Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Chicago and back again

So last week was a very full week.  I did run with Tracy Monday morning and it was a decent run.  On Monday night I had to write two articles for the Banner and I did not get done until after 9 PM.  I managed to get to Power Tuesday morning and I think I pulled something in my back or neck because it hasn't been the same since.  And I have had to take Tylenol because of it which I rarely have to do.  Anyway I had counseling Tuesday night and then shopping for the last ETM meeting.  I did not get home until after 8.  Wednesday I did make it to swim and had a great workout.  It was long busy day ending with our last ETM that night.  I decided to take Thursday off.  I was not sure if I would be able to do anything the rest of the week.  I left for Chicago early Friday morning (I had to get up at 2:30 AM) and had to catch the bus at 3:30 and my plane left at 6:30.  It was a super early morning but I slept the first half of the flight.

Our time in Chicago was wonderful and a big celebration for my dad.  Good quality family time.  We did quite a bit of walking on Saturday and helping my parents move boxes in the evening.  That was a workout.  I was crawling around on my knees in the crawl space pushing boxes--this might have been when I strained my shoulder/neck.

I got home late Sunday night at 12:30 PM but had to be up by 6:30 for work.  I managed to stay on Pacific time while in Chicago.  I went to bed at 12:30 AM and slept until 8:30 AM which is 10:30 to 6:30 Pacific.  The travel and fatigue caught up to me and I was pretty tired Monday night and most of Tuesday.  I decided to wait until today to get back into the exercise routine.  I swam with Erica this morning.  Tracy broke her radius biking last weekend...I hate hearing these biking stories because it only adds to my cycling anxiety.

Next week will be a little off with Rob in Ukraine but I can get a couple decent workouts in.  I think I am going to the sprint tri instead of the Olympic.  With Rob in Ukraine and both camp and the Michigan trip in June--my training cannot be consistent.  That is OK.  I am perfectly OK with that.

My neck still hurts.  Rob massaged some of the kinks out of it last night but it feels all tight again this morning. I am not nearly as tired and I have very little in the evenings now that youth group & Bible Study are over.  It's just work and end of the year school stuff from here on out.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Halfway through May

It has been a good month of May so far and we're pushing hard to make it to the end of the school year!

The first week of May was really good exercise week.  On that Monday I went to Ride because I knew I would not be able to go Friday as I had to bring Hailey to school at 6 AM for the Spring Olympics.  It was nice to start out my week going to Ride.  I did Power on Tuesday and swim on Wednesday.  Thursday was a day off.  I ran Friday afternoon and it was super hot out.  I really struggled on the hills.  I ran Saturday morning before the kids ran the Awesome 3000.  I did about 6 miles and that was a much better run.  The cooler temperatures in the morning make all the difference.  On Sunday which was Mother's Day I biked about fifteen miles mostly at Minto Brown.  I am still self conscious that I bike alone.  I really wish I could bike with my triathlon friends.  The biggest problem I am running into is their bike expeditions take up like half a Saturday.  They start at 8 AM and aren't home until noon.  I rarely have that kind of time.  Plus Saturday is my time with the kids since I work during the week...so I don't want to devote that kind of time to being away from them.

Last week Monday I ran with Tracy and we had a really good run.  I went longer than normal...five and a half miles versus the normal four.  Thankfully I was ready before the first day care kids get here...sometimes they are really early.  On Tuesday I went out to Hagg Lake and did my first 750 meter swim.  It is probably the only one I can do in the swim series.  The drive is beautiful...I love going out there.  I love Hagg Lake.  I have a special place in my heart for that area after doing the Hagg Lake Triathlon in 2014--my first tri (and only so far) in the open water and first tri biking in clips.  There were 34 swimmers and I was #33 out of the water.  I really didn't care.  My goal was just to finish and some of the swimmers were elite triathletes.  I did not have to float on my back at all for relief and I just kept swimming.  It was pretty cold, but once I got going I felt fine.  The side of my face and ears were a little cold at the end and I got a headache...though that head ache could have been due to PMS which made the rest of the week a total bust.

I had planned on taking Wednesday and possibly Thursday off.  But it turned into the whole rest of the week.  Not my intention.  I felt moody, stomach cramps, head aches Thursday night all the way to Sunday evening.  It was all due to PMS.  It made the anxiety bad. I had a hard time focusing and simple tasks stressed me out.  I had a minor panic attack in the mall but I was able to control it.  I took Kara to see a play which was super fun but I was really jumpy.  I had weird dreams (probably because I was not sleeping well).  The worst of it was fatigue.  I felt constantly tired even though I was not getting up early to exercise, going to bed on time, and resting more than normal.  I hated feeling so tired. Going downtown as a family Friday night and playing the Wii together Saturday night were good distractions.  I was trying to pull weeds Thursday and I just felt like laying on the ground I was so tired. Well that's over.  I woke up this morning and felt normal again.  I have a long to do list before I leave for Chicago but it's not stressing me out whereas last week I'd be crying.

I ran with Tracy this morning and we did four miles and it was a great run.  We both said we were tired and I felt like I was getting over fatigue but we managed to get 9 minute miles and even a little under that.