Weeks five and six; we’re in the mix

“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit”- Banksy

Happy Sunday! What a beautiful day!

Week five was a fine little week. After pushing myself to hit four miles the week before, I coasted into week five feeling confident and light. We started the week on Monday, March 1st with a morning, indoor 3 miles. My body and mind were in sync and both felt good which made for a perfect way to start the week. We averaged an 11’15” pace per mile and discovered that my apple watch has trouble syncing with the tread on the treadmill. By the time my watch hit 3 miles, the treadmill only said 2.6 miles…talk about a way to throw a person off their game lol. So, according to my watch we ran 3.4 miles, but ultimately the tread knows the truth so we continued for a few more minutes until hitting the solid 3 on the treadmill.

Naturally, as I’ve done pretty much every week of winter, I tried a new soup recipe again! It was A DEFINITE FAVORITE: the Classic Minestrone recipe from Joanna Gaines. I would absolutely recommend!! It was a perfect blend of freshness paired with hints of parmesan flavors and just the right amount of classic minestrone. So. Delicious. If you don’t have her cookbooks, send me a message and I will gladly share the recipe!!

Wednesday was a weird day-had some funky work things and a busy evening, so my run took the wrath of it. Instead of running another 3 miles at my moderate speed, I did just under 2 miles of intervals. Not good or bad, just different than what I planned on. Physically, my body sure could’ve handled it, but mentally I was just off of my usual mind set and needed to run shorter, faster spurts instead.

Week 5’s long run was another 3 miler. Yay! Instead of happening on Saturday like usual, we ran it on Friday morning before work. It was a PERFECT 35 degrees outside which made for a lovely morning run around Lake of the Isles. Our pace was right around an 11’20” average, nothing fast by any means, but comfortable enough that I was able to enjoy the run. By default, we capped off the success of our run with a shared cinnamon roll from Isles Bun & Coffee with EXTRA cream cheese frosting of course and a delightful americano :). Talk about a perfect Friday morning, for me, that was it! *exhale sigh of satisfaction*

To make our Friday even better, we ended the workday and flew to Montana for our long overdue ski trip. *exhale another sigh of satisfaction* We were extremely blessed to have spent a long weekend in the mountains skiing with some of our wonderful friends. With COVID in mind, we took all of the recommended precautions prior to, during, and after the trip to ensure the health of all those around us. COVID aside, spending a few days on the slopes was the healing I didn’t even know I needed.

Breathing in fresh air gliding down the slopes with nothing but the sound of my skii’s and the view of tree tops is about as pure as it gets. *another sigh of satisfaction* Bobby and I are working on a video that we’ll hope to have up next week but I’ve put a few of my favorite pictures below, too 🙂

As a result of the 3 days of constant skiing, our legs were beat to say the least. Monday’s 3 mile supposed to be run for week 6 was replaced by miles of skiing. Wednesday’s supposed to be 3 mile run was replaced by a rest day after the many miles of skiing our legs endured over the weekend. At first, I felt dissapointed in myself for not just getting it done, but in hindsight, I know my body needed to just recover from the constant muscle engagement that skiing was.

I think I made the right call! Because…Saturday’s 5 mile run was phenomenal!! It took me by surprise, AND I took myself by surprise, but Saturday’s beautiful weather coupled with my few days off of running made for a very pleasant 5 miles. I didn’t think I would EVER, EVER say that…at this time last year I was SUCH a different runner it’s actually quite amazing. Not to say that the five miles was easy or necessarily enjoyable. But the first three miles flew by!! That is something that has literally never happened before! The final two were a definite test of my mental toughness I’m combination with starting to feel tired mentally I’m addition to my ankles and knees starting to ache, I have to credit bobby for my ability to finish it out. Without his “you’re doing great”, “we’re so close” etc., I’m not sure I would’ve gutted it out!! But we did it and we did it together! *final sigh of satisfaction*.

Weeks five and six flew by, and marked a significant time for my training this time around. Week six is where my wheels fell off of the track at this time last year because COVID had begun running IT’S course which in turn prevented us from running OUR course in 2020. Here’s to staying on track for 2021!!

Xoxo

Jos