I'm Breaking FREE!

Eighteen days of quarantine DONE!  It could have been worse if I had been negative and Tony had been positive, so I will take it.  I am not going to lie, I really did like working from home and staying in my pjs all day.  The zoom meetings I had I just put on a polo and kept my pjs on the bottom :)

Monday and Tuesday were both unseasonably cool.  We woke up to low humidity and cool breezes. Can summer be like this all summer?  Decided to let Stella have a spin since Boom handles heat a little better right now.  I really had no clue how my body was going to react post Covid, but other than just feeling a little out of shape, everything was good.  

The rest of the week running wise was more hit than miss.  We woke up Thursday to rain and storms and also Friday to storms.  I like not missing sleep, but also I need to get some base building done when it isn't 1000 degrees outside.  Unfortunately, most nights were not the best for even short runs as we were busy at the track or at the pool, or it was a million degrees plus humidity.  I did get into the chiro and got so much needed work done.  Thanks to the huge amount of life stress and sitting at our dining room table for large amounts of time (no padding, no back on the chairs), I was a hot mess in my back and shoulder region.  I really need to get in and have a really good deep tissue massage.  

I did get a run in finally on Saturday, only because I got to sleep till 7 am and the cloud cover made it possible.  Boom and I got 5 miles in and had mostly cool, but humid miles.  There was tons of water on the road from the recent rains and Boom is getting much better about drinking on the run, although he seems to prefer puddles to fresh water.  He is vaccinated for Lepto before you worry :)  Th rest of the saturday was about doing a million things we needed to do post Covid, including my favorite, a Target trip and a trip to my most favorite antique store Eclectic Charm.  

Sunday was all about racing. My hope was that with me there this weekend, fewer cars in his class, and a few practices under out belt that Andrew would be brave.  While I certainly saw moments of brilliance, those moments were pretty short. Part of the problem is we are fighting both cars now with some sort of unseen issues that are making both slow and we knew this from his practices.  He is starting to come around and try and battle, but the other cars are tuned in so well and so much faster (6.3 versus our 6.7 best lap in one class) that we just can't compete.  Tony and I are coming to this from a very non racing background, so what we know and what we do comes from  YouTube and asking friends/reading books.  It really puts us to a disadvantage when most of these kids have dads and grand dads that are racers and set up their own race cars weekly.  Overall it still was a good day and I am proud of his 5th and 4th place finishes.  

At the end of the day this is what it is all about anyway.  Andrew and his buddies having a great time after they battle on the track.  Plus bonus, we got a free air show while we were racing thanks to the air strip being so close to our track.  Look at this awesome picture our race photographer got!  They even did a simulated battle and it was LOUD!

Have a great week y'all!  It's 4th of July week and that is our favorite holiday here in Boomtown.  My parents are coming up and we are having a little party with some of our track friends.  I can't wait!

Quarantine Week 2

Hello, it's the mutant Colemans here :)  We are currently hunkered down for a while, while our bodies process Covid.  So far it's been an interesting ride.  Get ready for some memes because pictures from my yard and the house are kind of boring and those are the only places I have been lately.

First off let me start with my new mantra.  I am working hard to live by this and stop being such a people pleaser. I am finding that I can not make everyone happy and it's not my job.  I also need to stop apologizing for living my life.  I owe no one anything and you the reader don't either.  Let's rise up together!  

Monday started out like the Monday before, working from home and waiting to hear something from the lab.  I am glad we had rapid tests done, so we at least knew what we were up against.  I felt on again and off again good and bad.  The Covid roller coaster I had seen my own son go through is not a fun ride. 

Tuesday I woke up hoping to get a short run in before the heat they were predicting was to set in.  We have had a blessing of low humidity for a while now and I really wanted to take advantage.  Except my body waved the white flag and I had to listen to it.   I unfortunately had a 9:30 zoom meeting that I had to pull myself together for, so I slept till about 8 and then drank as much coffee as I could muster, brushed my hair, and pulled myself together.   Post having some not so fun conversations, I struggled through the day till I could go back to bed and die.  I did call the health department to see if our positive tests were in the system, since our rapid tests were done on Saturday.  They had no record of either our rapid or our lab confirmed test being done.  Sigh. Once again if this is the monkeying around people have to do, I can see how this mess gets spread far and wide. I also lost my sense of taste and smell Tuesday night.  It was super duper weird.  I had a big bowl of ice cream after a session of trampoline jumping and I could taste every single delicious bite.  When dinner time rolled around and the hubby made some yummy spaghetti, I couldn't taste a thing.  I could feel the textures of the foods, but no taste.  My diet coke tasted like warm nothingness.  Then I took a shower and couldn't smell the soap, the shampoo, or the after shower lotion.  This is such a weird virus!

Wednesday was also the day of all the meetings.  Our business networking group started off they day and our quarter midget track club ended the day.  Y'all know this, but I just need to type it here to get it off my chest.  I am a huge empath.  If you are angry, I feel your anger as if it were my own.  If you are sad, I absorb it.  If you are mad at me I feel your anger and my feelings as well.  At times it's a bit much because I can't just feel my own emotions, I feel everything you are feeling too.  I am not saying you can't feel emotions around me, everyone can.  I am learning how to block it to a degree, but somedays like when I am sick or tired or whatever, I just don't have that skill and it kills me.  Wednesday was just one of those days for me.  

Thursday was probably the worst day Covid wise of all the Covid days.  Not sleeping much the night before, letting go of some really stressful stuff, and trying to wrap my brain around some relationships I have, just left me with nothing in the tank.  My pulse ox was all over the place and my heart rate was also high compared to what I normally am at.  I had horrible chills, but no fever, and my head felt like it was going to explode.  I felt like I needed to sleep, but was terrified to sleep by myself with just andrew around, just in case I did have issues with breathing.  I could take a deep breath no problems, no tightness in my chest, but still very worried as to why the pulse ox was fluctuating so much.  I finally starting running a fever, but it stayed below 100. Just enough of a fever to make me feel like pure poop.  I had hoped for an early bed time but right before i was headed, I looked for a document that I had worked on for 3 hours earlier in the day and it was gone.  Like poof, never existed, gone.  I finally found it, but the document had been completely renamed????.  This is seriously the weirdest thing ever because I downloaded the document with a name that included the word June.  Post downloading it I edited it and saved it multiple times and  added the words "TKQMA" and "2021" to the title.  How it reverted to a name that had neither of those words in it and added words makes NO sense to me, but at least I found it and it existed and I had not dreamed it up.  Of course adrenalin running through your veins does not make you sleep, so I was still wide awake at 11 pm.  

The ONLY good part of this week was that Andrew was back to normal and had fun building a late birthday present Lego set.  While I was super bummed it was to be delivered post his birthday, it came at the perfect time for him to have something to do.  Two days and almost 3 thousand pieces later, he made R2D2 a reality.  He amazes me with his skills because this set was for 18+ and he only asked for help once.

I slept till a little past 9 on Friday and honestly I think I needed sleep more than anything. The head congestion finally let go a little and I could actually smell a little bit.  I still took it very easy all day and mostly did computer work or sat on the porch.  The health department finally called and discussed our quarantine periods (which are almost over) and symptoms.  They were pretty honest in that there were 14 cases in our area, but that people were not getting tested that were sick so that number was very misleading.  Most people were loading up on fever reducing meds and going back to life or just waiting till they were a few days fever free to go back to life.  No judgements, you have to do what you have to do, but it totally explains how this mess just gets spread and how it's never going to end no matter how careful a person can be.

Saturday was another day of sleeping in.  Another almost 12 hour night of sleep that can do nothing but help me get better.  I woke up feeing a ton better and decided to try and tackle some much needed yard work and work work.  The temps were high but the clouds were out and I managed to get most done before the sun peaked out and started baking me.  I spent most of the rest of the afternoon resting in the recliner watching musicals and Downton Abbey.  Finally finished In the Heights and while I didn't love the first half, I certainly did love the second half and now will need to watch it all the way through again.  

Since both the boys were off of quarantine and it had been almost 2 weeks since the cars had been to the track, Tony and Andrew headed out to a super short practice in the heat.  No one was at the track so perfect time to get some laps in and not be around people.  While I am only a few short days away from hitting my 10, I am still a little nervous the boys are back out around others.  

Sunday was race day and I was dying not being able to be there or be able to watch via payperview. I had to hop from live video to live video on Facebook, as the moms at the track were taping their kiddo's classes.   Andrew did not race well and I am not sure why.  I am sure not being heat acclimated and just coming out of quarantine from Covid probably had a lot to do with it.   One of his cars was just not running right at all and his other car while fast, was not fast enough.  It's hard because his last races were so much better and had so much improvement and now we kind of feel like we are back to square one.  I even thought a few times about getting out and trying to do a walk or a bike ride and elected to stay inside, stay cool, and wait a few more days to try and reintroduce myself into the athletic world.  

Happy Father's day to all of those fathers out there!  Hope you had an amazing day where you got to chill out, eat good food, and do what you love.  I am saying a big Happy Father's day to my step dad Tommy who raised me, my genetic dad Mike Gordon, Tony's genetic dad Omar, and to Andrew's newest pops Bob.  

Here is to hoping next week will be better right?  I will be out of quarantine and back to work Monday, Andrew will be at camp and swimming at night, and I will hopefully be able to do some sort of athletic endeavors.  Have a great week y'all!  

 

Quarantine Week 1

First let me start out with an Andrew/Covid update.  We got the lab call Sunday night that Andrew was positive for Covid.  I immediately texted anyone we were around/near the last 48 hours which luckily was mostly my own vaccinated family as my mother in law is here. We also notified boys and girls club since Tuesday through Thursday was his all day gig.  We were told by the lab that we would be notified of all things quarantine Monday morning via the health department or KDHE.   

Monday rolled around and nothing.  No phone calls, no advice, nothing from Boys and Girls club. I was getting very concerned, as I wanted to know all of the details since the "rules" have changed as this pandemic has progressed.  By Monday afternoon I was getting supremely concerned.  His lab results finally rolled into his online portal chart, but no emails out about Boys and Girls club having a positive or anything.  I finally just called both our health department as well as the KDHE Covid hotline and neither could help me because technically my son was not in the system yet.  Huh????  He has freaking Covid!!!!! While we are twiddling our thumbs exposed people are circulating amongst each other unknowingly.  Monday night after 9 pm I got a text from a gentleman from Boys and Girls club asking me some questions.  When I told him I had alerted the director at the Wamego site on Sunday night he became a bit upset.  An email quickly went out to the membership that a Covid positive patient was at their location.  A least it was something.  I had already alerted those I thought would be close to Andrew anyway but still.  

Tuesday I got a run in and also started getting calls from the Covid tracers.  KDHE called as well as our local health department.  Andrew was to be quarantined for 10 days and then my quarantine would start afterwards.  Sigh. I figured they wouldn't honor my 2 vaccines since I was only 1 week post the second shot but I mean really, how much more immunity am I going to gain in the 2nd week post the shot versus the first week?  I am a rule follower so I am stuck in the house and in my car till June 24th.  I will miss yet another race, but Andrew and Tony can go. I did find a statement that I could get tested 7 days post exposure and if negative could forgo quarantining past Andrew's quarantine period, but our health department does not honor it, even though it is a KDHE policy.  I do not envy their job, but I do see why people just don't get tested or don't follow their protocols.   Andrew's grandma, Uncle Cayce, and Tony all can forgo quarantine because they are more than 2 weeks post their second shot. I guess an invisible forcefield goes around them and they can't transmit or transfer the virus?  Sigh. I don't think that is how it works, but at least that means my hubby can get supplies we need to be in lock down.  Andrew's grandma made him a chocolate cake and some frosting and helped him turn one of his drawings into a cake.  He did all the artwork on the cake and now wants to be a cake maker when he grows up. I could live with that!

Andrew spent most of the week with an once daily fever spike that would start at 99.3 and spike at 100 to 101 at the most.  Enough to be annoying basically.  He had a little bit of head congestion that drained down his throat and a little wet cough more to clear his throat than anything.  We used children's Advil if he was uncomfortable and Mucinex for kids to loosen that mucus.  Most days he felt fine and it was hard to keep him still and quiet to rest.  Wednesday threw us a curveball in that Stella refused to eat for a day and a half and just acted puny.  I got her an appointment to go see our vet first thing Thursday morning and of course that morning she was much better and has continued to improve through out the week.  Of course relapse is ALWAYS in the back of my mind, so any little blip really freaks me out.  She had walked stiffly the first day and had favored but not limped on one of the legs that originally caused her issues and my mind is already in a bad place with all of the drama in my life and then Andrew being sick and others possibly exposed.  

I did get some running done and was symptom free most of the week.  Heck I love working from home and not getting out of my pjs except to run.  I did one zoom meeting and just put my polo shirt on top and kept my sleep shorts on bottom lol!  I am a homebody anyway and other than missing my favorite local beer tap rooms and the occasional eating out, I was kind of not mad at all about being in quarantine.   Summer running is definitely here and when the humidity isn't high, I can handle it.  I had a few later in the morning runs that went well thanks to low humidity.  

Andrew's birthday day was made special by many porch drops the night before, videos, lots of lego sets, video games from Uncle Cayce, and cupcakes from a class mate and his homemade cake.  

Andrew loved his sign and I love that she is local and could get some business out of our sign being posted in a great location for visibility.

  

Boom also enjoyed his sign since technically his birthday was Friday.  Happy 3rd Barkday Boom!  We have been heat acclimating this week and he is doing really well.  Both he and I have become quite fluffy so we both need to get some weight off.  I know why I have, but not sure why he has.  

Andrew kept getting little goodies both Friday night and all day Saturday.  I can't think my friends enough for making his day so special.  Our day however was not.  

Let me back up a bit.  Wednesday night Tony started coughing and sniffling but we were vaccinated so we attributed it to the fact that we have been doing lots of yard work lately.  Friday I noticed Tony really did not look well and upon taking his temp, he had a very low grade fever, but still a fever.  Saturday morning when we woke up, we both felt bad, like we both had bad colds.  Tony was still running a fever but I just had head congestion.  Since Tony's mom is visiting and she had both of her shots a long time ago, we had her come over and we headed to town to the local walk in clinic.  We sat in a parking lot in car idling with the AC on for over 2.5 hours waiting for our time to go in.  We were there from 11:30 till almost 4.  Our rapid tests came back positive, so we had to give another sample for the lab test and also for type and sequencing.  We were not the only ones that had had Moderna in our area and had gotten sick so our health department is on it.  We will more than likely be in quarantine till June 19 or 20th for Tony and for me maybe a little later since my symptoms didn't appear till Friday.  I still do NOT regret getting our vaccinations and hope every  will continue getting theirs.  Our cases are much milder than Andrew's case, and much milder than if we had not been vaccinated.  

It wasn't the week we wanted or had planned on but we made the most of it.  We did our first online grocery pick up which may be the way we do this forever and ever moving forward.  We survived the dreaded Covid swab and lived to tell.  We ran our business from our house once again and it worked, so that is a comfort since we will be doing so another week.  I also was able to get three runs in not getting out very early in the morning and didn't die.  We shall see how the coming week treats us.  Please keep us in your prayers if you are the praying type or send healing vibes and energy our way.  

Have a great week y'all!

Sickness?

 I will say this week starting out much better for me.  I was a little more regular with my running and even went as far as contacting a lifting coach to start the process of getting a strength cycle started. I am very low on motivation right now for anything outside of running and my kiddo's racing, but I need to get back to my bike and back to my weights.  My hubby made a little home gym area for me at the shop and I am ready to start using it!  

Monday was a day "off" which I put in quotations because I truly never take a day off since we own our own business.  It was nice that banks had been closed two days and that I couldn't do a lot of the accounting stuff I need to do.  I did go for a run in the rain with Stella and then we headed off to a BBQ where I got to cuddle some insanely cute kittens.  I would love another cat, but I really really want an indoor only cat and this cat has been outdoors exclusively.  It was dog savy but still, it would have to be kept in a room by itself till I felt like it was big enough to defend itself while I was at work.  My dogs are sweethearts BUT prey drive can kick in at any moment and I do NOT want the circle of life to happen in my house.  

Tuesday we headed to the track to practice.  We made the car slower not faster.  It's so nice to have andrew not be part of the equation now that his lines are good and he is keeping his foot in the gas.  There are SO many moving parts on these cars that need to be fine tuned to get faster (and sometimes slower).  

Took boom boom out Wednesday post work.  Since we still had water on the road I felt comfortable running him later in the day.  I am still not ready for summer.  

Thursday we headed to the track again to try and fix what we had screwed up LOL!  Times stayed the same even with the changes, so we were leaving it like it was and moving forward.  On the way home from eating with some of our track family, Andrew fell asleep in the car.  No big deal, he had been staying up later at night since we don't have to be anywhere early in the morning.  Got him home and in bed and he felt a little warm, so I took his temp.  99.1 so no big deal right?  He woke me up at 1:30 hot and very uncomfortable.  Took his temp and it was 103!!!!!  I am not one to use fever reducers, but I quickly got some advil in him as he was miserable, put ice packs under his arms and on his chest, and got him to start sucking down popsicles.  I got it down to 102 and he went back to sleep, but of course I was wide awake.  Maybe adrenalin?  Let him sleep in since I can work from home and he slept till 10 am!  Woke up fever free so hoped we could still go to the races on the weekend.  We were literally packing up and heading to the track and I noticed rosy cheeks.  Sigh.  Took his temp and it was going up.  No racing for us this weekend which means two 0s that we will have to throw out.  Sigh.  Plus all of his hard work and the fact that I work hard for the club in the tower doing many duties including scoring, some announcing, posting to the whatsapp, and doing awards all wouldn't be happening.  Plus, I have learned to do the square so I can take registrations and record them for accounting, which I have to do a few days post race anyway.  We don't have a ton of volunteers on race day, so if one of us is gone, it's very tough for the crew that is left.  Plus, we had a hotel with a swimming pool and were going to invite andrew's friends over for some swimming .   

Of course by the time he spiked again, our doctor's office was closing.  Since he does go to boys and girls club and we had been at the track the night before, I decided to take him to the walk in clinic to see if there was any obvious issues we could treat.  Strep had been going around, but his tonsils looked okay.  We swabbed anyway, something he HATED and fought the dr tooth and nail.  They also decided to go ahead and swab for Covid even though all he basically had was a fever.  He again fought and screamed as they tried to swab him.  Of course that meant that I was instantly in quarantine with him, since I was only 1 week post my second shot.  Tony has had both of his shots for weeks, so he was good to go according to the CDC website.  I had to quickly get to the track to turn in my stuff so they could do registration and pay people for any reimbursements, since I am the treasurer.  I also had to do it without talking to anyone or running into anyone just in case.  Driving back I saw the most beautiful shooting star on the western horizon.  I don't know who was sending me a message but I felt the awe and love.  

Andrew continued to run a fever on and off all weekend.  I got in two runs thankfully and kept my sanity in quarantine.  I also was able to work from a far for the track which helped me not feel 1000 times horrible for not being there.  I could watch the races via the payperview app and work the Whatsapp on Sunday.  I could also watch the square and figure out accounting stuff as the day progressed, which helps me when it comes time for accounting.  

We got the dreaded call late Sunday night that Andrew was indeed positive for Covid.  I was super glad I let my gut rule me and stayed home from helping at the track.  As I type this we are awaiting the call from the health department on quarantine guidelines.  I am only 1 week post my Covid shot, so not fully vaccinated.  Tony is over a month post his second shot so he is FULLY vaccinated and of course Andrew is sick, although fever free at the moment.  I am sure he got it from Boys and Girls club as they were unmasked and mixed together all week.   I couldn't sleep Sunday night at all worrying about who we may have exposed two days prior to him coming down with symptoms.  I am glad my hubby and I are vaccinated as is most of my family.  I am glad for shorter quarantines now, but I am sure we will have to cancel his b day party that he has looked so forward to having since he didn't get one at all last year either.  Stay tuned for more details.  At least I can get out and run and I can work from home with my job now.  It's the little things that keep you sane.  Pray for no symptoms for me and pray my Covid test comes back negative when I am allowed to be tested.     Also pray that Andrew continues to get better as he only has a fever and a stopped up nose at this point.  

Have a great week y'all!

Covid Shot #2!

Let's start out with a laugh shall we?

Now on to Michelle is serious.  Have you ever said something that you instantly regret?  Something that comes out of your mouth and the second it leaves your lips, you want to take it back?  I did this very thing this week.  I am not proud of myself, it should have never been said, even if it was the truth.  I was and am insanely stressed and tired, and am reacting off of emotion lately and it sucks.  It's not the first time, sometimes I speak before I really think it through, and I am sure it won't be the last time, but I am embarrassed and frankly disappointed in myself because it affected someone else, not just me.   I try so hard to fight for the truth, to do what's right, and sometimes I just slip up and fail when I get this emotional.  I need to go back to my girls on the run lesson about toothpaste, how once it comes out, you can never get it back in.  I also need to say things out loud to myself first and not just pop off immediately to my friends, as you never know who is listening or who something will be repeated to and how it will affect the end party. I have thrown myself on my own sword several times this week and I still don't feel any better, but I have to move on and i hope by blogging my feelings this will help.  Onward. 

Let's talk about some good things now.  Last day of school.  Andrew has had an amazing year and I am SO glad that he got the best teacher for him and his amazing little creative brain.  We have been all in all year and the teachers, staff, and crew at our school has gone above and beyond to make this a good school year for all of our kiddos despite all of the challenges Covid threw at them.  Andrew finished the year above grade average in all of his subjects with all As and two B pluses in English and spelling.  My favorite grade?  A 100% in SCIENCE!!!!!!  He no longer needs to be in the special reading program and he is no longer in weekly tutoring.  We are going to let him have a summer of fun with camps, swimming, racing, and lots of laziness LOL!  He finished the year in size L/XL clothes dependent on the brand, size 5 shoes, 97 lbs, and 4 ft 6 inches tall.  

I got two runs in this week and zero rehab or strength training.  Again, it is what it is and I am viewing this as time for the dang shin to completely and totally heal.  My watch was all about giving me guilt trips about overreaching when I did run.  Dang watch, just doing 2-3 runs a week and taking my time.  Guess maybe it's because my sleep hasn't been the best?  I like doing 4-5 mile runs as my base runs because heck my body doesn't warm up till I have run 2-3 miles, so maybe it thinks that's too far for me where I am right now in training or lack of training.  I had plans of doing 4 runs again this week, but that quickly fell apart with the rain and with me getting my second Covid shot and just not getting a lot of sleep early in the week.  

I had hoped I would be one of the lucky ones that had no reaction at all to the second shot.  Number 1 just gave me a super sore arm for 3 days, so I really did have hope.  Andrew went with me to get my shot and he asked the nurse so many questions and had her in stitches laughing.  He kept thinking it was a trick to get his shot, but I told him a million times (and I am not exaggerating) that his age group was not approved yet.  Post shot I felt fine, a little bit of arm soreness again, nothing more.  Then sometime during the night the fevers began and I tossed and turned and sweated most of the night.  I woke up with a fever in the high 100s and stayed that way the majority of the day.  The boys planned a fishing trip,  and I had the house all to myself so the dogs and I cuddled up and binged watched a show, something I NEVER do. Watch Mare of East Town ASAP.  You won't be disappointed.  

No fish were caught because no fish were biting, but they had a ton of fun hanging out at the lake.  The boys even came home and did the mowing for me!!!!  I am not down and out very often, so while I would have liked the day to be minus the fever and body aches, I did enjoy sitting cuddled up with my dogs watching HBO max and Disney Plus.  We rented Cruella and it is a MUST see, plus the soundtrack is amazing!

I felt much better Sunday, but decided another rest day would not hurt.  I briefly contemplated a short run or a bike as the weather is absolutely perfect right now for both, but once I got up and going,  didn't feel up to pushing myself so gave myself grace to rest.  I did work in the flower bed for a little bit, but even that was a little too much and I paid for it by being completely wiped.  One of my mom friends came through and took Andrew to the pool so I could just be a big ole slug and do nothing for a bit and I can't thank her enough, even if they closed the pool right after they got there and they ended up at the park instead.  

I've learned some really important lessons this week.  Mainly the value of friends and delaying your response, even when it is something you are super passionate about.  Sometimes the job isn't to point out the truth, sometimes it just to sit back and listen and let others come to the truth in however they need to.   It hurts me to see so many people that i do dearly love and do consider still to this day my very close friends be all upset at each other but I know this too shall pass.  I am also super glad to be done with my Covid shot.  I am not here to preach to anyone.  I chose to get my vaccination because I would never be able to live with myself if I gave my parents Covid.  I also personally worked with mRNA in my research for years and even though I did not use it for this specific purpose, I understand it, trust it, and totally think this is the coolest application EVER for mRNA.  

And last but not least, I made the leap and bought a new shoe for running.  I will get it this week and I am so excited but nervous as always.  While I LOVE my altras, zero drop running has never loved me no matter how I tried to get into it.  I was running with in thin insert in to try and mitigate the 0 drop but even that was not really helping enough.  I am going to try the Topo Ultra adventures and see what I think.  My running store does not carry them and could not get them in stock, so had to just order them and pray I got the sizing right based on what others told me about sizing.  Keep your fingers crossed these shoes work for me and that i didn't just throw away 130 bucks :)

Y'all have a great week!  I am going to try to keep some things that are stressing me way out in perspective and try and just chill and go with the flow.  We have a 2 day race coming up which is always fun, but also loads of stress as we usually have many out of town families come to race, so keep me in your prayers :)

Race Week 3!

The third week of the month is always a doozy for me.  We normally have our big BNI regional meeting on Mondays, PTO Tuesday night, our normal BNI meetings Wednesday morning and then our quarter midget track club Wednesday night.  It's emotionally draining because I put 1000 percent into every organization I participate in.  It's also hard because I am stepping way out of my comfort zone in several of the new organizations I am in, and so to be questioned about my efforts, well, it's hard.  I do take it personally because I feel like I am doing the best job I possibly can.  I also feel super guilty because I feel like I need to put forth more effort than I am, even if i am giving it every minute that I possibly can and work, be a mom, run,  and just plain old exist.  It really makes me question why I am a part of these groups if my effort is going to be questioned and scrutinized instead of welcomed and appreciated.   Anyway, just needed to whine a bit now moving on to nicer things!

Well, take a step back, this isn't nicer, but it is a reality for me right now.  As summer rolls around, I am moving back to early morning running, not only for me, but also for the comfort and safety of my dogs.  Thus far we haven't had any high spikes in heat or humidity, but we are so busy at night right now that if I am going to try and do any base holding at this point, I have to get up early and run.  Last year I noticed a big difference in Stella's heat tolerance or lack there of.  Heck, even I seem to supremely struggle with training in the heat, which kills me because there are SO many good ultras in the fall.  I also had the scare at the 50 miler where I knew something was wrong with Stella, but couldn't figure out what.  She had NO obvious injury or limp, just was running head down, not really engaging in me while she ran.  I quickly switched her out but still.  She had a chiro appointment with her beloved chiro Dr. A on Monday and she just had so many things wrong that were painful to adjust that it just made me know that retirement from any long runs/long distances is the best thing for Stella.  We can still do short runs and Dr. A is going to put her on some herbs to help with any inflammation or soreness, but she probably will no longer race and will have very limited training with me. I haven't really processed all of this fully yet.  I knew it was coming and had odd hope that she could somehow do the 50k and the 50 miler but I knew in the back of my mind that this was probably not going to happen, thus the reason I brought Boom just in case.  While he has a super long way to go before he is the awesome trail and running dog that Stella ever was, he is settling in and getting better.  

I did run but only twice and it is what it is.  For me this is the summer of no guilt and running for fun.  What I get is what I get.  I am disappointed in myself that I am NOT getting my weight training done but that is going to be the priority moving foward.  Now on to race day!  Since I am writing all of this way past when I needed to post it, this will be short and sweet.  The computer draws for us and andrew got super lucky in that he got the pole in Jr Honda and outside pole in Junior animal.  While he still isn't passing right now, he is back to mostly holding his ground and holding on to his position.  He finished 2nd to Makayla in Jr Honda heat and post a big wreck on the start of Jr Animal, got shuffled all the way to back and finished 5th.  The good: we inverted the field thanks to the coin flip so that helped in Jr Animal to put him back to the front.  The bad: the good finish in Jr Honda was now reversed and he would have to work his way back to the front which is not his strong suit yet.  As I figured, he stayed where he was in Jr Honda and tried to stay out of several wrecks and finished 6th even with a very fast dialed in car.  He held on to his spot for second place in Jr animal and lost to the lovely and talented Makayla again.  I knew he wouldn't be able to hold her off, even with a fast car.  We celebrated with pool and burgers post race at the pool hall in town and andrew had so much fun with his friends!

Have a great week y'all!  Humidity is back so boo but hopefully we will acclimate and make it through!

Race Week Two!

 Another week of three runs, no strength training (ooops), and Points Race #2.  Going to keep this short and simple.

Most of my runs were pretty short with a 5 miler, a four miler, and a 5 miler.  If I am going to get back to four days a week, morning running will be a MUST.

Lots of practicing at night.  Figuring out the cars is a full time job some days for my hubby.  Add into the mix an 8 year old that somedays just doesn't want to put 100 percent effort in.  If we didn't see improvement every single time he practices and races, we would be done LOL!

Crazy eyes and Boom got some gravel road time.

She is such a poser.  I love this time of year when all the pretty flowers bloom.

First morning run of the year.  Up at 5:25 and out by 5:45.  Need to get out earlier because I did not have time to get myself and my kiddo ready for school and not be late.  One more week of school and then we will be on summer break which will make life easier.

This shin is being super stubborn.  We are attacking it with lots of scrapping, and rehab exercises.  I feel like I once again spend most of my day doing rehab exercises (i don't but it feels like it).

He is starting to not appreciate my constant picture taking of him.  

Mud run Sunday thanks to the all day rain.  So lucky aussies dry quickly.  

Race number 2 went much better.  Andrew still didn't finish as well as we thought he could BUT we saw improvement in both cars in both races.  He was hit yet again but it didn't take him out this time and he was able to come back and finish the feature.  He held off a couple of kids in Jr Honda and finished 5th and finished 4th out of 5 in Jr Animal.  Lots of good stuff for sure, a long way to go for sure, but I am seeing good things and that's all that matters.  

Have a great week y'all!