Week 7: Training for the Rockin K Trail Marathon

Back in the saddle and back in Kansas where it is cold and yucky!  We had not only ice predicted, but again heavy snow.  Sigh.  I am so over it!  I want to be back in tech Ts and shorts.  I am really, really digging this plan I made.  It may not be scientifically correct and it ever changes (who am I?), but I am loving it!  I am really loving the cut back weeks and slow and gently builds.  If this plan works, this may be my new marathon training plan forever and ever :)  Knocking on a huge piece of wood as I type this, I think between Cross fit, using the 4:1 run walk ratio, AND a kinder gentler training cycle without hard core speed work, my injury prone body is way more happier and productive.

Monday:  Cross Fit.  Today's workout I dubbed death by burpees.    I try not to judge any work out when i peek at it on my phone app, but this one I knew was going to be tough for me, the hater of all things burpee.  I am still not doing a full push up, more of a sprawl to the floor and then jumping my legs in kind of burpee like, with a jump up once I gather my butt off of the floor.  I also got a PR on my back squat by lifting 115 lbs on my 1 max rep.  The scary thing is, I think I could have gone heavier!  I am really enjoying starting this journey of heavy lifting and can't wait to see what my body can do.

That is a field of solid ice

Tuesday: Easy 6 or 7.  Since I am really playing with my running cycle and trying new things, like running by feel.   The weather was pretty cold (feels like 7 when I ventured out), so I debated about putting a full face mask over my head and face, but instead went with a buff, which quickly froze stiff from the cold and my breathing.  I decided to go ahead and get the 7 so I could do one less mile later in the week.  We saw lots of migratory birds once again so maybe spring isn't too far off?  The snow geese are back and there were larges groups of some smaller birds flying through, which I think is a good sign that spring may be around the corner.  Afterwards while drinking my chocolate milk, I got the shakes.  I took a hot shower thinking that would stop it but I couldn't stop shaking.  I don't know what was wrong, my blood sugars seemed fine and I was completely covered up in good warm dry clothes.  So weird.

Wednesday:  Dead lift day!  Except when I woke up yet again, ice was glazed on everything.  Sigh. I can't deal with this ice any longer.  I went back to bed and woke up to Andrew's school being on a 2 hour delay.   I figured I could hit open gym and get er done then.

Thursday:  Easy 6 or 7.  I decided when I started that I felt good and since the weather looked horrible for the weekend, I would much rather get as much outside as I could.   This was my first frozen eye lash run, mainly because I had to kept my buff up over my face and that was causing everything to freeze up including my buff.  I was nice and toasty, even though it was feels like 8, as I grabbed my Craft jacket that I got from trying out Mercury Mile boxes, my nice Nike wool base layer shirt, and my road runner fleece running pants. I also double gloved and put a running skirt over my pants to keep my bum warm.  It was a really nice run body wise too and I got to see two bald eagles.  I just took stella today so we could have a mommy and me running session.  Sometimes we just have to have girl days and leave the boys at home.   

Later we headed to the gym to make up the work out I missed on Wednesday.  I worked up to a PR on my dead lift at 138 lbs for 3 reps.  The WOD was a little wonky but I tried my best.  We had two sets of things we did.  One minute we did hand stand push ups or sitting down shoulder presses for me (15lbs) and then went and did 8 push ups (the rest of the time was rest).  Then on the second minute, we did a kind of confusing dumb bell series including dead lift/hang clean, and front squat.  We did as many of those in order as we could until 40 seconds was up and then we had 20 second rest.  We did five rounds of the two sets for a total of 10 minutes.  My shoulders were toast after this!!!!

Friday:  REST DAY!  My son had yet another day off of school, this time not sure why?  Not weather related as it was planned, so we took our time getting ready and getting to the office.  Boy was I SORE from the work out the day before.  Part of me wanted to get my weekend runs done since it was going to be a balmy 40 degrees.  The weekend weather looked horrible but it just wasn't meant to be for me work wise.  I haven't had 8 hours of solid work in a long time and today was the day and I loved it!  I miss working hard all day every day (which sounds weird but I do better when I am super busy)

are you taking selfies? DON'T TAKE MY SELFIE!

Saturday:  18-20 miler.   I gave myself a range since I am keeping this schedule loose.  I would have loved to get two 20 milers in or even a 20 and a 22 miler because this race is technically 28 miles total.  I was in and out of the struggle bus throughout the whole run.  The 16 mph NNE wind made running that direction very challenging, and there are several legs of my route that headed that way.  I did around 13 miles and then headed to the house to get a re load of tailwind bottles.  I am really digging my tailwind right now and take in a bottle with 2 scoops every hour.  I skip fueling for the first hour  of running and have been doing a few GU chomps or Cliff shot blocks a few minutes before I head out. Then post the first hour of running, I am getting one bottle/2 scoops down per hour.  My body seems to really like it and other than taking a pit stop when re filled my bottles, no code browns during my run :)  I still have to squat and pee a few times in ditches usually, but it is what it is. I am sure when it is hot outside my body will use that liquid more efficiently.   I also saw 9 bald eagles.  They were enjoying the sun and the crazy wind. I couldn't take any pictures because my phone likes to die when it is cold out.  I was doing lots of silent squeeeeing under my face mask.

side eye game on point

Post running I was HANGRY.  Like take a shower and then eat.all.the.things.  I haven't been that hungry post run in a long time.  I had me a nice bacon cheeseburger, some fries, some fried mushrooms, and some cheese cake for dessert.  Yes, I guess it was a cheat day, and I inhaled everything including two nice beers and I don't regret it.

Sunday:  easy 4.  Since I had run 19.4 the day before, I technically only needed 3.6.  We woke up to around 3 inches or so of fresh snow and feels like -11.  EEEK.  I love running in fresh snow, but that wind chill didn't sound like fun, even for a quick run.  I was pretty sore, probably from dead lifts and then 2 days later 19.4 miles.   I opted for an instead mill run and got er done with the help of some Steve Aoki bumping in my ears.  I took it super duper easy too.  I have a massage appointment with Miss Trina at Rising Phoenix Wellness coming up and probably one more tune up with the Bringer of Pain from Body First. I am really glad because doing max lifts minus shoes really has my PF flared up (note to self, don't do that again) and my hips are kind of feeling a little wonky. 

I am doing a new link up with Kim from Running on the Fly and Deborah from Confessions of A Mother runner.  Kim has been an inspiration for me for years and is why I gave Ultras and timed ultras a try and Deborah has also been one of my favorites for years.  Check out the blogs in the link up!  Have a great week!

Week 6: Training for the Rockin K Trail marathon

I no longer have to say the word "REAL" in my titles because I previously hadn't gotten to week 6 before hitting the reset button and starting over.  Whew, shorter title.  On a sad note, my Aunt Bab's passed away in her sleep over the previous weekend.  She was 81 and had lived an amazing life.  She was the picture of what hard work is.  She was still bowling at her age regularly, going to tournaments, and having lunches regularly with her friends despite her COPD.  She is my mom's closest sister, so please keep my mom and aunt nancy (her other sister), and her 4 kiddos and numerous grand kids in your thoughts and prayers.  This week was all about figuring out how to get to TN and still get my runs in.

I love this picture of my aunt and andrew.  I think this was at his first birthday party

Monday:  Back squat day and Cross Fit fun.  We are almost to our max out for this series, so I upped the weights for this round.  The work out was pretty straight forward just going from 65% up to 90% and then doing a few extra rounds at 85%. I told my coach later this felt too easy and I was worried I had grabbed the trainer bar by mistake (which she said I did not).  We finished with a 1K meter row, which I got another PR on reducing my time down to 4:43 for that distance.  My legs felt pretty weak at the end thanks to the 16 miler I had done on saturday.  I am still not rowing the way I need to be.  I feel like I correct one thing and then I create a new problem.  I was leaning back way too much when I was pulling (is this the correct term?) so to try and stop doing that, I am now not getting full leg extension and returning the handle too quickly.  Sigh.  1 step forward and one step back.

Tuesday:  7 miles and travel.  Once all of the funeral arrangements were set, I could get a ticket and plan my trip.  I needed to get my mileage done before I headed out to the airport to beat the snow storm that was coming in. I decided to add a couple of extra miles so if I needed to do less tomorrow, I could. Then I headed to our local airport early to beat the snow. I sat, and sat, and sat, and sat.  They delayed my flight and delayed and delayed.  I just had a good book, my phone plugged into an outlet and some good snacks so I wasn't too worried.  Except my mom on the other end was going to be driving in late and then driving us both back super late.  I told her we could just get a hotel but she is super woman and was wide awake so no need to sleep!  She even let me sleep till 10 am the next day, glorious!

Wednesday:  Easy 5.  I planned a route from my mom's house and then some weirdo kept following me which made me change everything.  It's a long drawn out story, but he kept blocking my way through the park at the end of their road and making me feel very uncomfortable, so I just did hill repeats up and down my parent's street for 5 miles.  At one point it was pouring rain, but I was in my tech T and shorts and it felt SO good to be outside and not freezing my buns off!

My aunt babs with my mom

Thursday:  Rest day and funeral.  We laid my Aunt Babs to rest and visited with family.  I hate that it takes something like this to get family together, but we sure did have an amazing time visiting and catching up.  We are all scattered from TX to KS to North Carolina.  There were 6 cousins and 2 second cousins there, and even though we range in age, we all had a great time.  Plus, my brother in Atlanta came up and stayed with us all afternoon and night. 

We ate, drank, and told stories, and it was beautiful and sad and amazing all rolled into one.  My aunt Babs touched a lot of lives and it was very heart warming to hear stories and meet people that she had influenced and loved.  The best part was one of her distract managers at Walmart came and talked during the funeral services, and he told the best stories that made us laugh and cry.  The rain that was forecasted that day held off, and I would like to think my aunt had a hand in that:)

my why can't the walkers stay in the correct lanes face

Friday:  Easy 5.    When it was time to go run, it was pouring outside, and i just didn't feel like doing a rain run.  I hit up my mom's gym where there is an indoor track and treadmills.  Nine laps = one mile, but I decided to trust my watch's indoor setting and just do it.  There are very strict rules about the way you handle the track, but no one follows them.  It's always fun to be running in between walkers and getting blocked by them walking three and four abreast, as they constantly are NOT in their lanes.  My knee was throbbing about half way through, since you HAD to run the same way at all times.  My Cross Fit coach told me I should have done some miles backwards LOL!  I had thought about doing my dead lifts post run, but Coach Erin said no since I had an 18 miler the next day.  It turned out that one of my best friends from growing up was in town as well planning a funeral for her grandma so we met up for a late lunch/early dinner.  I wished we had gotten some pictures.  We ate at this really awesome local brewery called Rockin Dough and it was amazing, both the beer and the food.  I am hoping to go and visit Mendy down in FL, because she lives very close to the beach and not far from Orlando.  I think Andrew would love it!

what I was trying to outrun

Saturday:  18 miles.  The forecast looked horrible, but the prospect of running 18 miles on an indoor track sounded horrible, especially after just doing an hour was like pulling teeth.  I decided as long as there was no lightning, my butt was going to be outside.  Rain wouldn't make me melt.  Sidewalks however are not my normal running surface, so my body was not happy about half way through.  Between my mom calling and step dad calling every time it rained, I was feeling very safe and loved and glad i had aftershokz headphones.  I headed out of their neighborhood and did some out and backs in an industrial area and listened to This Podcast Will Kill you and Another Mother Runner.  It's amazing how good podcasts make you forget how long you have been running.  No weirdos at all, just a few honks, and a nice quick conversation with a homeless man about how drenched i was.  After a shower and some rest we once again had a late lunch at my favorite pizza place Snappy Tomato.

Sunday:  Rest and travel day.  Mom and I got on the road super early and to the airport in plenty of time.  Both of my flights were on time and I got to dine on some real chicago pizza at the airport!  Yes, I think the theme of my trip was pizza and fried chicken and I had a couple of cheat days but it is what it is. 

blue skies and 50 mph winds

I arrived home in plenty of time to do 8 loads of laundry and clean the house from top to bottom (typed with a very sarcastic font), but I am just thankful that my hubby took on the challenge of three crazy dogs and a 6 year old solo so I could get away and be with my family. 

As always, I am linking up with HoHo Runs and Wendy at Taking the Long Way Home for the Weekly Wrap.  Please forgive my typos and incoherent sentences as I am typing this up late Sunday night:).  This is the last week for the weekly wrap hosted by these two ladies and I am very, very sad it is ending.  I can't wait to join some of the other wrap ups but this one will always be my first and favorite. 

The REAL week 5: Training for the Rockin K Trail Marathon

Another week of snow and ice???  Will this ever end?

Happy Valentine's week!

Monday:  Cross fit class.....That didn't happen because when I woke up and looked at my weather app it looked like this:

After the last time of having to drive on solid ice and white knuckle it all the way home I decided that was a NO for me.  Of course I don't think it did anything but rain and spit some sleet, but if I would have gone, it would have been pure ice.  My gym has open gym on Thursdays and I figured I could just make up my work out then.  

Later we took the kiddo to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the KSU basketball stadium. I remember seeing them as a kid and LOVING their show, so I was SO excited when Lindsey from LivingLovingRunner won tickets and asked us to come along.  Wouldn't you know, one of the Harlem Globetrotters was from my little home town of Jackson TN???  After the game, we went down and chatted and he knew my brother.  He went to a different high school than we did (and was born when we were graduating from high school, boy I sure am getting old), but it was so cool to see someone from back home in our little apple.  

Tuesday:  Another round of ice and another instead mill run.  Schools were delayed by 2 hours to let the roads have time to thaw, so I jumped on the mill with just an hour before I had to get the kiddo ready for school.  I decided to try something fun since I stare the display anyway.  Every minute of the four minute run interval that I did, I did a different speed starting slower and then getting faster. I think I maxed out at 6 mph as my fastest minute and that way I finished at one hour and one minute and didn't loose my mind.

Happy Galentines day to one of my favorite GALS!

Wednesday:  Cross Fit.  Deadlift day!  We did our dead lift series and then did a super fun WOD that killed me but made me feel so strong!  We had to carry a sandbag 200' and then 12 burpees jumping up to touch a target and 8 hand stand push ups (i am still scaled to dumb bell presses).  It was an AMRAP for 20 minutes and I was pouring sweat.  I am not sure what the weight of the sand bag was but it was more than my 64 lb kiddo.  The only bad part?  My knee was a little twingy from running on the mill I guess the day before and I woke up to my feet being a little bothered, so running on the mill definitely bothers both.

Thursday: Easy 5.  I need to get back to hill repeats since I can't get to a trail that isn't a mess and that was my intention for the days run.  When I woke up I was SORE from working out.  I decided powering up a steep hill while my hammies were tight and sore was not a great idea.  I stayed flat and got it done on a beautiful morning!  Then the temperature DROPPED!  We went from a nice balmy 50 down to feels like 21.  WTH Kansas????

Friday:  Rest and SNOW DAY.  Yet another snow day for the kiddos. I have no clue how many they get a year but I am betting we are at the limit.  I am glad they canceled though, it started snowing about 5 minutes after we got up and continued all day.

Saturday:  Long run day!  In some ways I seriously love winter, like the fact that I can sleep in (meaning 7 am versus 4 am in the summer) and run whenever the day lets me and I won't be roasting/sweating to death.  Once again, my hubby had to work so I was at the mercy of his schedule.  I knew he had to be off by 2 at least because i had won basketball tickets and KSU played at 3 pm and he had to be home to gather andrew and head to the game.  We had between 2 and three inches of fresh snow so I had dug out my yaktraxs.  Y'all I am just going to be painfully blunt, I hate yaktraxs but they are a necessity some times.  Especially when your hubby doesn't have time to screw your shoes before your run.  They hurt my feet like no other but they get the job done so I suffer in silence.  The above picture is me in the first part of my long run.  The skies were blue, the temp was good and the roads were for the most part plowed.

Then it started sleeting HUGE ice pellets and the ground and road became covered again.  I really wanted to get as much done out on the road as possible but ended up being about a mile and half short with the sleet/snow getting worse and the visibility getting worse as well.  Not all of the roads were plowed in town so I just headed home and did a quick change out of clothes and hopped on the mill.  I was so sore post running, probably a combo of the yaktraxs changing the way I run and the mill.

Sunday:  Well, I was suppose to do 6.  We had a wrestling tournament that lasted till past 4 pm and then my Hubby had promised andrew he would take him to see the 2nd Lego Movie (that started at 6:15 about 20 minutes away) and he wanted met to go as well.  Sigh.  I really needed to get on the mill and grind it out. I figured I would get it done when I got home, except we didn't get home till almost 9 pm and the last thing I wanted to do at that point was to get on the mill.  I wasn't happy with skipping a run just because my schedule was not ideal, but it is what it is and I am just going to not freak out about it. 

As always I am linking up with Wendy at the Taking the Long Way Home and HoHo runs.  Check out the amazing blogs that link up there, you won't be disappointed! 

6th tournament of the season: Rumble at Rock Creek

My hope for this last tournament was to end on a good note.  We started out the season so strong and i wanted to end strong.  Of course who knows what goes through a 6 year old's mind.  I knew his confidence had taken a hit because he had become very reactive, waiting on his opponent to always make the first move.  As always my criteria was to have him try hard and never give up, not win.  Winning is just icing on a very yummy cake of hard work.  

trying to get his mean face on

I was a little taken aback when I looked at his bracket.  Several of the kiddos in his bracket hadn't lost but a few matches and most had won those matches by pin.  Instead of stacking a bracket with the good kids in one and the beginners in another, it seemed as they had mixed them all together.  Doesn't matter, you have to take the ass whippings to learn.  My kiddo has never been aggressive or competitive really.  I keep hoping some day it will come and yes, we have lots of years to discover it.  You have to be the aggressor in wrestling and until he is ready to be that, we will always be fighting from the bottom.  

Here is his first match.  It was over quickly.  The kiddo was really, really good.  Notice the body slam.  OUCH!

Second match was a little better.  Some fighting back happened.  That is all I ask, don't give up.  He actually got out of a half and did a little defense here.  I was proud of this match because he is listening to his coach.  This match was also 60 matches after his first match since we had a bye in the second round.  That is a long time to wait!

He was kind of bummed after his loss, BUT I like that.  That means he actually cares.  Coach McNutt was so good with him today, getting him pumped up and helping him with specific moves.  He even used his own kiddo to show him what to do during a match, which was cute!

Third match was the kiddo he pinned at the Manhattan tournament.  I was hoping he would have confidence to actually try and take the kid down.  Here are the three periods and they are kind of painful to watch as they mostly danced around.

I really wish his wins would come off of better matches, but it is what it is.

Go figure, those two matches were only 8 apart after sitting for over 60 matches and waiting.  Then we had another wait for our last.  The kid was once again super good based on his track wrestling record, so I knew how it was probably going to end. Again, I just wanted effort, not a win.

I am proud that he fought back and didn't just give up because once again, this kiddo was really good.  Plus, this was the end to a very long day and Andrew had done really good at getting ready for all of his matches, something that we needed help with.

  

We ended up 4th out of 5 wrestlers and ended the season on a decent note.  He actually tried one of the moves that Coach McNutt went over with him on his last match, so I call that a win.  This season has been full of ups and downs with our first win, our first pin, and our first of many body slams to andrew and to his opponents.  I have seen his confidence bloom and then wither and then start to peak out again.  He always goes on the mat with a smile and comes off mostly with a smile, so we will give it another go next year.  We love our Wamego Raider Wrestling family and have some true friends there.  Andrew has gained some new friends too via playing video games in the stands and that makes me so happy to see him excited to be with them and travel with them.  I hope we can figure out something to do this summer, so we don't loose our skills we have gained.  I know we will have baseball and most if not all of our wrestling family plays baseball, so we shall see them on the diamond.  

Till next year wrestling!  

The Real Week 4: Training for the Rockin K Trail Marathon

Oh cut back week, how I am going to enjoy thee!  My last coach for several years didn't do cut back weeks, and I am glad to have programmed myself one every 4 weeks of my training plan.  I am going to thoroughly enjoy every single easy run!  I did find some facts that said you don't want less than 20% of the week before, so I had to do some tweaking to get my mileage up a little bit.  Kind of nice to build, build, build and then ahhhh.

Not sure who to give credit for this but it is SO true. I HATE the assault bike!

Monday:  Cross Fit day!  We continued our back squat series.  I totally biffed it though and did not pay attention to the percentages we were doing on the app, so my spreadsheet was slightly off.  I improvised and totally found myself with a back squat PR!!!!  On my 95% I was at 78 lbs and it felt okay, so I went with it.  That meant we had to re-figure my whole back squat percentages for next time, GULP.  Our WOD was row for 30 seconds as hard as you could, rest 30, as many as possible burpee box jump overs in 30 seconds, and rest for 30 seconds.  I think we did 5 rounds for 10 minutes total.  It was hard but fun.  My knee was NOT super happy with the jump overs, so I had to make sure I was landing as much as possible on my left leg.  Kind of glad I grabbed my bondis that morning with all the extra cushion.  May not be great for lifting, but perfect for the concussion of jumping off of a box.

Tuesday:  Easy run and massage....ahhhhhh.  5 miles and it was oh so cold.  I was not dressed really well enough.  I needed my thicker gloves and i guess I needed my running skirt to help with the wind on my thighs and butt.  I also really needed a hat instead of just something on my ears, but luckily my buff took care of that.  I had frozen eye lashes for most of the run.  I also had to pee three times, so I was hoping i wasn't getting frost bite on my bum!  Took me a while to warm back up post run, and was very grateful that Trina's table was heated.  I could have just stayed there all day!  She worked on my feet that have been bothering me on and off and really worked on both quads to keep both knees a little happier. I think at one point i had cups all over my body!  I love those little cups, so much pain at the time, but so much less pain later!  I left feeling very tingly and happy.  Seriously, if you want a good all body massage, check out Trina at Rising Phoenix Wellness over by paramour coffee in Wamego.  She is amazing person and an even better massage artist!

this is our driving on ice faces, expect Tony is driving!

Wednesday:  Cross Fit.  As always, today is dead lift day.  The WOD looked a little cray cray on the app, so I decided to give it a chance and hope for some semblance of scaling when I got there.  Once I figured everything out, we were good, but the first round I was kind of a mess.  The WOD was E2M with hand stand walks for 10 meters  (i scaled to walking on the wall), Toes to bar x 12 (I scaled to knees up on the bar) + 30 seconds of ring rests (kind of like holding a plank, but on the rings), and then 8  bent over rows using the bar and as much weight as you could get through 8 with (i did 20 in plates + bar).  I kept getting confused and jumping the gun going to the next thing, but I got it done.  Then I had to drive home, on ice, freaking out the whole way.  They had predicted some freezing rain that day, but it wasn't doing anything when I got up to go to the gym. When I got done however, my windshield was covered in ice and i had to drive all the way back to Wamego (12 miles but it takes about 20 or so minutes) going about 35-45 mph.  Luckily, most of the traffic is going the other way in the morning, so I didn't have to worry about slowing down anyone else or getting hit since I was going so slow.  As soon as I got home, school was canceled.  I am SO over ICE!!!!  I still had to venture out later to get my yearly mammogram, so the whole fam got to come and little man got surprised with a flu shot.  He pretty much hated me afterwards, but then he admitted that it really wasn't that bad.

Thursday:  Easy run on the dreadmill.  I knew post the ice storm we had the night before (there was thunder, ice, sleet, snow, and lightening!) that there was NO way I was going to run outside.  Everything was coated in a very light sheet of ice and school was out yet again.  I am really glad our school system was proactive with this storm, but of course I can do my job for Coleman Electric at home thanks to me being so mobile now.    Five miles and 63 minutes and 31 seconds later, I stuffed my poor brain back in my head and got on with the day.  I really, really hope I don't have to do anymore runs this week on the mill, but I suspect it might happen.  We have more snow and ice predicted :(

Since this was snow day # 2, we spent the rest of the day building legos, practicing wrestling moves, and cleaning with a little bit of computer work thrown in. I generally avoid cleaning specifically toilets and dusting, and I did both.  I tackled a few projects I had been putting off, like cleaning out a lawman's book case that we are going to bring to the shop and taking everything off of our big book shelf and dusting every.single.thing.  Let's see how long it will last with 3 dogs and 1 kiddo!   

the view from my mill.  If you open the windows you look right at the side of my neighbor's house or our backyard

Friday:  REST DAY.  Okay since this is rest day a few things to share.  I am down 7 lbs since January 1st!  I can really tell it more by the way my clothes are fitting and how my body shape has changed.  Of course the first fat to go was my boobs, not funny body!!!!  I am just food logging on myfitness pal app, trying to stay under my calorie goal for the day, and trying ever so hard to hit my macros.  Calories are pretty easy, macros are not!!!  I get close every day, but always higher on fat and lower on protein than I need to be.  I have also started using CBD oil and am really happy thus far with the results.  I put it on the bottoms of my feet every night and I have noticed a HUGE difference with my PF.  Now, that could be from the cross fit i am doing or it could be from the oil, but I don't care, my feet feel one thousand times better now! I get my CBD oil locally, and it is third party tested for the correct amounts of CBD and it is THC free.

Saturday:  Wrestling tournament day!  I moved my longish run to sunday.  Overall we had three matches wrestled, and he won one by pin, one by forfeit and lost the other two.  The first was against a team mate that i have never met and he kind of gave up(boo).  The second was against a kid that usually pins him in the first 5 seconds of the match and he lasted 20 seconds, which is a win against this kid in my book.  Third was his FIRST pin and I was over the moon happy with how he ran a half, pushed the kid over and settled!  I always write a blog about the day so if you are interested, check it out!  After the tourny I headed out for a quick 5 with stella ella. Once again I miss judged the temp and was a little chilly.   Glad I had my buff on my neck, so I could at least cover my ears with it.  I swear it felt like the temp dropped during my run but i didn't check it before we went so can't say for sure. 

Sunday:  Longish run.  Yeah cutback week!  Only 8 miles on the books.  I had originally planned to hit up Clinton with Teri and saw all of the trail hawk's posts about how bad the trail was.  We tried to figure out an alternative, but if one trail is bad, they are all probably bad.  We woke up to a glazing of ice. I decided to wait till later in hopes that most if not all of the ice would be melted by afternoon.  Lucky for us the ice was only bad in a few spots on the gravel where it is shaded and the mud wasn't horrible.  I stuck to my 4:1 run walk ratios (WHICH I LOVE) and felt great.  That was probably the first run in a few weeks where nothing hurt and i could just run. 

As always I am linking up for the Weekly wrap with HoHo runs and Wendy at Taking the long Way home.  Check out the amazing bloggers that link up, I have found some new favorites for sure!

Little Apple Classic-fifth tournament of the year 2019

I am going to be honest here, I was a little nervous entering Andrew in this tournament because it is a bigger one than we normally do. Sometimes bigger = kick ass competition, and while we are getting closer to being able to handle that kind of competition, we aren't quite there yet.  I feel like Andrew is still in the confidence building stage of wrestling, even though he has wrestled for three years now.  This is really the first year that things are clicking and he is starting to get it.  If you want to see how our other tournaments have gone, click here for the first, here for the second, here for the third, and here for the fourth.   

We got there super early and one of our wrestling ladies had spread out and saved a TON of space.  We had so much room to spread out and it was SUPER nice!  They boys all congregated at the top with their game systems.

The very first match was with a teammate that I never have met.  I guess he usually wrestles in the 61 lb class.  They went and warmed up together and then hit the mat.  Andrew started off strong, but gave up :( After the match, the two talked and his teammate told him exactly what he did wrong, which I thought was super cute!

He worked hard to get out of every half his teammate put him in, so that makes me happy.  We have been working on half defense and I think it is showing!

Second match was the kiddo that was sick from last weekend.  As usual, he pinned andrew rather quickly, but andrew didn't give up and that is my main bone to pick with him.  Work hard and loose, I don't care.  Go out there and give up = mommy is not happy.  The kiddo's parents apologized to me for last weekend.  I told them that I knew their kiddo was sick and that there is nothing you can do about it.  Apparently he had hurt himself at another tournament and then was scared to wrestle and worked himself up so badly that he got sick to his stomach.  I told them to tell him not to be afraid of andrew ever :)  Maybe someday, but not right now LOL!!!!!

Third match I broke down into several videos.  I had looked at this kid's record just because we had never seen him previously.  He was 0-4 meaning he has just started his wrestling career.  My kid's record is pretty bad too, but I knew that Andrew had a chance with this kid and i was excited for them to meet.  Here is period 1.  It's kind of funny listening to the coaches try to get andrew to shoot.

After a little bit of dancing, there was some confusion as there was 2 seconds left.  Finally, they got through the first period and into the second.  Our coach deferred and their coach put their kiddo down.  I think their coach was hoping the little guy could get up and get some points since it was still 0-0.  

Andrew got his first PIN!!!!!!  He actually tried and mostly executed a half!!!!!  After a brief chat with his wonderful coaches Justin and Roger, he got a big hug from me.   It took a while to get him to stop smiling.  Here is the post hand raise and shaking the hand of the other coach :)

The last match was a no show, but I knew that was going to happen as the kid had scratched all day.  It was a shame because Andrew had beaten the kid previously, so it would have been a good match.  Andrew ended up with a third place with one win and one FF.  

I really hope this boosts his confidence and we can end on a good note at our final tournament next weekend.  Again, I saw good things in every win and lose and I am excited for the future!  

Wrestling Tournament #4 for 2019: Super Silver Lake

This was our 4th tournament for the season and another new to us tournament.  I had heard good and bad things, and i was hoping for the good.  Here is how our day went and spoiler alert, it wasn't great.

First thing, we got there an hour before the tournament even started and the place was already completely full.  We even had to park at another school and walk a few blocks.  One of the wrestling moms had saved some space at the very top of the bleachers, but we decided it would be better to be outside the gym since the gym was SO small and SO packed (and HOT).

Second, Andrew's bracket only had three kids.  That meant 2 matches.  This made no sense when there were 3 other 64 pounders in the other 64 6U bracket.  Why not have 6 kids in a bracket and do a round robin?  I would rather my son wrestle multiple times and not get a medal, versus 2 times with a guaranteed medal.  Of the entire wrestling team there (and I filled out the bout sheets so I know) he had the least amount of mat time.

Third, there was little to no room for the wrestlers to get ready/warm up/focus.  The edge of the mat was at best 5 feet from the edge of the tables and that was also how people got back and forth from all the mats that seemed crammed into the gym space. I think I counted 7 if not more mat spaces marked off in the tiny gym, which meant mass chaos.  Plus, people had put their stuff in that space that people were trying to walk/warm up in and I think that should NOT be allowed.  If people needed to exit that walk space quickly, that would be a huge tripping hazard. Don't let the photo below fool you.  Just to get to the mat for Andrew to wrestle, we had to push our way to the mat. 

this is blurry but this is andrew doing some jumps with daddy

Okay, those are my gripes.  Our goal was to try hard and warm up well.  He has gone into most of his matches kind of flat and we wanted him pumped and fired up.  Kind of hard to do, but we tried and I think it worked.  Yes he lost, but he never stopped trying like he has in the past.

Prior to his match, we had him review all the moves.  He could recite and execute most if not all of them, so we were pretty excited.  I love the fact that he jumped the whistle twice, as we have been working on him being ready to pounce.  While I would have liked to have seen this match go longer (and it looked like from our angle he wasn't pinned but again the ref has the best angle), we were still happy that he was trying to move and trying to get up.  Bridging would have been the better move, but he was still moving the entire time.  

We didn't have much time to wait before the next match.  Andrew very quickly got ready and got out there to find he didn't have an opponent.  As they were calling for his opponent, the kiddo came running out on the mat, crying hysterically and clutching his tummy.

The ref called the coach over quickly after talking to kiddo, and between the parent and the coach they decided it wasn't worth him wrestling. He is a really good kid, so I have no doubt he was really not feeling well.  The ref really confused Andrew because he made a HUGE deal about Andrew winning and then Andrew was so confused as to why were weren't as excited as he was.  

We don't wish that our kiddo needs win every match, but we want him to have the experience of wrestling.  Only have two matches isn't great, only have one kind of sucks.

  

We got to leave super early, so there was that.  We have two more tournaments before the end of the season and I am SO happy with the improvements we have seen.  He did an amazing job warming up today, so I can't wait to be in a better more spacious gym where we can see how that plays out. Onward and upwards!