Week 5 training for the Rockin' K Trail marathon...or maybe not

Back to the high week!  I am really digging this plan and can't wait to keep going with it.  Except things changed this week.  See Thursday's paragraph for a better explanation.

He is taller than most of the 7 year olds in the club at 6!

Monday:  Rest day.  Wrestling picture day!  Can't wait to see how they turn out.  His individual picture from my angle kind of looked like a cross between constipated wrestler and tough wrestler.  At least the lighting was better this year for the individual pics.

Tuesday:  5 miles with some speed work nestled in the middle. I am slowly working my way towards 10 cycles of 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy.  I am up to 6 cycles now and will probably stay here a few weeks before going a little bit higher.

Wednesday:  Last day of sylvan. I am so grateful for what Sylvan has helped Andrew accomplish, but we are over committed and some thing has to give.  We are still going to do Sylvan in the summer, but right now he is busy 4 nights a week and we are both exhausted.  Hopefully he won't back slide, and this is a good and not a bad thing.  While he was at tutoring Tony and I slipped away for some kid free dinner and beers.  We use to be regulars at old Chicago pre-kid and when it was over by the Manhattan Mall, and now we are hardly ever go since they moved it to the far side of Manhattan.  Plus, it seemed like after they moved that the food changed and wasn't as good.  I am happy to say that we found some dishes we FINALLY liked, and of course had to share some cheese cake since the kiddo wasn't there wanting the cookie sundae instead.

all the geese!

Thursday:  Easy 5.  Been battling some hip issues and while it didn't hurt, it definitively did not feel 100%.  Sigh.  Can I please go through one training cycle without a niggle?   I took off from Cross fit this week since my trainer was out of town, so I was hoping if that was aggravating it that it would get happy with the break.  I am not sure that this is not also slightly caused by me getting use to running in my Stinsons as well.

Post running I had my first goal review with the owner of our Cross Fit box.  Her thoughts are that I need to run less and do 2 days a week of Cross Fit classes.  I agree with 2 days of Cross fit,  BUT I don't like the thought of running less, especially for the races and distances I am signed up for.  She also thinks that i can cut out speed work since I get this benefit in Cross fit AND cut out cross training since Cross fit is cross training and strength training all rolled into one.  I use my bike more for just stress release and I don't do any real work outs with it, so not going to drop that, plus my BRF robin is moving back to wamego and right down the street from me so I see lots of bike rides in my future.  I am going to stop my current training cycle at her request and try for a 12 week cycle (which will start in mid January).  She wanted to cut down to an 8 week cycle, which included 2 weeks of taper (so technically 6 weeks), but I told her I can't do that, I am not that good.  I totally get what she is saying, less is more, but I have never ever run just 3 days a week unless I was training for my first 5K on the couch to 5K program.  I am going to just run three days a week for a little bit and see how I feel.  I polled the ladies on the Trail and Ultra group I am a part of, and they all said 4-5 days of running and 4-5 days of Cross fit (EEEEK).  I am not up to that much Cross fit, but I am willing to try 2 classes a week.  I am going to miss my personal training SO much.  Coach Erin is AMAZING and I LOVE working with her but cost wise, I can't keep loading up my credit card every month and the goal of personal training was eventually to do classes.

Friday:  Rest day.  Andrew's first day of Christmas break and we lived it up. Slept in a little, did some work in bed, finally made it out to the office and then after deliveries were made, headed out to do some shopping.  Got Tony something little from Andrew (tupperware that we desperately needed, a win win for the whole house hold) and got the dogs presents.  FINALLY got lights on the tree and Andrew's presents wrapped.

Saturday:  Long run day?  SO I put a question mark because Coach Shely wanted me to eliminate the longest one run of the week until the 12 weeks starts.  I need to keep some sort of base maintained,  so I decided to get rid of the 16 and keep the 8 since that is technically 2 ish loops of short lake henry loop.  I ended up doing a long lake henry loop (5.65 on my watch) and then an out an back up to sander's mound and then some back track on white and a connector and the gravel hill on the way to sander's mound.  I am getting more brave for sure and ready to try out longer and bigger loops! 

Sunday: Rest day, spend time with my in laws day, and finish Christmas shopping day.  Per my Cross Fit coaches suggestion, I only ran 3 days this week and took another day off and I am really glad that I did because my hip felt a thousand times better.  I will do 3 days a week again next week, which will kind of be nice since the family is here and add back a day of cross fit to see how my hip is feeling.  I really wish I could get to the trails every single run because they really reset my body.  My hip was feeling better post run and my feet actually felt better as well.  Finger's crossed that this all works!

Have a great upcoming holiday week!  I am excited to spend time with my in laws making lots of great memories with my little red.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I am participating in a link up with HoHo Runs and  Wendy from Taking the Long Way Home.

Andrew's first wrestling tournament 2018

This isn't running related so if don't want to hear my thoughts on Andrew's first tournament of the year, there is your warning :)  If you would like to stick around though to hear my thoughts and see some cool videos, then welcome!  A little bit of a background, Andrew has been wrestling since he was 4.  The first year we signed up for three tournaments and he actually wrestled at two.  I say wrestled, he really just threw himself on the mat and let them other kid land on top of him.  He was having fun, so we didn't really care.  The objective for us was for him to experience a new to us sport and have fun while doing so.  I can't find any of my videos from his first year but pretty much the second year as a 5 year old it was much the same.   It was pretty funny, but we didn't care, the objective was to have fun and he was certainly having fun.

As a 5 year old we just did one tournament.  We had planned three again, but he got sick on the second one and the third one was a bust because the coaches decided that the season needed to end for the littles, and I didn't want to go to a tournament with no practices.  

Enter in this year.  We have been battling some focus issues in school so we were interested to see how one more year of maturity would work on the mat.  Our club this year gave us suggestions on which tournaments would be best for what level are kiddos are at.  Andrew is still level one and I am sure we will stay there for the rest of this season.  I was debating about entering the Waubaunsee tournament since it was so early in the season, but it was rated as very good for novice kiddos so we entered and off we went!  Andrew was weighing in at 63 lbs which was square in the middle of the 60-64 lb weight class.  There was a possibility that he might have to wrestle some 8 year olds if there weren't enough 6 year olds at his weight.  Lucky for him, I am pretty sure they were all 6 year olds.

The video is below, and that folks is our very first WIN!!!!  17-0 tech fall win!  I was shaking so badly because at the end of last tournament last year, he almost won and got pinned in the final seconds of the last period of that match.  He was so pumped, and so were we!  It was obvious that he still has a lot to work on, but things are starting to slowly come together!

And then this happened.

Oh well, you can't win them all, right?  This kiddo is really, really good as we have seen him before and I am not sure if that just psyched andrew out or what.  

As the day went on we battled keeping andrew up and ready.  His first two matches were pretty quick but he drew a bye in the third round, so had to sit for a very long time.  I never know how he is going to respond but I was pleased with his last two matches, even if they were losses.  All i ask is that he tries and I believe he did.

We are just over the moon proud that he is actually showing us that he listens to his coaches and that he can actually sort of execute the moves!  He has come a long way and I can't wait to see where we go this year as a Wamego Red Raider!

Week four training for the Rockin K Trail Marathon

Another week, another rejection wah wah:(  Another Mother Runner is the ambassador program I want to be in the most and yet again this year, I got rejected.  I really must be the worst ever at filling out those applications because I BOMB waaaaayyyyy more than I get.  It was weird this year because I didn't even get a got your application or anything email.  Not even a hey, we are in the process or hey, you didn't get in so wondering if my application didn't even go through.  Oh well, I think I am finally over the glory of  being an ambassador for anything. I am still am ambassador for Honey Stinger, even though I have transitioned to using Tail Wind as my fuel of choice.  They do make amazing products and i still LOVE their waffles, but the allure of little to no stomach issues and not having to carry big waffles that freeze like bricks in the winter is winning out.  Plus, I do love the fact that I get a few calories over and over, over the hour I drink down my 17 ounce bottle.  I really don't get anything from the Honey Stinger program (kind of like Nuun), so I am not sure what the point is anyway.  Enough with the sour grapes and onto the week!

Monday:  Rest day.  Last day of rock band to the new year.  Since I am finished coaching GOTR for the year, I can now become the head chauffeur for my kiddo and all of his nightly activities.  He has his big recital this weekend for Rock band in which they are going to play Jingle Bells. I feel like it will be cute but a big disaster as they really haven't gotten the song down really well.  Thank goodness his music teacher Mr. Timmy is so awesome because he will make them look amazing even if they freak out when they get up there.  God bless awesome teachers and coaches.  Mr. Timmy is the most wonderful teacher I have ever seen, especially with little kids!!!!  On the drive home Andrew said to me, I'm exhausted mom and promptly fell asleep.  Usually when we get home he wakes up but NOPE, he stayed asleep till we all went to bed around 8:30 and stayed asleep till 5 am!

Tuesday:   5 with some HIIT thrown in (mini speed work?) and Cross Fit.  I'm slowly trying to find my love or should I say tolerance for speed work again.  I had just read an article about how to incorporate easy HIIT into your easy runs by doing a minute hard and a minute easy for 10 cycles.  I feel like this is very doable but working back up to it.  My old coach always had me doing 400,800,1000 meter repeats as well as mile and 2-3 mile repeats during my training cycles and other than the 400 and 800 meter repeats, I HATED doing speed work.  I am trying to get back to some level of tolerance, not for a PR but just to get that leg speed back.  Last week I did 2 rounds of 1 minute "hard" and one minute "easy" and today I tried 4 round of one minute "hard" and one minute "easy".  I like this so far so will build up to 10 cycles of hard and easy one day a week during my shorter runs.

Cross Fit was fun as usual.  Coach Erin had me work on front rack and front squats again.  This time I had my wrist wraps on and I had little to no wrist pain YIPEEEE!   I am ordering some of my very own as I type this!  We worked on sets with heavy 3 lifts and then sets with very light 10 lifts and did 3 cycles of that.  Then our workout consisted of 10 calories on the assault bike, 10 wall balls, and 20 kettle bell dead lifts.  We did this every 4 minute for 4 rounds and it was TOUGH!  My legs were feeling the accumulation of running, squatting, and then riding that damn bike.  I know I wasn't getting all the way down in my full squats when I was doing my wall balls but I had to do the best I could.  I always walk away feeling SO amazing, dripping sweat, and feeling like a total bad ass!

happy 6 month birthday Mr. Serious!

Wednesday:  Rest day.  Last day of sylvan...I think.  We love Sylvan and love the program but we feel like Andrew doesn't need four nights a week of after school activities.  We have been trying to quit sylvan for a month or so and they keep drawing us back in.  We are either the biggest suckers OR they are best salesmen ever.  I did get Christmas shopping finished up while Andrew was in tutoring, so that was a plus.  It's really hard not to buy crap to put in their stockings but this year I tried to really minimize the little things I bought will donate in a month tops.  

Cray cray

Thursday:  SUPER easy 5 and Cross fit.  My legs felt trashed so I knew this run was going to be tough.  I tried my normal recovery routine of running  nine tenths of a mile and then walking a tenth but my heart rate would not stay down and my legs were just tired.  My biggest fear was that Cross fit was going to trash my legs and I guess after Tuesday's session, they were trashed.  I don't want to do things that interfere with my running and I am getting ready to start in just regular classes so this concerns me.

Cross Fit was fun and challenging as usual.  Coach Erin had me work on one legged dead lifts with kettle bells and then I got to do some strict presses with dumb bells (one at a time).  My AMRAP was 7 ring rows, 7 slam balls and 7 lunges with Stella the sand bag for 7 minutes.  We finished up with heavy kettle bell swings with a 44 lb kettle bell that FORCED me to use my hips to pop that baby up!

Friday:  Rest day. I had to get in with my girl Trina at Rising Phoenix Wellness, as I had a lot of niggles that were adding up.  Riddle me this, why does just running on flat gravel so much harder on my body than running for hours on technical trail?  Plus add on Cross Fit and my body was starting to scream uncle.  After some cupping, some deep tissue massage, and some Reikki, I felt one thousand times better.  I just love Trina because she fixes not only my body but also my soul!

Saturday:  Easy 5 on the Manhattan River Trail.   So i think I have talked about this before, but after showing interest in having a chapter of Canicross in Kansas, I was asked to start up a chapter by first starting a FB page and then a FB group.  The next step was to help plan a meet up for the virtual run that Canicross USA was going to put on in January.  I have a few friends around that run with their dogs, so I approached them about helping me set something up.  There is a short dirt mountain bike trail off of Linear trail (not really a "trail" crushed limestone) that lots of runners run in our area. I am leery of it because 1) there are homeless people who camp back in there 2) mountain bikers and runners do not mix on single track hilly trails.  I went ahead and put an event page out there that said we were going to do our meet up out there and planned a run to check it out.  The maps were a little confusing since some said it was 3.7 trail and some said 5.5.  I started out on Linear and hit the trail head fairly quickly.  The trail is very pretty with some single track, some bike ruts small width stuff, and some steep hills.  I thought it was very beautiful, but I felt always on guard for homeless people and also bikers.  The ONE time I zoned out Stella got ahead of me (something she usually does not do when we are running alone) and a biker was coming the other way.  He fussed at me for having her off leash and reminded me we were in the city and she was to be on leash AT ALL TIMES.  I felt horrible because I usually follow the rules, and I didn't this time, and got caught and yelled at.  I am not really sure I want to go back, mainly because I am not sure how this trail would work if there were bikers on it.   On the way back, the hills were pretty steep and if a biker was coming down it and I was going up, that would make for a pretty nasty wreck.  It sucks because this would be a very nice training trail when I don't want to head to Clinton or Fancy Creek, as it is SO close.  Next time if I go back, I will go out MUCH earlier to try and avoid any bikers.  I didn't see any other cars in the parking lot when we got there, but I started running around 11 am, so I think as the day unfolded and promised to be warm and beautiful, more people got out and hit the trails.

Post getting my trail on, Andrew had his very first recital with Miss Emily's school of music.  Y'all, these kids got up in front of a packed house and played their instruments one by one and I was so amazed at how brave they were!  I did one solo in concert band and was a wreck!!!!  Andrew played with his band and they played solos and then a rendition of Jingle bells.  They were SO cute!!!!  Afterwards we had dinner at the student union at KSU at a little place called JPs and then bowled a few frames before heading home.

Sunday:  Easy 4.  We had two things going, a wrestling tournament and then a birthday party. I knew it was going to be dicey getting my run done, especially if I waited till after both events to run.  As predicted, I was wiped clear out when we got done.  I tried to rally and after doing 3 loads of laundry and cleaning the house a little bit I just said screw it, I am exhausted and had a beer and some soup for dinner.  I am SO proud of Andrew though.  He won his first match EVER 17-0!!!  Couldn't pin the kid to save his life but he won!!!!  Then promptly went out and got pinned in less than 20 seconds the next match, but oh well.  His other two matches were pins as well, but he fought and tried and that is all I ask.  He has come a long way and we have a long way to go, but we will get there!  We are probably going to do 3 or 4 tournaments this year since he actually seems to be paying attention in practice and trying.  We are proud of our little 64 lb, 6 year old wrestler!!!!

Another great week and another trail.  I missed one run but in the long run, resting was probably better than forcing a run.  Have a great week everyone!!!!

This week I am participating in a Link up (or trying to, forgive my stupidity as I try and do this). I am linking up with HOHO runs and Wendy from  Taking the Long way home.  

Year of Running 2018: Best of

I love doing these best of lists every year!  Here is my Best of for 2018:

1.  Best race:  Flint Hills Trail Marathon.  This was a hard choice because SO many of my races have been awesome this year and each with different kinds of awesome.  From battling it out in the mud at Wyco, to conquering the rocks at Flat Rock, to trying a new to me local race in which I got lost at Randolph's Revenge, each experience had it's own bests.  I think the FHTM was the best race because it was Stella and I's first full marathon together, and I don't think I would have made it as far without her by my side. I felt so much love for that dog for helping me tough out the marathon distance in the rain.  That was the race that I decided pretty much a race wasn't worth doing unless she was with me.   

2.  Best run: I think my best run was part of a race that I wasn't entered in.  No I didn't bandit it, I got permission to run it, but it was so much fun running with Lindsey at 2:30 am as part of the Night Hawk 50 (I just did one 10 mile loop).  There is something that makes you feel like a total badass running in the rain on a technical trail in the dark in the middle of the night on no sleep.  Of course dodging spider webs was kind of scary as those trail spiders make HUGE webs, but Lindsey took it like a champ and cleared the way for me!

My new Stinsons

3.  Best New Piece of Running Gear:  Okay it's a tie between my Hoka line of shoes including the Bondis, the Torrents, and the Stinsons, and my R8 roller.  I finally bit the bullet and tried the "space shoes" and I LOVE them.  I have had to do some adjusting, since I have been battling PF, but they run so smoothly, and I am totally in love with the Hoka Torrents and how light and responsive they are on the trail.  I am still getting use to my Stinson ATRs, but they seem to be pretty awesome thus far and might be my new gravel road/road shoes.  My R8 is a close second because I use it EVERY.SINGLE.DAY!  My sore and tired legs have a love hate relationship with this torture device, but they always thank me later for how good they feel for being rolled out. 

4.  Best Running Advice:  I honestly can't think of anything spoken specifically other than just run every race/run like it might be your last. 

  
5.  Most inspirational runner: Hands down my gal pal Lindsey from livinglovingrunner.  She rocked out her first 100 miler and never got grumpy or pissy with us her crew throughout the whole 31 hours.  She made all of her time cut offs and totally earned that buckle like a bad ass mother runner.  I will never forget how much fun we had but also how tough it was for all of us to stay focused and NOT sleep!  Pretty sure team #Itookitlikeachamp will be back next year with most of us running the distances or crewing for others.

the girls warming up and having fun!

A close second is my GOTR girls!  It was rainy, cold, windy, and just over all horrible weather for their year end 5K, but I never heard any complaints! I just saw smiles, heard laughter, and watched them all achieve their dreams of running their first official 5K!  All of these girls grew so much over the season and I am SO proud of every single one them. 

6.  Favorite picture from race or run:  Don't make me pick just one!!!!  They were ALL so amazing thanks to Mile 90 photo, Layton Photography, and John Knepper just to name a few.  If you twist my arm hard and make me pick just one, I think I will pick......

John Knepper's photo from The Snake!  I need to frame so many, but this one is just darn near perfect!

A very close second is the famous mud shot from Psycho Wyco.  Mile 90 always gets such awesome shots of stella, and I had to get this one put on a t shirt because of it's awesomeness!

7.  Race you would repeat?  Oh boy, so many.  I loved both the Trail Nerds and the Trail Hawk's races that I did for the first time this year.  Let's change this to the RACES I would repeat:  Psycho Wyco, Running with the Cows, The Bill Synder Highway Half, Sander's Saunter, the Night Hawk, the Snake, both dog themed 5Ks and The Hawk even though I didn't technically run it last year. 

8.  Sum of your running in a few words:  Amazing, technical, and MUDDY!  This was the year of the trail races and I had SO much fun!  I also did 10 of my 15 races with Stella and I want to up that number next year!

An amazing year in running for sure and I can't wait till see how amazing 2019 goes.  Between cross fit, regular massage, and eating better, I am hopefully going to be a lean mean running machine!

The Santa Experience 2018

Have you ever heard of the Santa Experience?  One of our local photographers, Jen Bailey at Memories by Jen Bailey offers this experience starting in November going through the first of December, and while i had heard about it and had seen flyers around town, I had never fully checked it out myself till this year.  Jen has a wonderful website here where you can see pictures and videos of previous experiences, but I thought I would write about how our experience went with Andrew.  Disclaimer:  Jen did give me a discount for spreading the word but I think the pictures are well worth the money so would highly recommend her even if she didn't give us a discount!

A little back ground, Andrew is 6 this year and has become a little skeptical of Santa, mainly because now a days you see Santa EVERYWHERE.  We have never done the mall Santa thing because our local union has Santa come to the union hall every year for pictures and gifts.  Also, we shop at Hyvee and Santa makes a few visits to Hyvee in December, usually when we are shopping for groceries.  SO in comes the questions from Andrew.  Why do they all look slightly different, and which is the real Santa, and does Santa really exist?

Enter in the Santa experience!  We were able to pick from a few sessions to figure out what worked best for our schedule.  The studio itself is located right outside Wamego out in Zeandale actually so kind of half way for Wamego and half way for Manhattan on Zeandale road.  Before the session we got very detailed instructions on when to arrive, what to do, and questions that Santa needed to know so he could incorporate those answers while talking to Andrew.

When we got to the studio, Andrew was fitted with a special pair of pajamas that were "made by the elves".  Little boys wear green pjs and little girls wear beautiful little white dresses.  After getting dressed, we were ushered into the studio where Santa and his props were.  We were never rushed, everything is done at the kiddo's pace, and Santa is AMAZING!  This is not a point and shoot session.  Your child interacts with Santa while the photographer moves around in the back ground taking lots and lots of shots.  Here a list of the experiences Andrew and Santa went through as part of the Ultimate Santa Experince: 

Eating cookies and drinking "reindeer milk"- I believe these were sugar cookies that Santa sprinkled magic on. Milk was of course just milk but andrew said reindeer milk is WAY better than regular milk!
Prayers before eating
Bible story-the story of the birth of Jesus
Wish book-a magic book that Andrew can write wishes in and Santa will see them.  The book is signed by Santa.
Compass-actually getting to see the compass that rides on Santa's sleigh
Globe-figuring out where the north pole is and where your child lives in relation (Proves that Santa really knows where you live)
Painting the car-Santa has a magic paint to coat toys that are in his bag.  Santa and Andrew painted the toy car with magic paint to protect the car.
Nice Book-checking to make sure Andrew's name is in the book (and it was :)
Elf list-Reading the list to make sure that what Andrew wanted was on the list
Elf call-calling the head elf Bernard to ensure that Andrew's wishes were being made.  Used an old telephone.
Magic key-Andrew was given a key in a bag that is the key to all of your hopes and dreams.
Magic-several times Santa sprinkled magic dust on things to bring them the magical powers he talks about.  Andrew LOVED this and the magic is made to look super cool in picture.  Santa's thumb also glows when he is dusting things with magic, so this really made Andrew believe it was real.
Santa falling asleep:  Santa needed a break so we walked out and came back in and he was asleep!  Andrew got to wake him up which again made some super cute photos.

We took home the wish book, an audio book about Santa, and the key and bag (which Andrew keeps hidden and in a safe place according to him) which is all part of the Ultimate Santa Experience. 

We did the Ultimate Santa experience which included at least 8 experiences and was a 40 minute session.  We were in the room the whole time with Andrew and Santa, and even got to take pictures with Andrew and Santa in the end.  Next year we will be sure to have our own matching pjs:)  About a week later, we were able to view ALL of our photographs and go through them with Jen in the studio.  She helped us pick out our favorites and then narrow that down to 2 for our Christmas card set that is part of the Ultimate Santa experience.  There are several packages for additional charges that Jen has available to pick from to commemorate your experience.  These packages include metal ornaments, photo books with story, social media images, and metal prints just to name a few.  She had examples of each item so you could see it, hold it, and really understand what each item was. There was also an option for ala cart if you didn't want to purchase a package. 

I asked Andrew what his favorite part was and he said THE MAGIC!  He loved it when Santa sprinkled magic on things, and he even kept some in his wish book box for safe keeping.  As we were leaving, he whispered to us that, "that was the real Santa mommy and daddy".  I will admit there were several times I was in tears watching the magic happen between Santa and Andrew and wanted to stay in that little studio and time of innocence forever because my little boy is growing up so fast.  I hope he still believes next year because I wouldn't hesitate to do this again.  I highly recommend trying this out with your kiddos, you won't be disappointed!!!!  Right now if you use the coupon code coleman80, you get 80 dollars off of your experience! 

Week 3 Training for the Rocking K trail marathon

Ordering some new shoes this week.  I need some road shoes, as my Bondis are about done with their mileage and usefulness.  I am going to try an ATR version from Hoka, the Stinsons.  They seem to have the same amount of cushion as the Bondis and no rock plate.  The lugs seem aggressive enough to deal with trails, yet not too aggressive for the road/gravel.  I haven't tried my Hoka Torrents again on the trail with the insert in, so stay tuned for that as well!  I am hoping the inserts help and that they can be my dedicated trail shoes and the Stinsons can be my road shoes.

Monday:  Rest day.  Still sore from those dang lunges from Thursday!  OUCH!

Tuesday:  Easy 5 with a few strides thrown in/Cross Fit.  Took a different route thanks to the creeper (see my post from last week about the guy who followed me).  Makes me mad that I have to change up what I do to keep away from craziness.  I also tried out my new jacket that I got from my Mercury Mile box.  It was feels like 21 so I thought it might be cold enough.  Number one, there was only one pocket (a fact I must have missed) and it was barely big enough for my phone and placed on my chest (which I thought was an odd place for it).  I was able to jab my phone most of the way down in there, and yes my phone has a mophie case, but i have found in winter in KS you really need a back up battery because the wind and cold drains cell phone batteries.  The jacket was nice and snug and did ride up a little bit, so had to be pulled down, but I like jackets to be fairly tight.  I did notice when I took the jacket off, that I had several soaked spots with sweat, but I never felt cold and wet.  I would like to try it when we are a little colder for sure as it does seem like a 0 and below kind of jacket.

Cross Fit was fun! I worked on my front squat, but yet again my wrists gave up before my legs did.  Damn wrists!  I tried a wrist wrap and it did help, so coach is going to bring me some for the next time.  For my EMOM, I did shoulder press with dumb bells, kettle bell dead lifts, and air squats.  I tried with each cycle to get more reps in, and it was once again hard but fun!

our Elf peanut.  He isn't very good about finding new spots or being very clever.  Not sure why :)

Wednesday: Rest day. Work two jobs day.  Fun.  Yes, I am still trying to be a scientist sometimes.  I am still taking care of my beetle stocks at KSU, and still dealing with an occasional customer for our genome sequencing/physical mapping.

Thursday:  Easy 5 and Cross Fit.  Again, I tried a different route to avoid creepers and was delighted to see police presence out on my route.  I did a route with a couple of hills, and I really need to do that more!

It was worth each and every calorie!

I also had peanut butter chocolate pie with home made whipped cream at lunch.  Wow.  YUM!  I need to get my nutrition under control, but not today :)  Cross Fit was later and fun as always.  Erin had me work on my hang cleans more to get my elbows up in front rack position, and also had me work shrugs.  For my AMRAP I did 12 hang on the bar/knees up, 12 weighted step ups (12 lbs, 6 per leg), and 12 kettle bell swings (44lbs I think).  After that was all over I had to 300 feet of farmer's carry with one kettle bell, so I had to do 300 feet per side.  My grip was toast by that time so while i felt like the weight was nothing, my hands were done gripping hard metal and I had to give them a break every 100 feet or so. 

Friday:  Rest day.   I really need to coordinate another cross training like getting my bike on the trainer (or Santa needs to bring me a Peloton hint hint).  Since I run and do Cross fit on the same day, I have way too many rest days on my schedule.  Or maybe I need them?  We also got to see our pictures from the Santa Experience.  One word.  MAGICAL! 

Saturday: Easy 5 or long run.  Hubby had to work, but as usual had no clue how long he would be gone.  Kind of hard to plan my long run, so figured I could always pop on the dreadmill if he worked late.  We also had our very first gym Christmas party later on in the day.  He ended up coming home in time for me to eek out a 5 miler outside before we had to get ready.

The dogs were super happy that we got outside as it was cold but gorgeous!  Then home to clean up and head to get some dessert to take to the party.  We brought something naughty and something nice for dessert, some fruit for those counting marcos and some really yummy cookies for those who weren't.  The spread was AMAZING and we both got to play flip cup (me with water, the hubby got the good stuff).  We also had a white elephant gift exchange that had some really awesome gifts!  We brought biofreeze and a hot and cold pack because I figured people could use that.  A cooler of Stella beer and gift cards also were in, but I ended up with some sweat pants.  They actually were cute and a guy got them originally, so I stole them to let him be able to get something else :)

Sunday:  Long run day!  I needed to get to trails and while the weather is nice and I can still drive to trails, I decided to either hit up fancy creek or Clinton.  I sent a FB message to a lady who I ran with a little at Saunders Saunter and she was up for doing a few miles with me and showing me the lay of Clinton Lake.  I feel like I have done enough races out there that things look familiar, but I still am very scared of getting lost.  Enter in miss Mary Ann to the rescue.  She is a long time trail hawk and SUPER nice.  She helped me figure out a nice 4.75 mile loop that took me to the trail head almost every hour, so I could re fuel and not have to carry all of my bottles with me. I still took two bottles just in case, but it was nice to know that I could just take one at a time.  There is also a camp toilet up there which would be nice to use if needed.  The miles just flew by as we talked and got to know each other.  While Stella wanted to herd her dog, the girls got along as Ziva is very laid back and just ignored her being bitchy. 

The trail got softer as the sun came out and warmed everything up and Mary Ann had to leave me around mile 8, but Stella and I got it done and then grabbed some popeyes (chick fil a was closed since it was sunday BOOOOO) and headed back to Wamego.  As predicted, it took me around 4 hours to get 14 miles, and my watch read short, but the mileage of that loop was 4.75 so I ended up probably closer to 14.25 actual miles with 3 loops.  Other than some chaffing between my legs (thanks ill fitting pants) the run was perfect!  PF stayed quiet thanks to new inserts in my torrents and heel cups.  Foot hurt in another spots, but I think I can loosen the laces and get rid of that pain.  

What a great week of running!!  Have a great week and hoping the weather is as nice where you are as it is here!

A year in racing: Stella style

Okay so you know mom and I run races together right?  We have had a big year and mom asked if I would put together a post with my races that i did with her and some pictures.  Mom always writes these big long race reviews, so mine are super short and simple!

First race of the year together was a mud fest.  Pyscho Wyco took us quite a while to finish because well, MUD.  I pulled my mommy up those muddy slick hills, steadied her when she was stuck, and licked her face when she did fall.  She laughed a lot so I think she lost her mind about mid way through the race because it wasn't funny!!!  I had to have a BATH afterwards and I did NOT like it!  I kind of liked my mud dreads!

Next mom and I did a trail marathon together!  It was kind of fun because it is very similar to what we train on anyway.  Lots of hills and lots of gravel and rain, rain, rain.  I got to run loose from mommy most of the race and I just would tuck in behind her to keep the rain out of my face and to let her block the wind.  She would see a crazy person with a camera up ahead and make me get out from behind her to take our pictures.  I am no dummy, I let her do all the work and I just draft most of the time!

Fast forward to summer and we did a little race out at Clinton Lake called The Snake 10 miler in which mom and I ran with Cindy and Miles.  It was H.O.T. so we took lots of swim breaks and took it easy.  See how sweaty mommy is in the picture?  Ew!  We also got into a bed of seed ticks.  While I am covered by my flea and tick meds, mommy was not, so my best running friend and mommy's best running friend Mel came and helped her pick them off one by one.  Those suckers are TINY!  I also got another bath (NOOOO) to get the the dying seed ticks off of me too.

Mom was told by her chiro that she only had a limited amount of time left in her body for running so we didn't do a 50K or a marathon this fall, but instead several smaller races.  We did a new to us race called the Flatrock 25K, and boy they weren't kidding about the dang rocks!  I got to meet a new running friend and she loved me and I loved her, PLUS we got to see Cindy and Miles!  Mom and her new running friend Kris conquered those rocks together!  I needed help getting down from Devil's Buttcrack, but I had no issues getting back up.  Thanks to all the trail sisters we met that weekend that were big helps in getting me through!

Next mom and I did a trail 5K called Trails for Tails right in Manhattan KS that benefited a local rescue group called Purple Power Paws or PPP!  They are taking over the shelter in our home town.  There weren't too many people,  so I pulled mom to a podium finish.  This doesn't happen very often, so we kind of enjoyed it!  While there were people with dogs who haven't really run or people with flexi leashes, we still had fun and it was cold, but beautiful!

Mom and I decided to do a new to us trail half on a new to us trail called Randolph's Revenge.  We train across the bridge from these trails, so going to have to hit these up sometime soon as well for some training runs!  We got lost a few times and had to do some back tracking, but the trail was challenging and the weather was nice.  We finished dead last, but we kind of enjoy bringing up the rear!

Since we love all the dog themed races, and mom wasn't so tired from doing big distances, we signed up for yet another dog themed 5K.  This one was in Topeka called Tails on the Trail.  I don't really have a tail, so it was more like nubs on the trail for us!  Again perfect weather and not a huge crowd, so mom and I got yet another podium finish.  She should appreciate me pulling her so hard!

One last trail race for the year was the Sander's Saunter 25K.  We haven't ever done this particular race, so we got to see some new to us trails out at Clinton lake, including Sander's mound and the famous White trail (which we were on part of I think for The Snake).  Once again, I did all the work and pulled mommy most of the way and even had some company on the trail with miss Ziva the white wonder pup trail dog. I think it is funny when people ask mommy if i am going to run the entire race.  Why wouldn't I??? 

Our last road race was the Manhattan Turkey trot.  Last year we did this race with Mel and Pat but they were out of town (BOOOOO).  I pulled mom hard last year and she got a 5K PR!  This course is flat and fast and the weather is usually perfect, so it's perfect for PRs.  There were TONS of people there this year and lots of people in front of me walking or barely running. I had to dodge and weave and that took a lot of our energy.  We ended up finishing in 27:27, which is good for us, but not good enough to break our dog assisted PR of 26:55.  Mom and i needed one more mile for the day, so we headed out to get it  on the KSU campus before heading back to the family.  I celebrated in my own way by eating not one but 2 pies while the family was out playing in the park.  Don't worry, in true stella fashion, I didn't even get sick!

So there you have it, my 2018 races that I did with my mom!  This year I got to do 10 of the 15 races she did!  Mommy says she likes this trend, so we are going to continue it next year and add a 50 miler in (GULP).  I think we can do it and I am excited to go back to TN with mommy and run there!  Have a great 2019 and see you at a race!