from his teacher about his quarter 2 progress, and she mentioned a HUGE amount of growth lately with his ability to really grasp his reading skills and his math skills.  He is still a little behind on a few things, BUT he is where he needs to be for a young 6 year old in 1st grade.  I will runfess I have not signed him up for any testing because I was dragging my feet and hoping that things would come around.  The school still admits he is having some focus issues but they are doing all the things to help him get better  in the class room including extra time and guidance on tests and having an aide work with him on tasks that require multiple steps.  We are not wanting to medicate at this time anyway so we are going to let the school help him at this point and see how this works for the next quarter.

I runfess that i am one proud momma!  I don't expect Andrew to win, but I do expect him to go out and try every single match.  If you remember in my December runfessions he had one his very first match and while still getting last place and out of the medals in his bracket, he tried hard in most of his matches.  Well, we decided to try another local tournament and low and behold he got 2 wins this time and tried SUPER hard even when the two losses were super good kids.  He came home with a 3rd place medal and the smile on his face stayed on there for quite some time.   I am over the moon proud of him and can't wait to see how this season goes for him.  Will we be state bound, HECK NO!, but I am proud he is trying even when he thinks he is out matched.  I do runfess that his next tournament was not as great with all three matches being losses and only one match being a really awesome match, but I am going to focus on the positives  In the one good match he did NOT let that kid pin him no matter how hard the kid tried and he defended against the half successfully numerous times.  I was working the tournament so I was not mat side and I am hoping that is what made the difference and we will bounce back at the next one.

And another runfession to clean up from December.  My baby Boom.  Brief synopsis, he was having multiple pee accidents in the house, bed, shop, you name it.  After taking him in and looking at his urine, the pH is better, but still not exactly what we want.  The crystals seemed to be gone, so got rid of that problem, but now we have bacteria.  Easy fix, antibiotics on board, accidents slowly going down.  We now have a new problem and it's behavioral for sure.  He is now challenging our older male dog and things have gotten kind of ugly lately. I never leave them unattended together, but now I am really having to keep an eye on them.  Deuce (my older pup) is neutered, but was neutered later in life, so not sure if that is in play as hormones I am sure are starting to surge through little Boom's body.  It seems to me that Boom is picking really stupid reasons to start fights and has twice started something in the middle of the night when they are not anywhere near each other, so they may be sleeping in crates for a while till we figure this one out. I am planning on neutering Boom, but hopefully at a later age, not any time soon.  I runfess that I am super glad that no blood has been spilled and that they are just noisy slobberfests but they still scare me half to death.


There you go, my january runfessions! Check out all of the other great bloggers spilling their beans at the link up!  I am linking up with Marcia's Healthy Slice to get those runfessions off of my chest! 

The REAL Week 1: Training for Rockin K trail marathon

Sorry to be confusing, but I had originally started a 20 week program back in December for this race before we (my cross fit coach and I ) decided to change it all up and do a 12 week cycle.  SO now I have two week one posts for this race! This is my first time training for a race without the help of a running coach, so I admit, I am a bit lost.  I am investing my money in strength training, specifically Cross Fit, and I really hope it pays off in the long run with the strength I am going to gain and the lack of injuries (knocking on a huge piece of wood)!  I do agree that I have been doing this for years so maybe I don't need a 20 or 18 week cycle anymore and yes, less is more. 

Monday:  Cross Fit class.  Back squats and front squats OH MY!   This was the same work out from last week, which I kind of liked since I didn't have to do a lot of thinking.  We did our series of percentages on the back squats and then our WOD included front squats again, working on our progression for hand stand push ups (i am just doing seated dumb bell presses) and Chin ups or pull ups.  I love that I can do an assisted chin up and still get a great work, out even with all of the help I still need.

We also had Rock Band class.  I SO love the fact the he is still enjoying rock band.  He now has several kids in his band and I think they are really going to enjoy jamming together.  The video above is their first lesson together and I think they mastered their song!

Tuesday:  5 miles easy. I woke up pretty darn sore from the WOD the day before, but more so my upper body than my lower body.  Since I am still trying to work out speed work or no speed work and the days I am going to do Cross fit, I decided that today would be an easy day with possibly run walk intervals to see how I felt.  While my upper body was on fire, my lower body felt fine.  The road alternated between straight up gooey mud, slush, ice, and snow.  The poor dogs were mud balls by the time we were done!  Glad aussies dry quickly and shed the mud.  I will just have some serious sweeping and mopping to do later! I did my 4:1 intervals again and while I felt fine, my training effect said a 5 on garmin connect app.  Does anyone else look at that and take much stock in it?  I worry that I am not recovered enough from Cross Fit to run, but I felt fine so who knows.

Wednesday:  Eventually when I get done with my PT sessions (I have one this week and one next)  I will be doing morning Cross Fit classes.  For the next two weeks, I will just be doing Thursday nights and taking this day as a rest day.   

Thursday:  Easy 5 and Cross Fit.  I was glad that the mud all froze, but I was a little worried about ice on the small amount of pavement I do.  Most of my running route was fine, except the bridge I went over to get to my gravel.  On the way out it was fine but, on the way back in the other side was a solid sheet of ice and it was black ice.  I almost fell then and I am probably sure I shouted a very bad word, but that was the only time, thank goodness. 

I am down to two private Cross Fit sessions left and I am going to miss them so much (I know, I say that every week).  This time we worked on our dead lift series and increased the weights from last time.  On my heaviest set 2 x 3 at I think 118 lb, I had a lift I did totally wrong but not intentionally. My body tried to fudge it up by using my upper back and bending my arms, and I thought I was going to break my back. I have no clue why my form and technique broke down so badly, but it did on that one and it really scared me.  After that one bad lift, I was fine, no issues but I was really, really dialed in to form and technique after that.  We also did a little mid line work series where I alternated between good mornings with the bar (10) and then 45 second planks.  After completing three sets of those it was time for the WOD.  I managed to convince Erin to let me do the rower and the assault bike for the first part since I HATE the ass bike as we all call it.  I had to row or ride for 8 calories and then do wall balls to the max for two minutes before starting over. I only had to do 4 rounds of this, but it was killer.  I felt like jello afterwards.

Friday:  Rest day and tournament set up.  Our home tournament was coming up and I had volunteered to help at the head table.  I am slowly learning Track Wrestling and how to run tournaments so I can help out when the next VP comes along. I am not sure I ever want to be a VP, but I would love to help whomever is brave enough.  We were at the gym till 10 getting brackets figured out and such thanks to the snow that had started falling around 4 pm earlier that day.  Unfortunately, my hubby was working till late so andrew was with me and did NOT get in bed very early.  We slowly had scratches coming in all night via text and email that kept changing our brackets.  Surprisingly, on the day of, we still had lots of kiddos show up despite the horrible weather.  I managed to put my big girl panties on and drive home in the crazy snow and ice since it wasn't that far, but I had to have others get my doors and locks open as everything had frozen shut.

Saturday:  Tournament day.   Up bright and early to help our VP and tournament director.  Stupid bad weather had everything in bad shape.  Maybe only 3 or so inches of snow, but lots and lots of drifts and driving was treacherous.  More scratches and more brackets to fix.  We were a learning machine though and even though the brackets were 1 hour late on being hung up, we got them done!  I did NOT like watching from up stairs, but I was good and didn't move from my post.   This is the only tournament that I have to work, so I was going to honor my job.  I posted his videos here so if you are curious, check them out.  Three matches, three losses, tons of learning.  Hoping our next and possibly last tournament is a little better!  He really was doing so well, I just don't want to end the season on a bad note.

I really debated about running post tournament.  Since I had to stay till the end, Tony took Andrew to work with him and I had some kid free time when I got home.  I ended up cleaning and doing laundry and giving the dreamill the stink eye.  I finally around 8 pm decided to just get on and do at least 3 but hopefully 5.  At 4 I quit because i thought I was going to lose my ever loving mind.  My cell phone was dead and my hubby had his ipad, so I had to dig out my old ipod to at least have some tuneage.  I wish I could be one of those people who can just grind it out, but alas, I am not.  Plus stella laid by the mill and stared at me the whole time like I was betraying her.

Sunday:  Long run day.  My hubby is putting in some long hours at his industrial clients, as well as doing a big build job at the shop.  He has had to work tons of nights and weekends lately, which means I either have to find a baby sitter or I have to run on the mill.  Since most of my baby sitters are also runners, this becomes tricky:)  I knew that Tony would want to take Andrew to baseball camp in the afternoon, so instead of a morning run, I planned on a afternoon long run instead.

I'm 5 foot tall and the top of the peak of that drift was as tall as me!

We had gotten 3 or so inches of snow Friday night, but before that we had gotten a day of rain before the snow hit.   Ice was lurking underneath the snow and in some places, I basically had to tip toe to keep from falling.  I don't have any shoes screwed right now thanks to the mild winter last year, but I think I am going to have to sacrifice my old bondis to screws.  Yak Traxs are great but they really hurt my feet unless the snow is deep.  We had horrible winds the day before that drifted the snow and made some country roads completely impassable.  Lucky for me, there is a big cattle farm on my running route and the farmer usually keeps that road plowed.  Unlucky for me, the city had bladed the roads down to the ice, so the three quarters of a mile to my paved roads were not fun.  It took me 2.5 hours to go 10 miles and my body is super sore from trying to stay up right.  I good full body work out right?  No eagles, but I think I spotted a potential eagle nest so going to have to go out with my binoculars and check it out! 

As always I am linking up with HoHo runs and Wendy from Taking the long way home.  Some of my favorite bloggers link up so check out their amazing blogs!  Have a great week!!!!

Wamego Home Tournament-Wrestling

Well, I had high hopes for our home tournament.  Andrew usually does well at this tournament and I couldn't wait to see how he did this year on his home turf.  I am VERY proud of his second match and how he rallied back from a disappointing first match but I wish his third match had gone a little better. 

First match and the kid ran a half on him.  I am not sure his defense against the half is great so I honestly don't think he really knew what to do.  I felt like the match was going well until that reversal and then half.  I hate that he seemed to just give up but I never know what is going on in his head.  

Second match, WHAT a difference.  Defense against the half and 3 periods of trying really hard, even when he was in some bad positions.  This is all I ask, just try.  I don't care if you win, just try.

Third match was a bust.  It appears on the video that he had his shoulder up but I wasn't down there so I can't tell.  This kid has pinned him several times before so it doesn't shock me that he pinned him.  Would have like a little more try but it is what it is.

We have at least one more tournament if not two so excited to see how he works these valuable lessons into his next matches!  I am also looking forward to being back on mat side with him. I was a worker today so that is why the videos aren't the greatest. I was videoing and hollering from the head table :) 

1st Virtual Run Kansas Canicross Chapter

I honestly was not sure how many people would show up to our little event!  The weather has been a little nasty and I had no clue how the paved trail would be after thaw and re freeze.  We had originally planned for the Manhattan River Trail, but after hearing the weather reports,  I quickly changed location and day to possibly circumvent the brunt of the storm and the mess it brought.

Lucky for us, the roads were fine, but the paved trail was a little icy in spots.  Where people had walked the day before and made slush, ice had replaced that slush from the overnight freeze. 

We had four dog runners and two just plain old runners (who might bring their dogs next time:).  Most of us chose to run in the snow next to the trail to try and stay off of the ice.  Our faster runners went out first and then I brought up the rear as the caboose, which meant I could get some pictures of the runners as the completed the out and back.

Erik and June came by first and then our non dog runners along with Tara and Case.

After doing the out and back we proceeded to hit the other side of the trail.  The trail is called the Western Heritage Trail and is a very nice paved trail along the Rock Ford Fishing area that is fed by Tuttle Creek lake.  By doing the trail south to the bridge and back and then north to where it dumps into Tuttle Creek State Park, we had about 2.77 miles.  Since the group was ahead of me and I was not sure if they headed to the Eagle Pass Trail or stayed on pavement, I decided to try Eagle Pass Trail in hopes I could get more out and back photos.  

I love this little trail.  It's protected meaning it has a covering of wood chips and leaves that keep it from getting soggy.  Even today it was very runable with snowy sections here and there.  I found out later that the group went out on the trail and back on the pavement.  I went a little further and got some pavement and another short trail before heading back.  Here are some scenes from Tuttle Creek.

Fun was had by all and I am already getting excited for our next adventure!  I am hoping if the weather cooperates that we can all meet on some actual trails and introduce people to some new to them trails in our area.  

Happy Trails and Happy Tails!

The last week of the in between!

First off, welcome to all the new readers I am getting due to linking up with HoHo runs and Wendy at Taking the Long Way Home.  If you are interested, I have an about me page and my favorite gear pages for both you and your dog!  I blog about running with your pups and life in general, so WELCOME!!!  I am not use to all of the comments and it is kind of fun to actually have comments. I have been blogging for almost 10 years on my various blogs I have had about dogs and life, and am just now getting comments :)  I also can be found on FB at Running With Reds or on Instagram as Redaussie3 and on Twitter as Redaussie31.  I don't really use Twitter, so don't expect a lot from that account, but I do LOVE posting pictures on Instagram!  Last week before training starts and I am ready mentally.  Body, hold it together because here we go!

loving wrestling pictures this year!

Monday:  My first official Cross Fit class!  I was up around 2 am due to the hubby coughing and some crazy dreams I had.  We watched I Feel Pretty last night with Amy Shummer and I think the parts about Soul Cycle were stuck in my head (how crowded and crazy it was).  I dreamed that I got to Cross Fit class and got my bar and rack and then someone stole it.  Then there weren't any plates left to do the lifting we needed to do.  Then my coach loaded me into her truck and took this weird off road drive to a track where we had to line up for some sort of motion control (green screen weirdness) suits and then we were going to do some sort of sprints on a track.  I luckily woke up before the sprinting, but it was a WEIRD dream!

Fast forward to the class, I was super nervous to be joining, since I still feel like I have SO much to learn even though this is my 3rd month of Cross Fit. Plus, I have a weird over thinking brain, so something that is super simple to others takes me forever to get.  Easy stuff like hand positions on the PVC pipe in warm up throws me for a loop sometimes.  Anyway, my BRF Mel was there to help me and to be a guide, and we even ended up sharing a rack because there were so many in class today.  That really helped me as we piggy backed our weights and times.  Mondays are squat day and while I really wanted to do CF on Tuesdays to fit my schedule better, squat days give me the most bang for my buck.  I am going to experiment and see how trashed my legs are running post CF, and just go from there.  I think with the 4:1 intervals, I should be okay, but only time will tell.  I won't know till I try right?

Tuesday: Easy run. I decided to try an experiment. Even though I knew I would be a little fatigued in the leg department, i decided to try an easy run with the 4:1 interval just to see what i felt like.  If I felt too fatigued or too sore, I would have my answer, run in the morning and Cross Fit in the evening same day.  While I was a little sore, I felt like the run went okay.  It's suppose to be an easy run anyway, and it was, so mission accomplished.  I did see an EAGLE!  I had seen him or her from a distance previously, but this is the first time I actually got a good picture!  I almost didn't come down this part of my route because i figured I would just run 4 miles, but something urged me to run 5 that day, so I turned down this route and was super stoked to see this big boy or girl!

I was able to quietly walk by and snap a few pictures.  I was so excited, but alas, he or she flew away.  I was hoping he or she might be back on the pole when I came back through, but he or she was not :(

Wednesday:  DAY OFF!  Y'all I take my rest days seriously, like a BOSS.  Of course resting doesn't take into account laundry, dishes, and running my kiddo around, but those are minor details, Right?!

#crazyeyes

Thursday:  Easy run day and Cross Fit.  Last week of easy runs and i am going to enjoy them.  It was cold, but beautiful, and I tried my 4:1s again.   No bald eagles this time, but lots of geese carcasses indicating they had been out there for sure!

I also had Cross Fit, but this time just a private training session, not a class. I have two more sessions left, and I am really going to miss them when they are done.  I love working one on one with Coach Erin, but am glad she teaches classes too.  We worked on a dead-lift series working high rep to low rep with low to high weight. I am not sure what my max was but my last sets were at 113 lbs and I could definitely tell that weight was getting super challenging.  My WOD was a 100 ft sled pull (can't remember how much weight, but coach kept piling on), 12 bench presses with just the bar, and 100 ft 65 lb sandbag carry.  I had 3 minutes per set and let me tell you, I only had about a 30 second rest in between sets (5 sets total).  It was an amazing work out and I loved it!  I always feel SO strong when I get done!  Since Erin works with me one on one, we sat and talked about upcoming classes and programming.  While I would like to do Tuesday and Thursday classes in the afternoons to avoid getting up early, Mondays and Wednesday's strength portions are more what I need as a runner.  Mondays are squats and Wednesdays are dead-lifts and will be as we move through this current cycle of programming.  Based on that, I am going to try to do Cross fit on M and W (am, hello 4:00 am) and run T/Th and Sat/Sun.  That would give me Fridays as a day off to rest and recover.  I have always tried to work out on the days I run, so this will be new to me and I may have to adjust if my legs aren't feeling rested enough.

practicing baseball! Stop growing!!!

Friday:  Rest day.  I can't wait till it is warm enough or less windy enough to bike outside again!  One of my favorite people is moving back to Wamego and is going to live at the end of my street, and we are going to bike as much as possible!!!!  We use to bike all the time when she lived here previously and I just can't wait.  Biking on the trainer just isn't the same.

Saturday:  Rest day.  Last week of only 3 day a week runs and i am soaking it up.   We got dumped on with some seriously wet and slick snow, and my hubby had an emergency trip to one of the plants he services so little man and I just cuddled up in our pjs and watched movies and did fun stuff all day.  We were entered in a wrestling tournament, but they canceled it due to the weather, and I am glad we didn't have to make the decision. The KC Chiefs were also in the playoffs, and even though we aren't technically Chiefs fans (my brother played for the Denver Broncos for years), we cheered for them and partied it up for them.

Sunday:  CaniCross USA meet-up and longish run.  I had originally planned the virtual run on Saturday, but with the mention of bad weather the night before and day of,  AND the fact that I had entered Andrew in a tournament late on the same day (major mom brain), we had moved it from it's original day of Saturday to Sunday and to a paved trail.

We had four dog runners and 2 that showed up without dogs who we welcomed!  I will do a separate post about our meet up. I am so excited to start this in our area and meet new dog runners!  We had decided to do 6 miles, but everyone quickly left me and I was by myself the entire run, so decided to head out to Eagle point and try and see some eagles just in case.  It's super hard to spot bald eagles with so much snow on the trees, so didn't see any, but Stella and i had so much fun exploring Tuttle and Rocky Ford again!  

I am doing a link up with some amazing ladies!  Check out Wendy from Taking the long Way Home and HoHo runs and all of the other great blogs in the link up.  You won't be disappointed!

Week 3 of the In Between

Week 3 of the in between and again I feel worse than better.  My lower back is killing me suddenly, my hip is bothering me, and my left foot is not happy.  Why am I SO WEIRD!  My coach always use to say that I had a threshold of mileage that if I went below, I had issues, and I am there for sure! Or maybe it is the lack of Cross Fit in my life right now? I mean 1 session is better than no sessions but still, it's got me to thinking.   Going to get in with the Master of Pain at Body First and see if he can get me fixed up and then maybe see a new to me chiropractor. Also, continuing the 3 day a week running just a little bit more before I go into my 12 week cycle.

Monday:  Rest day and New Years Eve!  We had no real plans other than finger foods and board games.  We had been invited to a few parties, but the thought of being out on the roads on New Years eve was a little scary.  We watched some year in review stuff, some Ghost Adventurers (Andrew's new fav show) and some Anderson Cooper ringing in the new year in New York.  Half the crew went to bed at that point, and I stayed up and rang in the New Year with the little apple (Manhattan).

Tuesday:  Andrew and I slept till 10:30 am!!!!!   I haven't slept that long in YEARS! We then had our traditional southern New Year's lunch.

This is Tony's plate not mine. I am not making a resolution to eat better, I am making a goal to eat better and get back to portion control, tracking macros, and making better choices overall.  I had small portions of everything, but none of the greens and the apples.  I really could have done without the bread, and I need to remind myself that I am not really a big fan of bread with meals anyway, that it is more of a habit I have picked up.  

After some house cleaning and lunch, Stella and I headed out to do some running.  I had no mileage in mind since I am still not officially training.  It was cold and I got in four.  My back/hip were kind of ouchy off and on, so I tried the 4:1 running:walking intervals.  I liked using those intervals, but need to program my watch to do the thinking so I don't have to stare at it quite so much.  

sleeping in the tub sparky?

Wednesday:  Rest day.  I have woken up the past few mornings feeling not so great. I figured it was just because we are off schedule and staying up later and sleeping in.  Lots of drainage, lots of hocking stuff up, and some sore throats from drainage.  I could definitely feel that whatever was trying to develop was really working hard today to not make me feel so hot.  I am taking Emergen C to try and combat whatever it is, and trying to get back on our routine!  Andrew is out of school till the 8th of January, so we still have the rest of this week and the beginning of next. All the other schools started back today, but not us!! Part of me has really, really enjoyed having him around 24/7, but part of me is ready for him to go back so I can get back into my routine.  

It's part of the mommy diet.  Whatever you get they will eat theirs and want yours too!

Thursday:  Cross Fit day!  Coach Erin was back from her well deserved Christmas vacation and I couldn't wait to see what she had for me!  I decided to not run in the morning, mainly because my option was the dread mill and I don't want to complicate things with my hip and back at this point.  I walked into the gym a little tentative because of my back and hip and walked out feeling AMAZING! I  LOVE coach Erin and am going to cry when I can't take lessons from here anymore:(  We worked on front squats and dumb bell presses on an incline, and then my WOD included the sled push, dumb bell snatches, wall balls, and reverse lunges.  I walked out feeling a thousand times better.  Next week I start classes EEEEKKKKK!!!!

Friday:  Run whatever you feel like day. Okay, not going to lie, I do love the flexibility that you get with just running 3 days a week for sure.  I wasn't sure what my legs would feel like after all of those squats in CF the day before, so decided to try the 4:1 again (thank you Wendy for always talking about these).  I grabbed the two dogs and headed out.  We are having an incredibly mild winter here in Wamego, so I was in a t shirt and probably could have run in shorts instead of tights!  I forgot to program my watch again, so just used my phone to alarm when the 4 minutes was up. Y'all, I am seeing times that I haven't seen in two years ON MY EASY RUN!!!!!  I kept see 10:50 come across my watch, and I wasn't even pushing.  My Garmin gave me a 5 on the training effect scale, which isn't good, but I didn't feel like I was pushing that hard at all.  I did 5 miles in less than an hour, and I haven't done that in a LONG LONG time!  I don't know what was at play, the weather, CF making me stronger, or only doing 3 runs a week,  but dang it, I hope this feeling stays around. AND I was pretty much pain free the entire run!!!!

Later on I did visit the master of pain AKA Doug at Body First.  Hurt's so good was the theme, and he made it hurt so good.  He really does not think that I have PF, which is good, but the bad news is what he thinks is wrong is never going to go away unless I completely change my mechanics.  He did explain to me what would happen if my PF tore and told me that some runners just get theirs cut.  I wouldn't mind a complete tear, as I am not in a huge amount of pain and it does not hurt when I run.  In some ways, his analysis made me excited and in some ways it made me sad.  I have tried for years to change the way I run, and I have not made very huge differences in my biomechanics.  I am hoping with CF that I can strengthen some things to help bring my feet in and have better bio mechanics but I am not holding my breath.  

Saturday:  Eagle day!!!!  Okay originally I had thought that Stella and I would go do a long run out at Clinton lake for the Frozen Ass meet up.  Then, I remembered that Eagle day was at Tuttle Creek that morning and while Eagle day was from 9-12, the FA started at 12 and I didn't want to rush.  The whole family was excited to go see Eagles, and I could always run on Sunday by myself locally. I am so glad I decided to stay and hang out with the fam!  We had so much fun! 

We started out by learning about all types of birds of prey including hawks, kestrels, vultures and owls.  We learned SO much about SO many birds and Andrew seemed to really love it.  I found so much that i didn't know including that usually females are the larger sex and that these huge birds are usually only a few pounds!  We also learned they basically have no sense of smell (except the vulture)  and owls have ears on the side of their heads, but one is located high and the other low for better triangulation.  

We then boarded the bus and headed out to Tuttle Creek state park to see two sites where eagles had been spotted.  We used our binoculars as well as the spotting scopes they had set up and saw many eagles playing, eating, and roosting.  We also saw a nest sight that has been used for many years by the same eagles.  Afterwards we headed to a Manhattan staple Vista Burger for burgers and cyclones (Think sonic blasts BUT WAY BETTER).  

I have honestly being doing so well this week nutrition wise, but today I just went with the flow and had all the things.  I may have only eaten half of my cyclone, but I still ate all of my burger and fries.  Oh well.  Maybe going to add a cheat day?  We then headed out to Rocky Ford because we heard the eagles were playing there as well.  We hiked on a new to me trail/paved road thingy and saw 6 bald eagles!  SO COOL!  We ended the day and 62 degree weather with some baseball practicing.  We are seeing some huge improvement over last year and are super excited as Andrew is going to a baseball camp all this month on sundays.

A new to me trailish

Sunday:  Long run and baseball camp day! I decided to try a new to me trail and by trail I mean paved trail. I was kind of worried because we went and walked it the day before or some of it and my foot was not happy. I was in just normal shoes though, not my Hokas, and I did not have heel cups in to protect my foot, plus I was one day post massage.  I also had conflicting information on the distance of said trail.  The game warden told me I could easily get 4 miles out and 4 miles back, but when I quizzed my running partner who sometimes runs out there, she said there was no way.  Oh well, try it yourself and see.  

I started out on a paved trail, which was kind of nice because I didn't have to look at my feet the whole run.  I quickly dumped into the campground at the end of Tuttle Creek state park.  I had run through this camp ground for my very first 5k YEARS ago, so I recognized it immediately. I also had the map I posted in my pictures on my phone, so I kept consulting it to make sure I was headed the right way.  I snaked around the entire park, getting to see eagles, snow geese, and lots of ducks.  I took the outer most portion and tried to find the Cotton Wood Trail. Finally, success!

While most of our other trails are mush right now, thanks to the warmer than usual winter, this trail is protected meaning it has wood chips and leaf cover.  Cotton wood goes right down beside the water, so the views were amazing!  Lots and lots of very pretty ducks and geese a stone's throw away.  Unfortunately, the trail itself is super short, maybe 0.5 of a mile at most.  I got back on pavement and headed back towards the way I came. I had no mileage in mind, just enjoying the views.  

If we saw something interesting we stopped.  I sometimes remembered to stop my watch and sometimes totally forgot.   While the pavement was a little hard on my body post deep tissue and ART treatment, I just couldn't stop going and looking at things.  

We caught another trail on the way back, which was a bit longer.  I forgot to look to get exact mileage, but it was a nice way to stay off of pavement and dumped me back to the campgrounds right at the start of the trail that leads back to Rocky Ford.   The best part of all of this run was the fact that we went by tons of restrooms!  No squatting in the woods and toilet paper!!!  A girl could get spoiled for sure :)  When I got back to the car, I decided to try and explore the other side of the trail as well.  I was rewarded with more eagles!  

I am happy to say that all but one dog encounter was good today and the one that was bad wasn't horrible, his dog just wasn't listening to his voice commands to come back.  I was able to step in front of Stella and the dog moved away.  He wasn't big and wasn't being aggressive, but I didn't want to take a chance and of course the owner did not have a leash that I could see.  The other owners leashed their loose dogs up quickly and or called their dogs back to them. I think it was a win/win:).  

One more week before official training cycle starts back up and another week of 3 runs.  Also my first week of Cross Fit class and getting back on a schedule, since little man goes back to school Tuesday.  EEEEK!!!!!  Have a great week!

As always I am linking up with Wendy at Taking the Long Way Home and HoHo runs for the weekly wrap!  Check out all the awesome blogs on the link up, you won't be disappointed!