Daily Check In

sunshineyourway

Thanks for asking about my race on Sunday! Sorry I have not posted sooner. Was so excited about Race on Sunday. Raleigh City of Oaks Half Marathon. I had been quite anxious two weeks out keeping eye on weather and then parking situation. Start and finish line moved to a different area of Downtown Raleigh and the maps they gave were not great. Well, my husband and I drove down there and decided street parking by a park was the better choice and only .33 miles away from the start. My husband decided later that he would drop me off instead- feeling uncomfortable about the street parking and walk distance to start line. So glad he did.

I am thankful for no rain and temps ended up being in the low 40's. Just had to deal with the wind which was 10 MPH. I had a nice warm hoodie on thinking I could tie it at my waist if I got too cold. Never got to warm with that wind DT.

At the start line, I saw another Half Fanatic that I met several years ago. So happy I got to see her. We started out together but new I could never keep up with her. My pace was real strong right from the start. 1-2 minutes better per mile, than my training runs. All I kept thinking was, I hope I can keep this up. There were a few hills, where I decided to walk/run and the picked it up again. Around mile 8, I picked up my pace even more. I remember I was on the left side of the road thinking we were to make a left turn but then there was a volunteer who was yelling out HM right and 10 K left. I thought that was odd so I asked him again if HM should take a right. He said yes. Many people turned right.. Once I was mile 12, I picked up my pace even more and planned on sprinting to the finish line. I turned a left corner into a head wind, looked up, then fell hard hitting my head on the pavement. The roads in downtown Raleigh are horrible. A volunteer came over to me and ran me in up to 1/2 mile from finish line, where I really took off for a strong finish. He had contacted the people at the medical tent to make sure I was alright. I had two eggs on the right side of my face. Top right forehead and upper cheek. Thankful the ice reduced the swelling and they gave me Tylenol since I had a very bad headache. I was very thankful I did not have to drive home. Called my husband and he met me at Starbucks. I came in 1st place in my age group. Still concerned about my mileage on this race. My Garmin and race mileage are off by a mile? I only hope that volunteer did not misinform us on that turn that many people and I took.

I did go out for a 6.25 mile recovery run yesterday and my head was still hurting, so I made doctor appointment and had a CT Scan done. No evidence of any fracture, concussion or internal bleeding. She did ask if I had a prior injury though, which I never had. I will be having blood work done today. Seems like the CT Scan found something of concern, maybe with my thyroid and mild calcification in the brain? Yikes!

Today I plan to do a fun indoor cardio and Yoga. Will go out for an easy walk/run since my head still feels tender and headachy.

Here's a few pictures from the race.

I will have to come back later to catch up with you all. Wishing all a wonderful day!

jennypapage

Congrats on 1st place Sharon! That's an excellent time you completed your half marathon.

I'm sorry to hear about the fall and the headache.Hopefully your tests will show nothing serious.

I ran my regular 5k distance today.It was supposed to be slow and fun, and i tried keeping it that way, but my watch said i finished in 31.31 which makes it now my new personal best since taking up running again . Slow and fun is around 34 min.,so not sure what happened there.I wasn't even feeling like i was going that fast, except for a couple of parts .

Tomorrow will be yoga day,and then either saturday or sunday my long run, depending on the weather.

gloriawrightcook

Becky!!! So happy to hear from you! Keeping my fingers crossed for your ongoing recovery. I wonder why your knee is wonky? Hopefully that is just from not using it as much? I am not sure about a Thanksgiving race - I think we are going to my parent's house and if so, I won't be doing anything where there are crowds. I do enjoy the one there that is the day after Thanksgiving so I am sad I will miss it. If for some strange reason we end up staying home, I will do the race here. I've got a LOT of races coming up in the next few months.

Jenny, well done on your pace, you are really getting faster! If you are going by feel and it feels good, then why not!

Sharon, you are just amazing you know? I love your big smile at the end, even after falling. I love that half fanatics hoodie and it matches your cool tights perfectly! Hope everything is going as planned with your husband too....

I did my last run before my race on Sunday. I beat the rain! It was supposed to be a very slow pace (13:12 - 14:12 min/mile) but it was faster than that and I felt fine with it. I know that my race isn't going to be fast at all because the hills out there are insane. And it's going to be much colder - and I don't do well with cold. I am looking forward to it though, it is a beautiful park, one of my favorite places to be. After my run I did lower body strength and the yoga. I will do some light activity tomorrow and Saturday and I am trying to be very attentive to my eating and hydration.

Glad to hear from everyone! Run happy!

gloriawrightcook

Rest day today, and I did yoga in the morning. I am going for a walk with my BFF later on in the afternoon. It's not too bad out - not as cold as I expected, sunny with a breeze. The yoga I did was more geared toward running with lizard pose and pigeon. Haven't done those poses in a while, so intense and probably exactly what I need!

jennypapage

Hello everyone, long run today, 9.5 km and it went well. I'm gonna stay here for a couple of weeks and then go to 10k which will be my cap. Then i will focus on speed and increasing mileage on my other 2 running days.Tomorrow will be day 3 of yoga camp and i'll do some dancing as well. Haven't danced in a couple of days and i miss it.

gloriawrightcook

I like your training plan Jenny! I think I would benefit from something like that. I keep saying I will quit signing up for half marathons so I can focus on endurance and pace but I can't quit doing the half marathons.

This morning I went on a hike with my friend and my husband. I couldn't get the Garmin to work on hike mode so I had to put it on run but running was NOT what we did. It is very leafy out on those trails and difficult to see the roots and rocks. I admire people who can run trails like that, I used to but now I would surely trip. It was cold but beautiful and we saw a lot of deer. It was peaceful out there. My race is tomorrow, I have a feeling it will be very leafy there too, but at least it is on asphalt. It will be much hillier though.

sunshineyourway

Happy Saturday.

Thanks Jennifer and Gloria. I am so relieved that there is no concussion from that fall. Also, no Thyroid problem. Dr. was concerned with some calcification that showed up with the CT Scan. She asked if I ever had a previous injury, which I never had. The blood work was to check another area of the thyroid that can cause that. Blood work just fine so not sure what is up with this. I still had a bad headache Thursday, so I did not run but walked instead. Today was a 15 miler on my running schedule for the next Half, Dec. 4th. I told myself to listen to my body and if there were any aches or pains to walk. So thankful this is the first day with no headache.

My husband had his, hopefully last heart test a week ago Friday. So far we know he needs triple pass surgery and artery valve repair. Surprised we have not heard back from his surgeon yet.

Jenny, so happy to hear of your PR on your 5K. Woo Hoo!! Way to go on your long run today and your running plan.
Becky, so happy to hear from you and your recovery going well. Wishing you a speedy one.
Gloria, wishing you a great race tomorrow!! You got this.

gloriawrightcook

Hello! Sharon, so glad everything turned out okay after your fall and with your thyroid and all. And glad your head feels better!

My race was so so. I mean, I was not really expecting a huge thing anyway because of the hills. The history of this race is that it started as a marathon only in one of the big city parks. It is not a Boston qualifier but is known to be super difficult. I think this is the 16th year and the full has an elevation gain of around 3,600 feet (don't know the elevation gain for the half and the altimeter on my Garmin is messed up so I can't use it as a guide). They only allow about 300 people I think (it might be fewer) and it is by weighted lottery. I volunteered for a water stop for the full for a few years thinking that I might do the full and volunteering would help me get in through the lottery. They didn't have a half and in fact, this is only the third year that they have done the half and it is my third year doing it. I have never been very fast and my half PR is 2:24 but my course PR for this race is something like 3:13. Last year it was 3:23. Also, I think the course is a little short. Anyway, my goal for this race was to try for under three hours. I thought it was doable and my speedwork has been on target as have my short runs. But it wasn't meant to be. I started out pretty strong but as time went on, my back was just killing me. So painful and I wasn't even sure if I could finish. I did end up finishing and I am glad but now several hours later my back is still painful. I don't know my official results yet but I think it might be somewhere around 3:18 (Garmin is off because I kept going after to make sure I had the full 13.1).

All I can do is keep working on my core and strength training, especially my hips and glutes, and doing yoga for my back, hamstrings and hips. I have several races scheduled but most of them are shorter distances or are trail races (which I usually don't run too much anymore on trails) so I should be okay. My next longer run is a 15K in February and then a half in April. I am going to continue with training and see how it goes. I've got a new training plan and it only calls for running three days a week (the one I just completed was five days a week, which I feel was probably too aggressive). I think I would prefer four days but I am going to try this - and then if I feel like doing a run on a fourth day with my friend, I should be up for it. This will also free me up for more strength training and cross training.

sunshineyourway

Good Morning!! Happy Monday!

Gloria, so happy to hear you finished your Half Marathon yesterday. I can't even imagine running those hills and elevation. Sounds like a very tough race. Sorry you started getting back pain during the race. Hopefully you will have a speedy recovery. Sounds like a great plan, changing to 3 days a week. I did that a few years ago, and what a big difference. I usually run long on Saturday, then speed Tuesday and another tempo Thursday. Two days off after long run has helped me recover so much better. And working on your core and yoga should work wonders for you. Have you ever laid on the floor and just put your legs up on the wall? OMGosh, something that simple, feels mighty good for the back, hips and hamstrings.

This morning I got up too early, so I started my indoor fitness early and got it done. An easy cardio with weighted ball followed by my two favorite Yoga routines. It got real cold here yesterday and temps will drop again Tuesday Morning. I will try to dress real warm for that run. Thursday it will be a bit warmer and then Saturday, expecting temps back down to freezing. The roller coaster of Fall/Winter.

Wishing all a great Week!

gloriawrightcook

Hello!!! Had a good day, my back is not so painful but my quads up near the top and my hip flexors are a little sore (downhill running), as is my left knee (problems yesterday were on the right). Sharon, you are right about core, back in the day I did four or five days of running and at least a couple of days (if not three) of boot camp. That was when I was hitting my PRs and doing marathons. Then when work got in the way I quit doing boot camp and then Covid happened and no more yoga. But I have some health issues too and I have no way to know how much of my issues are from that or from lack of strength training. I mean, since about May I've been strength training about four days a week and for a couple of months now I have been doing yoga probably five days a week. And yet here I am, still in terrible pain. I can be running my best and then one day my body says no thanks, you are done for now.
And then it is like starting over again. It's kind of frustrating. I got through these cycles and I was hoping that now that I have time for strength training it would get better. Anyway, I am going to keep going and as time passes, I keep tweaking my workouts and hopefully for the best. Today I did upper body and then yoga for lower back and hamstrings. Later in the afternoon I did a five minute run (plus walking two minutes to warm up and walking two minutes to cool down) for a benchmark on my new training plan. I would like to take this week off from running but since I am going to my mom's next week I am not sure how much running I will be able to do - will only know the day before if I can run or not next week, so I figure I will keep going if my body is okay with it. I will pause the plan if I have to. The five minutes was pretty good - of course, I used to be able to do five minutes way faster but I am really fine with how I did today, especially being tired after my race yesterday.

gloriawrightcook

Good Morning! Run day for me today but I might hold off until tomorrow. In general everything feels find but my upper right quad is still tender when I touch it. It is almost like it is bruised or something???? Not sure if it is tight muscles or not, doesn't quite feel like DOMS or soreness from running, and I don't think I want to take a chance on it so I will stretch a bit and use my massage gun. It's kind of strange because I usually don't have a lot of pain or soreness after my runs and races. Maybe later if it feels better I will go out but for now I think I will stick with some gentle yoga. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

sunshineyourway

Happy Wednesday All. Hope you are having a great week!

I hope that soreness is gone after resting a bit, Gloria. I have never used a massage gun. Oh, it sounds so good. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Did you get out this morning?

I ran yesterday, but it was so cold. I am to do a virtual 5K this week and my times on both I did were not as great as I was hoping. I just have a more difficult time controlling my breathing when it is so cold. Today was some fun indoor cardio and yoga.

My son will be arriving next Tuesday to be here for my husbands 70th BD and Thanksgiving. We also got my husbands surgery date. 12-08, so will let my son know. He may go back and come back or maybe stay longer. We are hoping he will be here for Christmas too. Lots of anxiety right now. At least my December Half Marathon is Saturday 12-04, so that will be done prior to his surgery.

gloriawrightcook

Oh Sharon, I will be thinking of you and your DH. I hope that your son can stay longer to offer support and comfort. I am glad that he will be there for Thanksgiving and your DH's birthday. Christmas would be awesome too! Does he have a flexible job? Or one where he can work anywhere? I am so glad you will be able to do your race, that will be fun for you, and some stress relief too.

I have a hard time in the cold too. I don't know why breathing is so much more difficult - maybe because the air is a lot drier? But I am sure you will do great on your race. Your time for the other one was amazing, and that was even with a hard fall - very impressive and very inspiring.

I did go out this morning! Got up and everything was feeling very good. My new training plan called for five minutes walking, then seven miles running, then five minutes cooldown. Throw me to the wolves! LOL. It ended up to be about 7.5 miles with the warmup and cooldown. I was very conservative, trying to go slowly, and I did run/walk/run intervals (4:1), because I don't want to push too hard and mess myself up. So now that is is a few hours later, I have to say that I still feel great, no pain anywhere, except my toes hurt - I think I cut my nails too short. The only other issue I might have at this point is UTI - that is another area that flares up from time to time, kidneys and UTIs. I seem to be plagued with the most ridiculous things but honestly, I just have to laugh and keep going because what else am I going to do? Just sit here like a couch potato? No thanks, that is even worse, lol. I haven't done my yoga or strength yet.

So here is a funny thing about the "cold". I don't know why I am so sensitive to the cold but today it wasn't even really cold out! It was probably near 60, sunny and it's windy, but I decided on capris and a long sleeved shirt. I was so worried that I would be too hot. Nope, I was not too hot and when I got home and was ready to shower, I noticed my backside (hamstrings and glutes) were like ice! Cold to the touch. And it wasn't even cold out! That is why I will sometimes put a running skirt over my capris or shorts!

basoranno

Good afternoon! Sharon way to go on your Hm finish. Sorry about the tumble. I’m glad you’re ok.
Gloria-I fell flat last year on one of those trail walks. Leaves were covering roots and I didn’t think to look for them. Surprisingly I didn’t hurt myself. Watch the weather if you go home for Thanksgiving. They’re talking about a big storm for the Great Lakes over to the East Coast. Not exactly when and I don’t think they know the exact track.
PT is going well. I’m on 1 crutch and I can use my cane at home. She’s been stretching this leg a lot. Painful but it also feels good. Knee still hurts. I see the Dr on Monday and we will see what he has to say. Wish one of my knee braces would work but with the swelling, They’d be too tight. It’s been really windy here and not all that warm. Waiting to see if it’s ok for me to walk inclines and get the ok to start driving. Once that happens I will be back down to my happy place. (The lake). Plus I need to get the ok to bend. Please take care of your hips everyone. This recovery is no walk in the park. So much I was never told.
Have a great Wed.!

gloriawrightcook

Hi Becky! So great to hear from you and it sounds like you are doing very well! I know how happy you will be to drive and get back to your walks at the lake. What are you doing for Thanksgiving? How is your mom, and the boys? Is DH working at the office again?

I don't know about the weather up in Michigan, I did notice it looks like it will be snowing on Monday, which is the day I really need to get the food for Thursday, and you know, I really am not good about driving in snow. Maybe it won't stick but it looks like it is going to be very very cold there. I am planning to run while I am there if it is not slippery there, but will take clothes for the treadmill.

Last night I was doing a core workout and my back (on the left side, pain is in the right side) just crunched so loud that it scared me. No pain though, but my joints are definitely super crunchy right now. Maybe I need to see the chiropractor. Haven't been in two or three years.

I will likely put off today's run and do it tomorrow (or maybe later this afternoon, we will see). I have 800 meter repeats today (Yassos). It was 40 and raining this morning. I know they say to run in all kinds of weather in order to prep for races where it might be bad weather but for years I trained in cold wet weather and I just don't feel the need anymore, especially since the wet roads tend to be slick. So this morning I did a full body strength workout, and then I did yoga. Now that I think about it, even if I don't run today, I should probably go for at least a short walk.

sunshineyourway

Happy Thursday All!

Thanks Becky and Gloria. Trying so hard to improve on my speed. I was looking at best times since I have had my Garmin and 2017 was my best year. Just about all my HM races I did in about 2:07 - 2:09. I remember back then my goal was to eventually get a sub 2:00. After that year, my pace gradually slowed each year, and the years of Covid, lost motivation of racing. I remember telling my Mom 2020 was going to be a great year. She would have turned 90 years old 2-25 and I had signed up for 5 Half Marathons. I have been wanting to moon up with the Half Fanatics and my eventual goal will be one HM every month. Well, my mother passed away last January, and I only had one race before all the cancellations due to Covid.

Gloria, sounds like a great running plan you are following. Is that training for a half marathon or the full? I totally agree about the cold weather. Hopefully the weather will be nice for you around Thanksgiving. Sounds like your back is very tight with that crunching noise. Chiropractor may do wonders for you, especially since you have not been in awhile. I miss going myself. Did wonders for me too.

Becky, I hope you get to the point where you can get back to walking around the Lake. Scary about falling over roots on a trail run, covered by leaves.... Yikes. Hope all goes well for your doctor appointment on Monday.

Today I did my virtual 5K. The first one was a warm up and the 2nd one was for the virtual race. Garmin told me I had a personal best on my mile? Under 9:00, since owning a Garmin. I know I ran a 7:00 mile many years ago. My mistake was, it was the first mile for a 10K race, and I hit the wall after, in sunny FL.. Live and learn. That was before having a Garmin or fitness tracker.

gloriawrightcook

Hello!!!!

Sharon, it sure has been hard the past couple of years hasn't it? The virus and everything being shut down, including races, was just a hard thing but to lose your mom, a heartbreaker for sure. But now you are doing so great on your running, you are so inspiring. My goal was to do a 2:15 half, and I think I could have had my body not started to fall apart. And then the training group that I was doing when Covid hit had to cancel, and the races were canceled, it did take the spark out of things didn't it? When it all started, I was posting a motivational video on Facebook of me and sometimes my BFF every day, either running or walking. We did a couple of virtual things to keep us going, but it was truly not the same. It seems like we are very slowly moving back to more of normal state, so I hope that includes races. It looks like Nashville Rock 'n Roll will happen tomorrow - I have done the half a few times and the full once, and I won't be doing it this year but I have a trail race coming up in December (which of course I might not run a whole lot but it will be fun).

I have the same issue with my Garmin, my mile PR is probably just around nine minutes (9:04 I think but I would have to go back a few years to find it) but every time I do something fast now it says that it is a record. I think it is because I have had to reset my watch when it crashed and so even though all the data is still there in my history, the watch thinks it is new for some reason. My DH asked me today if I had looked at Garmins since mine has been acting up, but I am going to try to stick with this one for a while.

Sometimes my body just HURTS - like last night I would have sworn that someone had a voodoo doll of me and was poking me all over. I mean it was so random, just in weird places, like my toes, my hips, my neck, etc. I slept terribly but woke up feeling GREAT! I went out and did my run - it would have been better to go to the track but pretty much have to be done with the track by 6:15 am due to the cross country kids being out there. It is still dark then, so nope, though I do know some people around here who do go there at 5 am. I ended up going to a park that has a one (or so) mile loop and it is relatively flat. I had to do Yassos, at a certain pace. Once again my Garmin messed up, or maybe that was user error as I had to hit the lap button and I either didn't, or didn't do it on time, so something, so some of my laps are actually quite a bit longer and include the recovery portion. There was also some cadence drills and strides at the beginning, and again, the numbers are mixed up. Pretty sure that was me not hitting the lap button in a timely manner. It's okay but sort of frustrating as I need to see how well I did on the 800s - it was five 800s and four of them look great (faster than the training plan suggested), the first one is the one that was too far.

It was cold but I was dressed for it - but the wind took me by surprise. It was probably around 33 when I started and was around 10 mph and I was running straight into it at first. I had a really hard time warming up. It's a paved trail but I had to be careful of leaves and nuts (and goose poop, of course) and it made me think of Becky - don't want to fall!

Sharon, yes, this a LONG half marathon training, twenty weeks. I have never trained that long before, usually only about 12 weeks or maybe 16 and most of the time I try to stay half marathon ready by running long runs of six, eight and ten miles every three weeks. But obviously I am not in that place right now so I am going to try this and see how it goes. I've been super happy with my runs this week, feeling very good.

Okay I have a TON to do today, cleaning bathrooms, getting ready to go to my mom's, and I haven't done my strength training yet - I was going to do legs today but I've been so busy - we actually went out to do some errands this morning after my run and I have more things I need to run out and do later.

Later!!!

gloriawrightcook

Run this morning was a five minute warmup, then cadence drills, then a mile "time trial" and then a five minute cool down. Happily my mile was under an 11 minute mile and I felt great. Almost two minutes more than my mile PR but today I was super pleased with that. I think it was around 32 degrees but no wind so it felt good and after that I threw on a hoodie and my BFF and I walked the neighborhood for a bit. I will try to check in from my phone next week, not sure yet if I will be taking the PC. It's supposed to be in the lows 20s and super windy in the mornings so I wonder how my runs will go. I really need to find a track to run on while I am there - at least for the 800s, not my easy run. Well, if I can't, at least it is sort of flat there.

gloriawrightcook

Walked this morning but my watch messed up so I don’t know how long or how far. My BFF said it was three miles. It was very leisurely, we went and visited some neighborhood horses!!!

sunshineyourway

Sorry to hear about your Garmin watch messing up. Mine has done some funky things a few times too. Yikes! That is pretty cold and windy where you will be visiting your Mom. I hope you have a great time and Happy Thanksgiving!

Sounds like you had a good run this weekend and walk with your BFF.. WOW! Sure wish we had a neighborhood horses to run by. Where we use to live when my husband and I first got married, there is a horse ranch. Believe it or not, that ranch is still there. Too far for me to run by there now, but just so happy owners held on to it during the Real Estate Booms. In FL, there also was a horse ranch and what was so cool about it, the owners gave riding lessons to kids who were blind. Of coarse that was sold during the Real Estate Boom right on McMullen Booth Road. I use to run up that way doing a big loop.

Saturday was freezing cold here for my 13.12 mile run. 28 degrees.. I was dressed perfect for those cold temps. Thankful no heavy wind and the Sun was Shining.

I did not sleep well last night. Woke around 2:30 am and could not get back to sleep. Trying to catch up on all my challenges and posting. Need to do lots of cleaning today and give Cleo, my Cockatoo a bath later. I have an Eye Appointment later and then my son arrives Tuesday Evening. So excited to see him again. Hopefully, he will be able to get a flight for when my husband has his heart surgery.

Today will be an indoor cardio workout and yoga. Have a Wonderful Week!

gloriawrightcook

Sharon, how do you bathe a bird? It was not as bad as they said it would be this morning. It was I think around 28 and the windchill/feel like was about 18. I was dressed okay but my nose was like a fountain, just pouring. I was supposed to do six miles but my mom called and so I stopped so I could get over there, plus my watch was almost ready to die so I got about four miles. And it was four miserable miles, I felt like I was struggling. It’s been a busy day today, I got groceries for Thursday. I don’t know I will start to cook tomorrow or wait until Wednesday.

basoranno

Good Evening! Dr appt went well. Time to strength this hip/leg and get my life back. Still haven’t been released but hopefully by my next appt in January I will be. I’m still using a crutch but now I’ll work harder to get rid of it. Weather here has not been good for running so I’m not missing out on that. It’s been very windy and the wind is cold. I’d be on the treadmill and elliptical which I hope to be on soon. I need to get in the car and start driving. It’s amazing how much strength you lose in such a short time and how long it takes to get it back.

Gloria-when do you leave for MI? If you’re still going, have a safe trip. Everyone, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

gloriawrightcook

Hello! We are in Michigan Becky, been here a few days. It’s crazy when I’m here, eating is all over the place, exercise is haphazard at best. Very cold this morning but not windy like yesterday. Got a 20 minute walk in before we had to meet my dad. I think if thought I would do the pies today but we ended up making candles so pies and cranberries will be tomorrow along with who knows what else’

sunshineyourway

Good Morning! Happy Wednesday!

Gloria, enjoy every moment this Thanksgiving. Burrr, that sure is cold. I hate it when my nose runs in the extreme cold too. I take a velour wash cloth with me all the time for nose blowing on one side and sweat on the other. I usually breath through my nose to control my pace and heart rate and below forty degrees, becomes very difficult. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Becky, glad your doctor appointment went well. Sounds like you are doing well on your recovery. I totally agree how easy it is to lose strength in a short time. Hope all continues to go well. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

I got out for a 6.25 mile run yesterday and it was freezing. Almost turned around to come home to put my fleeced lined tights on but decided to keep going. The breeze made it feel so much colder.

My son arrived last night and today is my husbands 70th Birthday. My son and I will go out later to get his BD Meal and Ice Cream Cake. I waited since my refrigerator and freezer are packed with Thanksgiving foods.

I just finished a fun Cardio- Gilad did another live performance which I missed again so I did what was taped from that day. So cool he does these zoom workouts. Hopefully one day I can participate. Here is a link if you want to try it out. 45:00 Cardio workout this time. Not on the Beaches of Hawaii though but still fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d4Oc759J9s

gloriawrightcook

Hello! Happy BD to your DH Sharon and so wonderful your son is there! Thanks for the video link, I’ve been doing some Gilad here and there, mostly strength, no cardio.

Got the four pies done today and the cranberries (cranberries take a while) and got everything ready for the stuffing. Went to a bookstore and a shoe store with DH and then ran out for a couple of things for my mom.

Did get my run in this morning too. It was not as cold (32 F) but it was kind of windy. But much better than Monday or Tuesday. I did warm up, cool down, cadence drills, and then 5 sets of 800m with a 3 min recovery. I don’t have a track here to use so like I’ve had to do at home, I just found a somewhat flat place. I did really well as was very happy with the 800m portions. Tomorrow it’s going to be yucky and I need to get over there to make the stuffing and put the turkey in so I won’t be able to get outdoors so probably a rest day

gloriawrightcook

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US and anyone else who is celebrating! I didn’t run today. It was cold and raining and I had to get to my parents’ house. We had lots of tasty food!!

sunshineyourway

Good Morning All! I hope those in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Between Wednesday and Thursday, I gained a few pounds. Yikes.

We enjoyed a wonderful Organic Free Range Turkey Breast and I made my Green Bean Buffet Casserole. The green beans were a bit thicker than I am use to. I usually get Organic Green Beans at Trader Joes, but they had been out for quite some time, so I got some fresh ones from our Harris Teeter which is now owned by Kroger. Funny how they can be so different tasting. I also cooked up some Butternut Squash and many more fixings for our dinner.. It was my husbands BD Dinner that really put on those few pounds. A surf and turf meal with Ice Cream Birthday Cake later. Hopefully I will lose those few pounds soon..

I forgot to answer you Gloria, on giving my Cleo Cockatoo a bath. I took her up to the bath tub and just filled it to cover her claw mid way. I was using an Organic Baby Wash, like bubble bath and use a cup to pour water over her. Luke warm water. Sometimes I will shower her and she just stands there. I try to bath her every few weeks, but she does bath herself in her cage using her water. She is so cute. Great job on your cadence drills. I really need to get serious about working on that. Right now I am around 164 average but goal is to pick it up to 170 average. Love it that Garmin gives you that info. Yummy on those pies. Bet they were wonderful tasting.

I did not sleep well the night before. Woke up around 2:30 am and could not get back to sleep. I finally got up around 3 am. I really had to push myself to get out for my run. I usually run 6.25 miles during the week, but decided to do the 4 cut back miles from my training schedule. Very unmotivated to do a speed run yesterday but got those 4 miles done. It is cut back time and Saturday calls for 7 miles. Not sure if I will run the 7 or just go for the 13.12 miles like have been doing since May every Saturday. Next week will be very busy between my doctor appointment and going with my husband for his surgery meeting on Friday. I am going to try to pick up my race packet next Thursday for the Race on Saturday. Praying for good weather. I now have learned not to look that far ahead because they are always wrong. This will be my last race for the year. I really am looking forward to a break in races. Next year I have Tobacco Road in March and already signed up for City of Oaks in November. I hope my Race 13.1 will all happen next year. They are usually June and October. Fingers crossed on those. Not sure when they will do the Raleigh HM next year. Usually it is in Feb. or April. We shall see.

Getting ready for an indoor cardio and then some Yoga. When my son wakes up, we plan to work on getting some items put into the storage building we had built to give us some room indoors. We also want to set up a new TV stand in our family room. I want to set up the inversion table somewhere so I can use it. Gloria, this is a table where you hang vertically. It is suppose to help straighten out the spine. I tried it one time and loved it. I have learned that if it is slightly angled it does feel much better than straight up and down. I also need to check on my Tropical plants I moved into the storage building during the freeze warning and need to make sure they are OK and water. I also got my self a few more running outfits for colder temps. Some really great deals out there for Black Friday.. Wish they would have some good prices on those Altras. Would love to get one more pair to add to my mix.

Got to go! Wishing all a Safe Day and Weekend!

gloriawrightcook

We just got home a while ago and I’m super tired! I didn’t exercise today as it was dark (and I’m not used to being there so would feel uncomfortable in the dark) and then we went to my parents’ house and then did the long drive home. I’m very tired! I’m going to try to catch up here tomorrow!!!

gloriawrightcook

Good Morning! Hope everyone is doing okay! We are feeling rested and ready to get things done around the house. Sharon, I think the inversion thing sounds good! I sure do wish I had a workout room. I am thinking about getting a rebounder for cross training but I really don't have the room for one. We have a large house but my husband takes up most of it, lol.

We also do butternut squash for our Thanksgiving dinner, we have always done that. Our food is pretty traditional, turkey, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, bread stuffing, a cranberry fruit thing, pie. We never used to have bread but we started to do that for my DH so there are dinner rolls. I couldn't see my sister and most of her family because they are sick but I did get to talk to my nephew for a few minutes, and I was so glad about that.

Sharon, I have a 10k next weekend. I can't wait to hear about your half, I think you are going to knock it out of the ballpark! My 10k is in Alabama and I will be going down there Friday and staying at the state park where the race is at. It's a trail run so I will be doing more walking than running. I'm like you, I am hoping for good weather but I am not looking just yet because it will change 300 times before the week is over.

Oh my gosh, bathing Cleo sounds so cute!!! I like birds but we have never had any fancy ones...just some budgies when I was younger, both as a child and as a young adult.

I did order some fleece tights from Athleta yesterday (with the ones I have I should be set for winter) and I also got a super good deal on a pair of Sauconys. I could use another pair of Altras. I still have the some put away but I go through shoes so fast. I looked around for sale Escalates but didn't find any.

My run this morning was a very short and easy hill repeat workout. I am so glad this training plan has hill repeats. Around here it is impossible to avoid hills. Windchill/Feels like was about 23 F, but it felt good because it wasn't super windy. The repeats were very short with a long recovery, probably longer than I needed, but I did it as instructed. There were only five repeats I think? Or was it six? Anyway, it was over in a flash! Now I need to get back into my workout routines!!!

gloriawrightcook

I walked this morning, it was chillier than I expected and guess what - running clothes aren't warm enough for walk but I figured it out and grabbed a hoodie before I left. Then I did a full body strength workout and a short yoga session. I am glad to be back into the routine. My sciatica is flaring but just a little and I am sure that is from too much sitting while we were traveling - now that I am back into my routine I will make sure to stay active and hopefully that will alleviate the discomfort - and really, it is just slight in any case. Today I am going to work on holiday decor and addressing envelopes so that I can mail our Christmas cards.