Busy Bee

I know I've been busy but seriously...I think this is the longest lapse in posting.

Fitness? What fitness? I know I've had a few multihour excursions since mid-May and no pictures because well, I don't stop long enough to take any. I was hoping someone else would post pictures from the Ozark Extreme Adventure Race that we did last weekend at Village Creek State Park but so far I got nada.
We had a good time. Well, I had a good time. Joe has not been feeling well and it really showed on this race. I tried not to push too hard. I didn't FORCE him to run. I couldn't very well not wait for him on the bike, there's RULES about that. I think he's broken. Luckily he's going to the Dr. today. I hope he's better soon, we have racing to do.
I mentioned to a friend who lives in Marianna that I might want to do the MidSouth Marathon in November. She volunteered to drive around to different points on the course to throw water on me. Apparently that's what people do to runners in Wynne. :) I have good friends.
I absolutely have to get out of this office. I'm going for a quick run. Right now.

Wild (life) Wednesday

The sun is shining the sun is shining! After days on end of rain and dashed hopes as the sun merely peeks thru the cloudes for mere minutes before tongues are poked out at the silly animals below and the pretty yellow ball disappears again, we have sun. Oh, and it's going to be 87 degrees today. And humid.
4 mile flat run. Windy and hot. Man was it slow! The hip screamed for the first 1.5 mile then let up some. Distance measurements were not exact, it was somewhere around 4 miles and somewhere AROUND 42 minutes. God I hope it was more than 4 miles. Argh.

The weekest link...

Last week I managed:
1 aborted run followed by 45 minutes of circuit workout
a cinco de kilo run on cinco de mayo
a stressful day at work followed by a nice 2.5 mile evening walk
another stressful day followed by a shorter slower walk...for soft serve
another stressful day with 25 minutes of fast but hard stairmaster, mowing the lawn, sweeping and bagging some lawn mess and dun de dah dun laundry :)

I had a good title in my head this morning...

But I can't find it now.

I took a mental health day off work today and was WAY busier than almost any day at work. Actually the day started off with work when I had to drop some items off at the hospital. THEN I got to go workout. Headed for my favorite Urban Outdoor Gym...Pinnacle Mountain State Park. Again. I had a GREAT workout there on St. Paddy's day. Today started off okay- the skies threatened rain and man was it MUGGY. Ran the base trail to the East Summit trail head, took the summit and came down the West side and around the West Base Trail. Saw 3 blue tail (juvenile 5-line) skinks, one broad nose one and a chipmunk that came out and stared me down. I was a little frightened of him. I hit the summit hard but on the way down (where I would normally be moving as fast as possible, if not running) I was trying to be careful because it was so wet. I slipped anyway and felt my hip pull so I pretty much walked the West Base trail back around. I did NOT want to quit so I headed back up the E. Summit for another go but as I got to the boulder scramble the bugs were just relentless and after several bites, I decided to go back down the trail and started running. Ran most of the East Base Trail back to the parking lot. Almost exactly 2 hours of movin.

Because it's a tradition when I'm totally gross...I stopped at Fresh Market for groceries. Picked up some beautiful strawberries and apples so I made a fruit and cheese tray for our dinner tonight with some Breton mini crackers. Yummo.

Mowed the yard, bagged some nasty pollen piles, made an appt for a haircut, picked the small one up from school, went to the library to pick up a video of "To Kill a Mockingbird", and started painting the hallway downstairs took a break to make dinner and start a load of laundry. Whew. I should be sitting on the couch. But SOMEONE wants to go to Target.

LOSER!

Monday was a biggest loser boot camp day. I thought I'd try putting it at the beginning of the week instead of the end because it usually makes me a little sore. Things I've figured out from this DVD- sometimes holding a position lower instead of midrange is less stressful.

10 minute cycle workout waiting for someone else to get out of the aerobics area
45 min of workout
3 x 9 mph sprints...30 sec on, 30 off
I tore a butt muscle. Somewhere about 20 seconds into the 3rd sprint I felt a pull. So today it's all about, "ow my butt"

Didn't stop me from rushing home, digging in the garden for a few minutes, taking M to piano lessons, shopping for organic pizza crust and pesto while she played, making homemade pizza for dinner, polishing off what seemed like a pint of cherry tomatoes, doing the dishes, reading the paper, watching a few minutes of TV, trying to rid my hair of gray (good luck), and finally falling into bed. All after 5:45.

Will Walk for Ice Cream

Friday night I came home from work to find two 13 year old girls at my house instead of just one. This...means trouble. After a very quick beat down for not doing required chores in spite of having company (I don't care if you've got company: the dogs need to eat!) , I managed to feed them enough to shut them up for a few minutes. Then I in my best "I'm the best mommy ever" voice say "Who wants ice cream?". Of course, everyone wants ice cream. So I say "Fine, but you have to walk for it." Oh the humanity! It was a 4 count them 4 mile round trip to Baskin Robbins, exactly twice as far as it is to get the less fattening soft serve cone at McDonalds. insert evil laugh here.

Saturday morning we got up and J loaded our bikes while I stumbled about trying to find proper attire and somehow pour coffee down my throat at the same time. We headed over to Burns Park where the Ozark Extreme Team was conducting a clinic on Adventure Racing. Now I've done a few races but I always leave the navigation part up to J. He's good at it. But he's irritated by my impatience with navigating. So I thought it might be a good idea for me to learn how to do it from someone who I don't have to share a house with afterward. J taught me how to plot UTM coordinates on a map a long time ago so a refresher was a good idea. Plus, the last few races we've done had points plotted in advance so only the actual navigation was necessary. What I don't get (and to some degree still struggle with) is Topography. Each time I try I learn something new so it's time to try more often. We spent some time in the woods chasing after checkpoints. J went with me to make sure I didn't get lost or eaten and I did okay on my own until the very last point. Frustration set in. There was cursing involved. But I did figure it out finally. And discovered a big weakness...judging distances while off the trail. Work is required on that one. After a quick lunch and an even quicker short mountain bike ride I had to bug out to take the small one to a school thing and by the time I got back, the riding was over and the bike maintenance class was underway. Learned a lot...have a list of weaknesses to work on. Oh boy.

As usual, pictures were taken but I don't have access to them yet.

Sunday I thought we'd be doing a ride or hike but instead...we took the little one to the zoo. The last couple of years she's thought she was "too big" for our little zoo. We had a good time though. We made sure to check out the winged wonders show before leaving. It was pretty cool. I have to say though...people please...if you are instructed to stay seated, STAY SEATED. And keep your kids seated too. And sit on the outside edges if you want the full experience. But not if you have little kids who scream if animals come anywhere near them.

After shopping for plants, paint supplies and groceries, the night ended with an epic Dutch Blitz card game. Noice.

Another bad food day with hot dogs, funnel cakes and homemade shortbread. And no training. yikes.

It's not quite Friday yet

Bummer.

Yesterday was a walk, a nice brisk 3 mile walk in the sun.

Today was a jog. A nice brisk 3 mile jog in the beating sun. That made me wear sunscreen. And a hat. And made my tummy churn and tell me "you don't have time to do 4 at this pace you slow poke" And a little strength work/cardio circuit inside in the stuffy air conditioning that only prolonged and encouraged the stinky sweat.