Time to Read: ~4 minThis week had a challenging start. I took Monday off from work to be with my dad and sister at the funeral home to make arrangements for my mom's service and deal with all the other aspects of the death of a loved one. It was a sad, sad day. I am really not a nurturing person and I felt the entire day like my presence was making their respective days worse instead of better. I am truly grateful that my sister came to visit and help my father since she IS a nurturing person and was the right person to be there for him.
No MITHACAL Milers
My training stayed mostly on course this week with a few exceptions. Tuesday evening is our MITHACAL milers night. I was at my dad's house taking with my dad and sister and helping with some things. I knew the roads were getting snowier and snowier because snow had been falling for awhile, but when Scott came over to get my from dad's house we continued to help with things and stayed chatting until our normal leave time. We made it about 1/3 of the way to Ithaca traveling 30 mph behind a very cautious driver and I said, "we're never going to get there on time." Scott was silent. I knew he really wanted to make it. I was projecting ahead to missing the warm-up, having to run the warm-up while other people started the intervals and ending up short on intervals and distance. We continued on our route and I said something else. He abruptly turned around. I knew he was really annoyed with the situation, but I also knew we'd never get there on time. We also would have gotten home crazy late and we eat dinner after this so I wasn't eager to enjoy a 9 pm dinner and then go to bed.
We got home and flipped a workout. I ended up doing Les Mills on Demand "The Trip" cycling and 30 minutes on the elliptical. It was good and it allowed us to have dinner as a family at a reasonable hour.
Running with Sarah
One nice thing about Sarah coming to visit from Portland, Oregon is that I had the chance to run with her a couple of times. We got out for a Thursday out and back run as well as a Saturday morning run. I had wanted to hike with her more as well - more laid back time to connect - but I was so busy with my baking load for Emoticakes this week that there just wasn't time to do both. Always a slave to a training plan once it starts, she was happy to indulge me by choosing to run instead of hike.
Time for new shoes
My new Altra Torins!
My Altra Torins that I bought from Xander in August have over 500 miles on them. The tread looks great but my feet have been hurting so I know the foam is just done. It was on my list to go in and buy new shoes from him at Finger Lakes Running Company as soon as I could. Saturday morning he had to work and I had to deliver cupcakes to Cornell, so Scott, Xander and I all went in and Scott dropped us off at the Running Company. I had some time to look for shoes as he opened the store. As with last time, I tried the regular Torins and the plush Torins. The regular ones had a perfect fit in the heel and the plush ones felt slippy (same as last time). The only sad thing was that the only color they had in my size was the same color as my old ones. Xander and I had a good laugh that I had "new" shoes but they were exactly the same.
End the week with a snowy run
Scott took this for me after my snowy run.
When my sister was here she commented on my attire, "you look like a yard sale." Fair enough. My clothes are all mismatched and very bright. I am very visible to motorists that's for sure! Sarah flew home on Sunday. After she flew out, I donned my bright gear that I had worn with her the other day and headed into the beautiful snowy afternoon for a 5 miler. The snow was gently falling and I was listening to my Flower City Half playlist on my phone. I love how music can transport you to another place and another time. The run felt surreal as I listened to favorites that brought me right to where I had been running in the Flower City - I remembered my freezing hands at mile 11 and not being able to open my Shot Blocs. The grateful feeling I had while running in the cemetery and more. Snow was swirling gently around me and I was filling with gratitude for this opportunity. My new shoes that Xander sold me felt amazing underfoot. I spent time thinking more about my mom's spring service that we're planning.
Sauna time
If asked to pick one big purchase that has brought me more joy than anything else it is the sauna. Scott turned it on before we went out for our respective runs. We'd enjoy our 15 minutes of delightful heat after the chilly run even though we knew original hot yoga was in our late afternoon future. As we sat in the sauna we recapped our weeks, talked about our running and looked ahead to the following week. We sorted out who was driving Xander to piano, discussed the grocery list and other day to day things. As we stepped out of the sauna I sighed deeply and smiled. What a great run to end a week with.
I hit most of my training goals this week! The rowing and 20 minutes of Flow didn't make it.
My week on Strava.