Wow, talk about a week of fluctuating temperatures… At 5:30 AM on Monday the real temperature was 45° (feels like 41°), but by Saturday, it had dropped to 11° (feels like 7°).

The warmer temps made Monday’s solo run delightful even though I stayed in my neighborhood on our half-mile circle. When I have to run alone it’s easier staying close to home – I feel safer and I don’t lose time driving to the trail. I treated this more like a recovery run (10:12 average pace) after Saturday’s long run where I was tricked into running a sub-9 pace. 😉

 

Thursday morning I meet three friends, three skunks, a fox, a rabbit, and countless deer at the W&OD Trail for a run. It was quite the zoo! We decided that it must have been the warmer weather that brought all the animals out. After the first skunk crossed the trail right in front of us, I was spooked by all sets of eyes reflecting back toward our headlamps. Not that I’m afraid of animals, I just don’t want to get sprayed by a skunk! Of course, it would make for a great blog post…

I’m not sure if it was trying to stay clear of the skunks or just my speedy friends, but we ended up averaging a 9:04 pace.

 

Friday I posted this picture on Instagram and will go into more detail about how I work on balance on my post on Wednesday. It’s part of my routine and something important to think about as we get older. These days I spend even more time focusing on balance now that I teach a balance and stretching class.

 

As I mentioned earlier, it was cold on Saturday! The kids were in town for birthday celebrations (three out of four have birthdays within 26 days of each other and Bill’s is just a week after that).

I chose to skip meeting my friends for a longer run outside and just hit my treadmill for five miles. I kind of dogged it and ended up running a 10:59 average pace, thought I had aggravated my left SI joint area, but it felt totally fine by the time I’d gotten out of the shower.

 

We spent the early part of the afternoon meeting and enjoying Pablo. He is even cuter in person and is so laid back and cuddly. He did great on his first visit and I can’t wait until he visits in nicer weather and can enjoy playing in our back yard.

 

After spending a couple of hours at a microbrewery with extended family and friends, we  enjoyed dinner and homemade funfetti cupcakes.

 

And back at the house, we spent a little more time with Pablo before he had to go home.

 

Just in case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

Looking ahead to this coming week, on Wednesday please be sure to join me for my monthly Wednesday Word linkup where this month’s word is content.

 

In addition to what I mentioned above, here’s a complete run-down of my workouts in my gym from this past week…

 

  • Questions:
  • When’s your birthday? Do you keep up with your horoscope and all that stuff? ~ I have zero interest and I’m lucky if I remember that I’m a scorpio so I can answer when someone asks.
  • Will you be watching the Super Bowl? If so, who do you think will win? ~ No skin in the game for me until the Redskins are back in contention. I’m not holding my breath…
  • Did you race this weekend? 

 

Have a great week!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.

 

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking The Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!