The Long Run That Wasn't

I woke up this morning with grand plans of running 10-10.5 miles for Long Run Sunday. I've been going pretty strong on the long runs the last month considering I am not even training for a race. And that's what I need to remember when I feel mad about the run today.

Last night we were out later than appropriate for Grandma Rachel. Boyfriend played water pong (beer pong but the cups are filled with water) while I sat and stalked people on Instagram...

This morning I fueled my run with delicious brunch that we ate in the really hot sunshine. I might have drank too much coffee.

Boyfriend's grandma's dogs kept us safe from the birds that have been flying down the chimney.

I was more than ready for the long run by the time we got home. I chose the treadmill because I am really bad at holding myself accountable outside. I also wanted to watch Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition on my dad's iPad. I opened every door and window in the treadmill room and hopped on. The first half hour flew by because I was so engrossed in the show. By 35 minutes I knew I wasn't going to make it 10 miles. By 36 minutes I had decreased the speed and the incline. And by 49 minutes or 6.1 miles I got off. 

Why? I was HOT. I was miserable. I wasn't enjoying the run the way I should have been. I needed to be out in the fresh air. So I stopped and was planning on running 3 more miles outside. Well, I got .3 miles before I had to stop and keel over because I was in so much pain. I had the worst cramps I've ever had. Of course, being me, I kept going. I had to stop THREE times in one mile and had my slowest mile to date. So, I stopped. I listened to my body, and that's all that matters.

 I was really upset with myself for awhile, but then I realized that I've been running 26 mile weeks for the last four weeks and I'm not even training for anything. My body was physically rejecting running and I listened to it. And to anybody else, 7 miles IS a long run. I need to remember that. Seven miles isn't short. It isn't long to me, but it wasn't like I only ran a half a mile and gave up. Sometimes we are way too hard on ourselves. We need to relax and give thanks that our bodies get us through so much. Mine takes a beating on a daily basis and it still treats me so well and hasn't even gotten injured.  So I can be upset about how badly my run went or I can be glad that I even CAN run. I choose the latter. And after my run, dinner was ready!

Also, my step sister/best friend in the entire world moved home today! After the run we walked down the street (she and her husband are moving into a house about .10 mile away from my dad's house) and helped unload the moving van. One of the perks of being 8 months pregnant is that she got to sit and direct the rest of us where to put stuff.

I'm so happy she's here for good! I can't wait for the baby. Tomorrow work starts again AND I become a student for the first time in 2 years. I have the usual first day of school jitters that I haven't felt in years. I'm pretty excited.

Leg Day and Beach Days

First of all, I PR'd on my 5k time the day I got back from rafting.  I was so surprised since I was just going out for a quick loop around my neighborhood and it didn't feel hard at all.  So that was an exciting moment in my running week.

It's no secret that I love to hate leg day.  My legs are my pride and joy.  They are what propel me through runs, allow me to go for 14 mile day hikes, and basically allow me to function my active, healthy lifestyle.  I also have my strongest lifts on leg day.  Now I am forcing helping my best friend also love leg day.

I don't know why I save it for the last day of the week.  Probably because lunges hurt the worst out of any exercise ever (besides burpees, which I have some PTSD from my 100 day burpee challenge last July).

Bad memories.  But I finished it!

I always start leg day off with a 3 or 4 mile run because I know by the end of it, I will not want to move my legs at all.

Then my routine looks like this:

Deadlifts---> Warm-up set: 12 reps of 65 lbs, then 3 sets of 10 reps at 105, then as many reps as I can do of 135, slowly progressing to 1 set of 195, my highest yet.

Back Squats---> Warm up set: 12 reps of just the bar (45lbs), then 12 reps of 95, then 10 reps of 105, then 8 reps of 125.  I can squat over my body weight, but I only do that if the boyfriend is there to spot me.  I'm terrified of failing and falling on my butt in front of everyone.

Front Squats---> 12 reps just the bar (45 lbs), 10 reps 55 lbs, 10 reps 60 lbs

Lunges---> 12 reps each leg holding 25 lb dumbbells, 3 rounds.

Goblet Squats---> 12 reps holding 35 lb Kettlebell, 3 rounds.

Kettlebell Swings---> 12 reps with 35 lb Kettlebell, 3 rounds.

Calf Raises---> 12 reps holding 40 lb dumbbells, 3 rounds.

Bulgarian Split Squats---> 10 reps each leg with 30 lb bar on my back, 3 rounds.

Glute Bridge---> 12 reps with 80 lb bar on my hips, 3 rounds

Leg Press---> 12 reps with 130 lbs, 12 reps 150 lbs, 12 reps with 160 lbs.

I do the lunges/goblet squats, kettlebell swings/calf raises, and split squat/glute bridge as super sets, which means you do both exercises back to back with no rest period in between.  My legs shake by the end of it.  I have seen a significant change in my derriere since adding in a leg day.  I've also noticed that it helps me with my runs because these exercises strengthen the hips and the core as well.

And I finally got compression socks!

So now I can spend even more time on the couch with my legs up, recovering in my awesome neon pink socks, watching Castle.  I am totally in love.

The rest of Friday was spent at the beach.  Since I live a mile and a half away, one would assume I spend most of my time there.  To be honest, I haven't been to the beach in months.  It's usually 56 degrees and super windy.  I am a baby about the cold, so I avoid being cold at all costs.  But it's been in the upper 70s lately and I spent the day at the beach in SHORTS!  We took milo, who is terrified of walking on the edge of the bridge.

We also took my mom.

She's usually behind us, but this time she was speedy and ahead of us.  Also, the train hasn't run since 1982 or something, so we weren't risking our lives.

Milo absolutely loves the beach, so he was having the time of his life.

I spent my time being a good mom and taking pictures of my baby.  Yes, I am obsessed with him.

I also made sure to give the boyfriend lots of love.  He obviously loves me back.

Mom and I also spent some quality time together.

Then we had to rest from our very long  half a mile walk.

And then my flip flops broke and my feet got too hot in the sand and the boyfriend saved the day.

Today there was a sand castle competition at the beach.  With the amount of people in bathing suits wandering the beach, one would think we were in Southern California.  I don't want this weather to end.  The sand sculptures were absolutely amazing, but this one was my favorite.

Tomorrow is long run Sunday and I am seriously hoping to get outside instead of the treadmill, but it all depends on the time of day I get around to it.  I leave you with my newest goal that I have been working on.

The Orchard

When my mom and dad got divorced, my mom ended up moving into a house behind some incredibly fantastic people.  The girls have become like my sisters, the parents became close friends with my mom.  We shared a yard and I have many great memories from that house.  These people also own property in a beautiful area about an hour and a half east of my home town.  They invited us to visit that first summer and after that, we spent every single summer at what we call The Orchard.

You can tell it's no longer a real orchard.  It's never really been an actual orchard since I've been going (approximately 17 years), but they did used to grow peaches there.  Each summer we spend an obscene amount of time at our little home away from home.  There is no cell reception and definitely no internet.  We have to keep ourselves occupied the old fashion way like talking to each other, playing games, and making music.  And taking cheesy high-school-pose pictures of ourselves.

This picture is from Labor Day last year.

It's also located on the most awesome spot on the river.  There are rapids.

Also from Labor Day.

But there is also a quiet little swimming hole with a ginormous rock that is perfect for tanning.

This is from yesterday.

Yesterday was my beautiful mom's birthday and all she wanted to do was head out to the orchard.  Of course, when we woke up, it was pouring.  The forecast said that it was supposed to stop raining around 11, so my mom and I dilly dallied around until then.  It was great because I got my HIIT routine in before going and sitting around for the rest of the day.  It rained pretty much the entire drive out there.  I was nervous, but as soon as we got there it cleared up and it was HOT.  So that meant I had to brave the 20 degree water.

My brother and his friends were much more brave than I was and actually did our traditional trek across the river to float down in tubes.

Boyfriend was (still is) working, so he wasn't able to join us, otherwise he would have been over there with the manly men.  We finally made our way back up from the river where we did more sitting around before eating dinner.

After a fabulous meal of BBQ chicken, roasted corn on the cob, and three different types of salads, the ladies took a hike walk up to the "dump."  It's not really a dump anymore, but it used to be.  We were all sweating by the time we got to the top, but the view is so worth it.

Of course, since it was my mother's birthday and my brother's friend's birthday the day before, we had to have cake.  Flourless chocolate torte to be precise.  

Then we sat around the campfire looking at the stars and laughing at inappropriate hilarious jokes that the boys told.

I think I have this same picture from all 16 years.

In the morning we ate breakfast to fuel up for our big rafting adventure.  The Orchard is where everyone becomes insanely fashionable.  It's a good thing we are literally in the middle of nowhere because we would probably be too fashionable for everyone and they'd ask us to leave.

Keep in mind I was wearing water shoes...

Every year we make several rafting trips down the river to a designated spot where we leave a car.  It's about a 5 mile run with baby class II rapids.  Keep in mind, we are not professional rafters.  

In all of the years I've travelled down the river, I have never fallen out of the boat.  Until today.  We got stuck on a rock and out I plopped.  I had a split second of panic where I tried to remember everything I've been taught for the past 16 years about what to do if you fall out (feet first, float, don't hit your head).  Then I realized that I was stronger than the rapids and I just stood up and waited for them to get unstuck to jump back into the boat.  That's probably rule number 1 in the "What Not To Do While Rafting" class.  This is probably rule number 2.

Luckily, the group made it out alive and I stayed in the boat the rest of the time.

We spent the rest of the day in the water because it was way too hot to be anywhere else.  Then we packed up and went home where I promptly put on running clothes and PR'd my 5k.  But that's for a different day.  Today was all about The Orchard, where my heart belongs.

Worst Night of Sleep

Sunday afternoon, but brother was expecting a friend to fly in from the East Coast. Well, she made it to San Francisco. Our airport consists of ONE gate and three flights in daily. Well, the first two were cancelled for some unknown reason and the third was delayed until 11:30pm. The poor girl had been at SFO since 12. Around 10, my brother waltzes into my room and asks the boyfriend if he wants to drive him to San Francisco to pick her up. A four hour drive.

Boyfriend is totally used to the drive because he does it often in the middle of the night in the ambulance while transferring patients. This did not keep me from sleeping terribly all night envisioning my brother (also my best friend) and boyfriend flying off a cliff to their deaths. They made it home with the friend in tow around 8, right when I was getting up (certainly not waking up since I was a nervous wreck all night) to go to the gym. So this resulted in a slow run.

Then the best friend and I worked out our back, all while I was trying to keep my eyes open.

I finished off the gym sesh with a 2:30 plank and some ab work. 

The rest of Monday was completely uneventful because we were all exhausted from the night before. The boyfriend and I did manage to meet a couple of friends at the movies to see World War Z. 

My mom's birthday is tomorrow and since we are going out into nature where technology doesn't work, we had her open her present early.

It's an iPad that she can use in her classroom. She went to a training and was upset she didn't win the iPad give away at the end, so we pitched in to get her one.

The boyfriend and I passed out around 10, which is normal for me, but extra early for him. Milo spent the day looking cute.

For some reason, the second day after a bad night's sleep, I am more tired than the previous day, so 8am came really fast. I'm dedicated to my gym habits, however, and made it there in time to get the good treadmill at the end with the TV that actually works.

Today was chest/tricep day. The best part about working out with a best friend is that it's easy to forget that you're actually working out. We are constantly laughing and joking.

The rest of today has been spent completely avoiding reading the book for school. I received an email on Sunday reminding us that school starts on July 1st, like we forgot, and that we have to not only read chapter 1, but 4 and 5 as well... I can't wait until the semester actually starts..... So, as any good student does, I find every way I possibly can to avoid doing school work. Like forcing Milo to take pictures with me.

And taking the dogs on extra long walks with the boyfriend. And receiving texts from my cousin with the most awesome pictures of us when we were little.

I'm bringing those jeans back, by the way. Be on the lookout at the next runway show. 

Tomorrow we leave for the place we call The Orchard. I grew up spending summers there. It's no longer an orchard, but the name stuck. There's no cell reception and it's completely off the grid. It's really nice to disappear for the day.

Last year at the Orchard.  We have to find ways to entertain ourselves.

Muggy

We Northern California people live in a rainforest.  The Redwood forest technically is a rainforest, so I am used to 1 gazillion percent humidity and my hair going back to curly the moment I step outside, but what I'm not used to is it being hot and humid.  Today it was hot.  And extremely humid.  It felt like I was walking around in Hawaii.  Which is so strange because Friday and Saturday were absolutely beautiful, not hard to breathe, days.

Friday is always leg day at the gym.  The most dreaded day of them all.  Lunges HURT.  I started with a 4.5 mile run.

Then I taught the bestie how to deadlift.  And we squatted.  A lot.  I love squats.  They make me feel strong.  They also make my butt fit nicely into jeans.  Lunges, however, are evil.  Jumping lunges are even worse.

Since I've been working out with the best friend, I haven't been wearing my headphones to listen to music.  This obviously is an invitations for men in the gym to talk to me, because I've never had any problem with anyone talking to me ever.  Friday a man asked what my deadlift PR was and I told him 195.  He then proceeded to call me a badass.  That felt good, but also a little weird.

Friday ended with babysitting.  We made gluten free chocolate chip cookies and watched The Yellow Submarine.  This 3-year-old can name all of the Beatles.  He's so cool.  

Saturday was incredibly uneventful.  I did a HIIT video from Fitness Blender.  I'm kind of obsessed with this website because they have SO many videos that I will probably never get bored.  They're all free too!  The boyfriend and I just hung around doing literally nothing, except grocery shopping.  We ended up with ingredients to make hamburgers and homemade fries.  Came out quite well, if I do say so myself.

We also made Milo into a superhero.

The night ended with a date to the theater to see Next to Normal which is probably the most depressing show I have ever seen.  I cried the entire way through it.  So powerful.  But we were that annoying couple who matched.

My brother did not match, but he did jump on us.

I went to bed and it was super hot in my room, but I could breathe just fine, so I was super surprised when I woke up in the middle of the night and it was pouring down rain and the room felt like I had just stepped out of a hot shower.  We accidentally slept in until 10:45 and then rushed to boyfriend's mom's house for brunch.

It's country living out where the boyfriend grew up, so there's always yard work to be done.  This week we helped chainsaw logs into smaller pieces for firewood.  It was so humid and hard to breathe that we were beat by the time we were done, so we rested in the hammock with fresh raspberry lemonade that his grandma made with lemons and raspberries from her garden.

Then of course, it was Sunday Runday and I rushed home to get into workout clothes.  I was dripping in sweat within two minutes of starting the run and spent 37 minutes trying to breathe correctly.  It was horrible.  But, I finished what I set out to do.

I had never been more happy for rain in my entire life.

Also, the boyfriend takes 9 million pictures with my phone, so this is the, "STOP NOW" face I give him on a regular basis.

I stretched and tried to get my breathing under control and waited for the casserole that weighed as much as me to be finished.

I love refueling.

The day ended with some quality family time.

And whipped cream, obviously.  Now I am in bed with the window wide open still feeling as though I am in Hawaii and seriously wishing I was.  Tomorrow marks one week until I start school again.  I'm nervous!