I started Monday off with a renewed determination to get stronger in the off-season with another great strength training session!  Yes, even though I have three 5K’s this fall, I consider this the off-season with no more Ragnars or halves until next spring. 

On Monday afternoon I got a fun email from a dentist office in Dumfries, VA (several miles south of DC, and nowhere near me).  They had included me on their list of Virginia bloggers to follow and asked if I would share the love by letting my readers know.  You can check out the post on Dr. Silk’s website at All Smile Dentistry, and if you’re looking for a dentist in the Dumfries area, check them out.  

Tuesday morning found me back on the running trail at 5:30 AM with my MRTT friends.  A new group has formed that meets at 5 AM, but this mama just can’t get up at 4 AM for a 5 AM run.  She just can’t!  The early group was kind enough to swing by to pick us 5:30 AM slackers (I kid) up for half of our run.  They laughed when I got out of my car in shorts and a short sleeved shirt in the 39° temps, but I felt great as soon as we started running and I didn’t have to shed a jacket five minutes into our run.  The other two sleepy-heads and I ran 6.2 miles at a 9:31 pace.

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Photo courtesy of Erin

 

I hit my home gym on Wednesday for another great lifting session and tried to work the soreness out of my glutes.  Yes, this old girl’s glutes were well aware of lunge-slacking (not to be confused with lunch-slacking – that would never happen) the last couple of months.  While I was at it, I foam rolled everything and my legs thanked me.

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Thursday’s run didn’t turn out as planned, but sometimes things work out better than expected because you screwed up.  I have an old atomic alarm clock that is supposed to automatically adjust to the giant satellite clock in the sky.  It is supposed to always be correct, and adjust in the spring and fall to Daylight Saving Time.  Only it doesn’t.  The first couple of years it was great, but once DST started moving earlier in the spring and later in the fall, my clock has been totally confused and randomly adjusts on the wrong day in the spring and fall.  The spring is fine because it means I accidentally get up an hour earlier than necessary, but the fall…

I’d forgotten about my clock having a-mind-of-its-own in October, and hadn’t been using my iPhone as a backup.  Thursday morning when my alarm went off at 4:30, I rolled over and saw that Bill’s clock showed 5:30 AM.  I bounded out of bed, texted my friends so they wouldn’t wait for me, and quickly got dressed.  Some things you can’t rush in the morning (if you get my drift), and as soon as all things were taken care of, I headed out the door. 

I met my friends around 6:15 AM on their return from their run and turned to run them back to our cars.  I headed back out to finish my 1.5 mile warm-up, and preceded to run six 800’s with 200-meter recoveries.  I finished with an approximate 1.5-mile cool down.  Had I met my friends on time, I would have run their post-MCM-pace recovery run, and missed the opportunity for a great speed workout.

With over two-inches of rain during the past 24-hours, it was a foggy mess before the sun came up and the weather system moved on out.  I have to admit that it was very creepy running alone, so I stayed within a mile of my car doing several out-and-backs and hoped that I didn’t run into the same skunk we saw running on the trail toward us the week before.  

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On Friday, Bill and I met a couple of friends from the wellness center for coffee at 6:30 AM.  Being a non-coffee-drinker, I had water.  Afterwards, I got my third and final strength workout in for the week.  Done, and done!  I met one of my long-time girlfriends, V, for lunch and a movie Friday afternoon.  We both love Adriana Trigiani and have read all of her books, so we wanted to see Big Stone Gap.  Even though it was a little slow, I enjoyed the movie; however, I would not recommend it to someone who hasn’t read the book.

Saturday morning found me at the party store as soon as it opened to purchase cat ears and a tail.  I had decided that despite my Halloween whining on Friday, that I would dress up for the 4 PM Ghost, Goblins & Ghouls 5K, and have fun!  Check and check!

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Deb and Erin before the Ghost 5K

 

The race was a blast and I’m so glad that I decided to dress up.  Stay tuned in the next day or so for my official recap!

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap.  Be sure to check them out and the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

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Have a great week!

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you run alone in the dark?
  • Did you have many trick-or-treaters?  ~ We only had fourteen.
  • Did you race this weekend?