Catch-up days!

Sunday was a cross-training day.  My cross-training so far seems to consist of life.  I had a busy day on Sunday, work, driving Selena to Camp Lakewood, and going out for Birthday celebrations and moms' night out with some of my friends.  Monday was the ever-popular rest day.  Tuesday morning, I got up early, did my work and ran 3.25 (though I was scheduled for 3) at Forest Park.  I enjoyed the frogs croaking, the ducks bobbing, and seeing several people whom I see frequently walking and running.  I hustled it hard today, because, as is often the case, I had to hurry home to get the kids lunches packed and to camp on time!  With several clients out of town, and everyone's gardens and plants needing to be watered, work is taking even longer than usual!  My average speed was 11:20, and my max speed was 8:40.  I worked on my barefoot form when I was running on the boardwalk and footbridge, toe running on the boardwalk, practicing fast foot turnover, and single-tracking on the footbridge.  It was hot.  about 87 F.  They keep saying it's going to rain, but the ubiquitous "they" appear to be liars!

 I did the upper-body weight circuit at the Y, since I was there anyway, dropping the kids at camp.  I always enjoy my Y time.  Not sure why it's so satisfying, but everyone is always so nice and friendly, and I feel so much better after I work out.

Came home and weeded yard and garden, did some work with Merlin, adding a cue to 2o2o, and working a little bit on stays and left turns.  Made lovely Coconut Curry Shrimp and Green Beans for supper, with basmati rice.  The kids liked it, even after telling me they don't like curry, so it was a hit.
Tomorrow morning, 6 miles!  I'm sure it will be another beautiful, if HOT, day!

Saturday 12 miles? Well, almost...

Well.  Today was supposed to be a 12 mile run.  It was unbelievably hot and a red air quality day.  Jacob came with me to do some work and then hit Forest Park to run.  We had run about 6.25 miles, when I got a text message from Selena, asking me to come home because the little kids were fighting, screaming and crying, and kicking each other, and wouldn't stop.  Sigh.  We happened to be close to the parking lot, so we drove home.  Everyone was fine when we got there.  Selena was apologetic, and said, "Do you want to go finish your other 6 miles?"  Well, not really.  So I made scrambled eggs with black beans, avocado and salsa for everyone, then we went back out, with the stroller, to Tower Grove to do the last 6 miles.  At noon.  We. Are. Idiots.  Hottest weather ever, and we ran in it.  Why we do these things, I don't know.  We have nothing to prove.  We're old and slow.  We could've waited until it got dark, and somewhat cooler.  But, we did finish 5 miles.  So we finished, miserably, sweaty and overheated, probably about 11.25 miles, which is going to have to be good enough for today!  Some days, you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you.  Today, we were hot hors d'oeuvres...

Friday, REST day.

Friday, along with being a rest day, is the day my sweetie got home from his 2 week trip to the parents' farm!  I'm so happy to see him, and I took rest day to the limit.  I did no real physical activity, lounged around with the kids, cancelled a walk and train job because the pavement is too hot for dog paws (and MY paws!), and tonight we're doing Family Movie Night.  What a great rest day!

Thursday Morning. A good, barefootin' day!

Today was a good day for a nice run.  We're still under an extreme heat warning, and yellow air quality, but around 6:30, it was a breezy 87 degrees. Which, considering our recent daily weather, was a nice break.  I ran around Forest Park, the Grand Basin, where I could see the fountains, and the Art Museum at the top of the hill, then through the restoration project of River Des Peres, around the shore of the lake and past the Boathouse.  At about the halfway point, I took off my Merrell's and ran in my actual naked footedness!  Barefoot running is so much more satisfying than wearing shoes, even barefoot shoes.  I love the feel of the grass, asphalt, dirt and gravel on the soles of my feet.  I can feel the energy coming up through the earth, up through my feet and legs, and spreading out through my body, like a wave of excitement.

I learned a couple of new things, and re-learned a couple of things I already knew.  Relearning is something that happens to me often, recently.  New things I learned, Merrell Pace Gloves, while comfy, and great on most surfaces, even large river stones, but there are two things they're not good at doing.
1. keeping out gravel and general junk, I'm going to have to go to dirtygirl.com and get a nice new pair of gaiters to wear with them, which seems ridiculous, but I hope will work.
2. NOT good on slippery, wet, algae covered rocks!  Watch yourself, or you'll end up in the drink!  I didn't but only by a lucky leap.

They are good at playing "Old Lady Parkour", though!  I like to bounce and leap off the railings and benches around the Grand Basin, I'm not exactly hardcore, but it's a nice proprioreceptive workout, which is important, and apparently more so as one ages.

I re-learned what it feels like to be 15 pounds lighter.  I don't want those 15 back, by the way!  Being lighter really affects the quality of my running, and allows me to be much faster, without a lot of effort.
I re-learned that faster foot turnover creates better forefoot striking motion, and really gets you moving, without straining.
I re-learned that it's bad to try to cross the metal suspension bridge in truly bare feet, especially when it's really hot, and a fast moving bike is coming from the other side!
I re-learned why I like to run off the path, out of the box, and down by the waterside.  Lovely!

I was scheduled for a 3 miler today, but I ran 3.22.   It could have been a lot more, if I didn't have so many other things calling for my time!
                                

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Monday was a rest day.  I actually rested.  Sort of.
Tuesday, I got up and went to work, then went to Forest Park to do my 3 miles in the 89 degree heat and yellow air quality day.  I got about halfway done, around 15 minutes into it, and I got a text message from Selena, saying that Aurora has really bad diarrhea, and can I hurry home.  So I looped back to the car and left.  Aurora is fine, now.  She ate way too much junk food the night before.  Problem solved.  Short run, though.  Glad that I got that extra mile and change in on Saturday...
Wednesday morning, up early and to work, and out to Forest Park when it was a breezy 89 degrees.  I had a lovely run, saw a mink, and a snowy egret, cardinals, a red eared slider, green heron and a great Blue Heron.   I finished faster than I thought, again!  I did over 6 miles in 1:14.01.

Another lovely, and very busy, day.  Tomorrow, 3 miles, paint the basement, train the dogs so I don't completely embarrass myself completely at our upcoming Hannah Branigan seminar.

Sunday July 17-I'm 46!

Sunday was a cross-training day.  I can't remember now what I did for cross-training, but I'm hoping that several hours of dancing (though it was very wimpy dancing!) at the U2 concert counts for something!  Sunday was my 46th birthday.  We had a pretty bad day, the kids were ornery, and I was also, which never helps!  Plus I had dreadful cramps.  I did get the basement partially cleaned, though, and ready to start painting.  Then in the evening, Dixie and Shane picked me up for the U2 concert, which was my birthday gift.  Amazing!

"Long" Run day, and beyond!

Wow!  Again it's been a while since I posted.  Oops!  On Saturday I went to Grant's Trail, early, and ran.  It was very nice, getting hot, but not too hot, too early.  I saw a former student, whose shy dog has recovered completely, and is prepping for Rally classes.  She wanted to get a friend into my puppy class, so I stopped for a minute to give her the information.  I accidentally ran 8 and a bit, when I was supposed to run 7, but I figured that was just money in the bank.  The reason I ran more than planned was good, though!  I had figured 7 at 13 minutes/mile.  So, I considered my turnaround point to be about 45 minutes.  Apparently, I was moving faster than 13 mpm, so, when I got back I had an 8.2 mile route saved on the GPS on my phone.  Good stuff!  I also ran into my dear friend, Jim, who was riding his bike, and rode along with me for a bit.  All in all, a good long run day.