Week 8: Training for the 0 Mile Flint Hills 50K

 Week 8 and Spring Break Week!  YAHOOO!

One of the joys of owning your own business means you can get away some times and work at night instead of during the day.  My mom came to visit for Andrew's spring break and we decided to sneak away a few times and take some day trips locally and me just work my butt off at night returning client phone calls and doing bookwork.  

We celebrated Pi day with some pizza pie!

We had fancy chai lattes and pastries at The Brew downtown.

We went to Salina to Rolling Hill's Zoo to see the baby rhino.  

AND we got to see the baby giraffe again that is now grown quite a bit since we saw him right after birth. 

We also went downtown to the Oz museum to check it out for the millionth time AND hunt ghosts.  

Love living in a tiny town that has some fun touristy stuff to do when you are stuck and can't travel anywhere too far.  

Running was fun this week.  I only got three runs in, but that is okay.  I got a 6 miler, a 4 miler, and a 17 miler done.  I missed my three thanks to us being at the track all day for Need For Speed, our yearly fundraiser.  The above run was post work with 40 mph winds coming from the north, so my loving hubby dropped me out by the airport on the gravel so I could run south and east only.  

I also got a 17 miler done with admittedly more walking that I wanted to do but again, it is what it is.  We had an extremely windy day with wind coming from the South and east, I was a little hung over (see below) and sleep deprived from 2 extremely late nights for me watching racing, and it was much hotter than it has been for any of my runs lately with very little acclimation.

In other news Stella got her monthly adjustment.  She won't run much in the summer since it gets so hot and she doesn't tolerate it well anymore, but I will get her out for super short runs when I can.  Can you tell she LOVES Dr. A?

  

We also celebrated St. Patrick's day with some good stout and some green!

We practiced some baseball!

We had a very productive club meeting with only one small issue (WINNING since I had been practically  puking the whole morning worrying about the meeting and how people were going to act.).

We had amazing beers post Need For Speed at the track at the Happy Bassett Barrel House (see the above about my 17 miler and why this might not have been a good idea but eh, you live and learn).

AND we had another very successful Need for Speed where we raised over 1200 bucks for our club and got lots of interest in driving at our track.  

I will leave you with my kiddo's chalk art from NFS.  Have a great week y'all!

 

 

Week 7: Training for the 0 Mile Flint Hills 50K

This whole week was kind of screwy.  My board meeting that is normally on Wednesday nights changed to Tuesday, which meant my running also changed.  Plus, we had an action packed weekend that included a parade and rookie training in Topeka.  

I ran four times again this week, one speedwork sesh, one easy run in big snowdrifts, a long run of 14, and a shorter recovery run of 4.  Of course thanks to our weekend shenanigans, I had to scramble everything around.  

In retrospect, I should have waited till the snow stopped to get my magical snowy run, but I just couldn't wait.  Don't let this photo fool you, she was all about the snow and running with the mama.  She was full on Tigger mode the entire run and almost knocked me over so many times.  She is the snow queen.   I made this photo my FB profile photo.

I started out in town with my new ice spikes that I hadn't gotten to use yet.  Let's just say after half a mile of fighting slush, icy water, drifts, and ice, I gave up and came back home.  Got my hubby to drop me off on the gravel, took those damn ice spikes off, and got my run done.  Both Yaktracks and Icespikes really hurt my feet, so I guess I will just have to keep it old school and run in screwed shoes.  Was hoping to find a solution that was a bit better than killing a pair of shoes but for me, looks like that is my only option.  As I sit here and type this my feet still hurt from those ice spikes. 

 

I had to swap my long run days around because our TKQMA racing club was in the St. Patrick's day parade. This was our first time doing a parade with the club and boy was it fun.  I took like a million pictures of the kids in their green and the cars all decorated with their shamrocks.  We didn't get to see much of the rest of the parade as they moved our line out first but what we could see looked like a good parade full of a variety of floats, candy, and beads. We ran out of candy and would need much much more if we do it again and the weather is nice as the cold kept many away I feel.  

My long run was a little bit of a struggle but full of excitement.  We saw two eagles on our route and one went into the nest that we have observed for years.  I hope this means she is sitting on an egg and they will be hanging out for a while.  I met Robin already in progress and did 4 miles by myself as she headed home.  I was pretty hot the entire time and sweated pretty salty and really honestly needed water.  I think it's time to start wearing my vest again and carrying my tailwind.  

Post long run we had our first rookie training of the year.  The board usually likes to be present so the new parents get to meet us and can talk to us with any questions we might have.  We have several great families joining our club.  Post rookie training a few of us headed over to Happy Bassett where they have not only a tasting room, patio, and back patio but a freaking dog park!!!!!  How cool is that?  While my dogs aren't huge fans of dog parks per se, it was quite empty so Stella could just hang out under our table and enjoy.  We need to go back some time soon and try some more beers as they have so many good ones to try.  We had the strawberry blonde and the new Irish red.  

Have a great week y'all and Happy St. Patrick's day!  

Week 6: Training for the 0 Mile Flint Hills 50K

 How about some pictures and very few words?  I am fine with that if you are?

#truth

I did four runs this week.  An easy run of 5, 4 miles of speed work (snowman run, need to rename for spring/summer), a long run of 11, and an easy run to end the week.  All runs went well with some wind, hot temps, and some ammonia nitrate injections.  The farmers are getting ready for spring planting and I had split my long run so Stella could go for part of it.  When I headed back out, the farmers were busy getting their anhydrous ammonia in their fields and boom and I could not stand the smell, which meant we had to run in town and get very creative to get our mileage finished.  

I needed every run to combat major life stress this week.  My hubby had what he thought might be just  a stomach virus, but he was seeing blood in his vomit and that was very scary for both of us.  After seeing our PCP that morning, she wanted us to go to the ER so we could get testing done quickly.  She wanted a scope, a CT scan, and lots of bloodwork to rule out any bleeding internally from his esophagus or his stomach.  While I do appreciate the staff at the hospital, I think they ruled him out very quickly as just someone who had a stomach virus and nothing more.  I am kind of glad he filled two bags with bloody vomit when they were doing his CT so they actually believed us.  We were sent home with nausea meds, Tylenol, and lots and lots of lab results.  When we saw our PCP the next day, they were very unhappy with the lack of scope and the fact that an EKG was performed and no one informed us it was abnormal.  Also nothing was done really to get Tony's blood sugar down.  He is a diabetic that isn't doing a great job of managing his diabetes and he was close to 400 when we were at the ER.    We formed a plan of attack including a scope to rule out ulcers, a stress test to make sure his heart is okay, a visit with an endocrinologist to decide if he truly has type 1 or type 2 and how to treat, and insulin bolus at night to get the blood sugar down immediately.  

We were treated with some beautiful sunsets this week.  

Andrew also had a day off from school so we hit the coffee shop and the library.

It was 60 at 5:30 am when I got up to run.  I am not ready for the crazy high temps we had this week.  One day it even got up to 81. I  need a gradual warm up please!

Because of the warm up happening so quickly, Stella was not able to do many of the runs with us this week.  It makes me super sad to leave her behind but I know the heat is not her friend any more.  Even on Saturday when she did 5 of our 11 miles she was struggling with the humidity and it seriously broke my heart.  I am not ready for her to be old or retired.  She's been running so well all winter.  Sigh.

Week 5: Training for the 0 Mile Flint Hills 50K

 Week 5 with only 7 weeks left till race day.  Wheeeeeeee!

I want to first say that I have really been struggling with some mental health lately and I have finally gotten in with a therapist in Manhattan. I am super excited to work with someone again and get some coping strategies to help with life stresses.  I know therapy doesn't cure all things, but having that mental clarity does help me immensely.  I am a huge advocate for de-stigmatizing mental health and if people can learn from my journey, I am all for sharing.   

I had two midweek runs of 3 miles each.  I guess you could call one a tempo run because we moved pretty speedily through the work out.  My second 3 miler was on the dreadmill and my first time back on the mill since sort of falling.  I felt unsteady the entire run and basically had a death grip on the front bar that takes your pulse.  I kept trying to let go and my body would feel like it was falling again and I would have to hold it again.   Oh well, hopefully there won't be many more dreadmill runs this winter.  

My long run wasn't truly long this weekend, as this is a cut back week.  I had planned on doing a few more miles, but after struggling to just get my 5, I called it good.  Not sure why I struggled so much as I got in bed at relatively a good time and didn't have any alcohol the night before.  The dogs loved it no matter what so I call it a win.  My race is 7 weeks away and I know the next few weekends are going to be upping the mileage significantly, which means I will take an easy weekend with a smile.  

I am going to end this short post with a few pics of my kiddo.  He is already wearing my shirts/sweatshirts and the same size shoes.  Time please slow down!  We are going to dip our toes back into baseball and of course racing is starting soon as well.  I am glad for a tiny slow down between wrestling and spring/summer sports though.  

Week 4: Training for the 0 Mile Flint Hills 50K

Not a ton to talk about this week.  I did my four runs, most where uneventful.  I didn't get my speedwork this week because I just wasn't feeling it and hey, that is okay some weeks!

One week day run (Tuesday) was with both dogs for 5 miles and chasing a beautiful sunset and some killer wind.  

Thursday's run was Boom only, as Stella had her monthly adjustment which went much better this month.  I think we will stick to monthly from now on.   She loves Dr. A SO much because she makes her feel so wonderful after the popping and cracking.  Dr. A was sitting on the floor writing up her notes and stella just sat her butt right on her lap while she did notes.  

We did celebrate Valentine's day and for the first time, Andrew didn't have to make a box to take.  I was a little sad, I love watching his creativity unfold.  Instead this year they did bags at school and I LOVE his bag!  My 80's child used little sticky hearts as power pellets for Pac Man and Mrs. Pac Man.  

The parents this year were uber creative, so I am glad we also thought outside the box, literally.  I bought a file on etsy and we printed our own cards and then attached blow pops.  Plus, he took a whole bunch of extras and handed them out to people outside of his classroom including paras, support staff, his past teacher, and his own principal.  I love his loving heart!

I had a big surprise of roses and chocolate on my desk when I came back from errands.  These have got to be the coolest roses ever because they have slowly opened up over the week and have looked even more amazing every day.

We love supporting our fellow local businesses and these roses came from The Flower Mill in downtown Wamego.  

We also had a predicted snow event again this week.  Once again we were on the line of 0 and 6+ and this time we lucked out and got 0.  I took pictures several times during the morning and this was what it looked like every time.  I feel like there was a huge bubble over us the whole time.  I just want ONE good snow day, just one.

We also celebrated "Drink Wine Day" at our favorite local tasting room 456 Wineries.  I don't know who makes these holidays up, but I am glad they exist to give me an excuse to shut down 30 minutes early.  

We also FINALLY saw eagles on our run.  They were circling pretty high in the air, but I could make out their white on the tail and head.  I had to just stop my watch and watch them fly.  Stella did come a long as well and did great.  

I closed out the week with a recovery run post the girls D3 wrestling dual.  I honestly didn't know if I was going to be able to get this one in post standing for 9 straight hours working in a concession stand.  Note to self: Wear better shoes if you are going to be on your feet that long. I literally sat down 2 times the whole day, but my heart was full seeing all of the girls with their giant smiles and their medals and trophies.  

And last but not least, Andrew picked up a bat for the first time in 2 years and swung it several times in a home run derby. He of course came in last BUT he had fun and he surprised several of his football friends by showing up.  I am proud of him for getting out of his comfort zone and while I don't want to add another sport to our already busy spring/summer, I wouldn't mind playing baseball again.  All of the kids above play traveling ball and while we are not and probably never will be traveling ball material, we can have fun at the rec ball level with lots of really good players.   

Have a great week y'all!

Week 3: Training for the 0 Mile Flint Hills 50K

Welcome to week 3 of 12!  I would officially be moving into 4 runs a week if I was following the plan exactly, but we all know I have been trying to get 4 runs a week no matter what anyway.  I am also trying to get my speed sessions back and still doing a good job of fitting some sort of speed in my work outs!

I had 4 runs this week, one easy run on Tuesday with Boom and Stella, a snowman speedwork out on Thursday with just Boom, a long run of 7 with just Boom, and recovery run with just Stella.  Boom has been on fire lately with speedwork and with even a speedier long run and I am loving seeing those old numbers slowly creep back, even with my 4:1 run walk breaks.  

I also did a ghost hunt in downtown Wamego with my RBF Saturday night.  There were boos and there were brews and we had a great time!  I know not everyone believes, but we had experiences that would make ANYONE believe.  I will have to write a whole post about our experience some time, as it was so crazy all the ghosts we got to talk to.  Rockin Robin even got me my very own dousing rods and crystals for our ghost hunts and I had SO much fun using them.  

Sometimes it's so hard to look at our child and think, how did such a sweet loving, non competitive marshmallow come out of two very competitive parents who were both very athletic and very competitive starting at age 5. We weren't going to wrestle this year, but his football coach talked him into it and I am not sad that he did.  Andrew needs all the time away from screens he can get and wrestling really is one of those sports that is AMAZING on all levels for discipline, conditioning, and mental toughness.  

We weren't going to do but one tournament this year and we ended up in COVID quarantine for our home tourny, so we had to find another one to try.  Unfortunately, he had an 8 man bracket at the one tournament we picked, meaning he only got 2 matches the whole tournament.  He wanted one more chance, so we entered him in one more and ended up with 4 matches.  While he still walked away with 4 losses, he actually had two take downs in one match and wrestled quite well in another.  I am sad to see the season end, but racing and baseball is around the corner and my ambitions for him are just going to have to take a back seat and chill.  You would think I would know that by now as my child never changes even as he grows older.

Have a great week y'all and Happy Valentine's Day from the Red Aussie Crew!  

Week 2: Training for the Mile 0 Flint Hills 50K

 

Hi :)  How are you?   I'm fine thank you!  Just training with the fun that winter throws at us.  This week were were in this situation below.

We were right on the edge of a ton of snow and none.  Now that I work 2 minutes from home, I don't get as worked up about snow, but I had a meeting and an appointment in Manhattan on Wednesday, the day it was all suppose to hit.  We ended up only getting 2.5 inches, but don't laugh, it was enough to cancel school for the day and make my Manhattan meetings go virtual.  That is all a girl can ask for!  I don't like having to make decisions on driving on sort of bad roads and the weather took care of that for me. I honestly think we all needed a nice snow day, plus I can work from anywhere now.  

I ran four times this week, twice on the dreadmill and twice outside.  I did a speedwork session on Tuesday, but not my new favorite snow man run.  This time, I ran the 4 minutes with each minute being faster till my last minute being my fastest minute at 6 mph or 6.2 mph, and then I walked my one minute to recover.  I did that for the 3 miles I needed for that day.  For my second treadmill run, I did the hot buns run where I ran for 10 minutes and then got off of the mill and did squats, lunges, and jumping jacks for 3 miles total.  I will say for years my treadmill has ALWAYS been ahead of my watch in mileage, but here lately in speed and mileage my watch is ahead. My mill is old, at least 11 years old if not older, so it may be time for me to start trusting the watch over satan's sidewalk.   Yes, I do go a bit faster on the mill to just get it done, but not sure I totally believe the paces I am seeing on my watch.  

I only had 5 for my long run so we bumped it up to 6 so we could maybe see some eagles.  No eagles, but again some really big shy hawks were about.  I wore my big clunky trail shoes just in case there were drifts out on the prairie, however I only encountered one spot that had snow/ice on the road.  The dogs were loving the drifts on the side of the road and both had fun running and zooming in the snow off leash.  

I did have one mishap that I wanted to talk about before I close this out.  I have NEVER fallen on my mill and I honestly live in fear of falling. I tend to run very close to the front of the mill, as I have this fear that I am going to shoot off of the back.  I had done my work out and was actually walking to cool down when I somehow got twisted up with a bike that hangs out next to the mill.  I have no clue how or what happened, but all I know is that I was falling and I could see the belt coming for my face. I twisted to step off onto the railing, as I wasn't clipped in and couldn't get the belt to stop.  I somehow managed to grab at the clip one last time as I was going down to my knees and it popped off.  Lesson learned, stay clipped in even if you are cooling down.  I was sore all over and I scared Tony half to death as he ran in from the other room when he heard the commotion.  I was super sore the next day, but super glad I didn't hit the moving belt with my face or any other part of my body.  

We also had our first wrestling tournament.  We were only going to do our home tournament this year as he loves practice, but seems to get stage fright in tournaments and totally not do what we know he is capable of.  Since he still loves to wrestle, we continue to do the sport with a goal of one tournament, work hard, and maybe some day when he gets in junior high or high school he might get that competitive spirit and aggression he needs to battle.  We missed our home tournament thanks to Covid exposure, so we found a smallish tournament nearby to try out.  I will say I saw him looked pissed off several times today which is a start (he's the biggest teddy bear ever) and I saw him do some basic moves that he knows and has never shown us in actual wrestling matches.  He even capitalized on another wrestler's mistake and while he ultimately got pinned by said kid, that was okay because he had actually gotten points!  I love what I am seeing and he even asked to try one more tournament before the season is done.  We have one more relatively close to us which means I can honor his request and am tickled pink he asked!  I would love for him to win just one more time as a youth wrestler, but that is not our goal so I will keep my mouth shut.  Progress is the goal, every time he steps on that mat.  

Have a great week y'all!!!!