The Runaround: 7/20 – 26 WRD

. . . Or GarminGate?

It was a busy week. A visit to my mom. 2 zoom calls the next day, one to wrap up a course I was taking, the other a family call — some of my cousins were in on it this time, so that was nice (haven’t seen them in years, all the West Coasters).

That was all followed by a couple of days fighting with technology — and of course then Garmin went down. Not a big deal, really. I thought it would delay getting a signal for my long run, since I couldn’t sync — nope, got a signal immediately!

bwrd

Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and getting lucky with the weather for my runs this week. Mostly.

Workouts update

  • Monday:  3 non technical trail miles, Yoga (50 min)
  • Tuesday: Dogwalk, trip to mom with 2 more short walks
  • Wednesday: 3 miles easy
  • Thursday: Dogwalk , Filmed Yoga Video (60 min)
  • Friday: Dogwalk, PB ST (25 min)
  • Saturday:  7 mile LSD, Abs (10 min)
  • Sunday: Dogwalk, hopefully some SB, ST, & Yoga

Mileage: 13 (-.24)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

Looked threatening but I stayed dry

Monday intention: find the joy in this run
It wasn’t easy. The bugs were relentless again. It was mid 70s and very humid at 6:30 am. I knew Tuesday would be much nicer, but I was going to see my mom. 

Despite another night of interrupted sleep (thanks for walking us at 2:30 am, Bandit), the run itself was pretty strong — I couldn’t hold onto my nasal breathing as much as I want to, which just means I was running too fast, but I was okay with that — I just wanted to run away from the bugs!

I did my best to try to find the joy in this run:

  • Clouds
  • A little bit of sunshine on the water
  • My coolit top & skirt really did help to keep me cooler — at least if felt as if it did. And they helped keep the bugs away from my torso. Now if I could just keep them away from my head!
  • I didn’t take any extra walk breaks.
Instead of rainbows I give you #alltherabbits

Wednesday intention: listen to my heart
I knew I was tired from the trip to my mom’s + several weeks of not so great sleep, so I didn’t set an alarm. I was rewarded with a really good night of sleep — I also got out about an hour later than I have been, but lucked out because it was cool, cloudy, and just a little drizzly.

I knew I needed to take it easy, which is why I made the intention of listening to my heart/intuition (not literally watching HR). I walked a bit more when I felt the need. The first mile was slow. The second mile was also slow, but not as much. By the third I felt okay and knew I could achieve negative splits if I put my mind to it — so I did & I did.

. . . and more rabbits . . .

Saturday intention: easy/self care
Although I’d had a few nights of really good sleep this week, Friday night was not one of them. The weather was pretty good for Summer running — not too humid, although warm (mid to high 60s), and sunny.

Exercise is most definitely a form of self care — when you don’t take it to extremes. So I ran by feel, I walked a lot, and yeah, the last couple of miles were draining. Pace all over the place. Still slightly encouraged since I ran at this pace in the Spring — when the weather was much cooler.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the weather cools down again — not wishing for Summer to go away, for sure, but less humidity and a bit less heat would be welcome. Too bad we’re going into August and the dog days of Summer.

. . . speaking of dogs, Bandit being tortured by Mr. Judy again

Favorites of the week
Although it’s draining to be back on the road to my mom more often, it’s also good to see her more often. It was also nice to see my cousins and hear about what’s going on in their worlds.

No idea what I was saying, but look — something other than Oofos on my feet! Picking up our veggie box.

Second veggie box had corn in it. So we enjoyed our first grilled corn of the Summer. It was good – but not great — corn. Probably just too early. So far I’m quite pleased with the veggies and we managed to eat up all the lettuce. There were lots of salads!

Unfortunately we ended up with two things of lettuce again. The window to swap out veggies was very narrow (about 4 hours) this week, and I happened to be at my mom’s. Oh well, it’s gonna be hot again so I’ve no doubt I’m up to polishing all the lettuce off again this week!

What comes to mind when I say “self care”? 

Are you all about the salads in Summer? 

Are your furkids polite beggars? 

gwy cooling yoga

ICYMI: I already shared a Cooling Yin Yoga practice here, but this week it’s more slow Yoga/Hatha style — IOW, more “regular” Yoga. There’s an extended Savasana practice (roughly 10 minutes). I know it’s tempting to skip, but I really encourage you to take some time for yourself and stick it out! I think you’ll come away feeling much cooler (literally and figuratively) and calmer. Let me know! Watch it here.

ICYMI2: For years I’ve wanted to join friends for the Dempsey Challenge, a run that supports Patrick Dempsey’s Cancer Center in ME. We thought this would be the year, finally — well, you all know what happened: like everything it’s gone virtual. I am going to join this year — as a virtual run — and I am fund raising (even though this year they waived the fund raising requirement). 100% of your donation directly benefits cancer patients, survivors, and their families.  If you’d like to donate, you can do it here.

Coming up on Tuesday: It’s that time of the month (no not that time, I’m past that time) — time to wrap up July! Friday we’re all gathering at the runfessional here. Join us!

42 thoughts on “The Runaround: 7/20 – 26 WRD

  1. Glad to hear your mom is doing well. This pandemic has really worn me down–we’re dealing with the whole school opening vs closing thing here. My son has a big decision to make–we’ll see how it turns out.

    Stay cool!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Good luck to your son, whatever he decides. I know my brother is supposed to fly out with his son for his freshman year soon. Hard to believe they’re really going to be doing in class stuff.

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  2. I have to remember to say only small lettuce please for our veg box! In fact we eschewed it this week and instead bought way too much fruit between us on our supermarket trips …

    Sorry about the mugginess etc. It’s not too bad here though a little muggy today. Not doing a round-up this week as I caused an issue in our running group by feeling I needed to keep it to four not the government-permitted six running together, so I’m upset and don’t want to remind people / be reminded.

    The cats don’t really beg for food, although Percy loves my husband’s chair at the kitchen table and if he gets up, he will pop up onto it then snuffle at whatever food he can see on the plate!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. We won’t have lettuce next week (it got to hot for it, but they have a second planting apparently). And we had more time to swap stuff out this week.

      I’m sorry that the group has been an issue. Even though I am the only one that doesn’t get together with my group, no one has really said anything. Then again, I’m not there, LOL!

      Simba was a huge beggar. Giz did like his meat. Lola has difficulty eating a lot of stuff now, so she doesn’t beg much. Bandit, OTOH, he’s polite, but boy does he beg! Almost anything!

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  3. I love how you set intentions for runs. How cute is that photo of Bandit? We had some meh corn this week but we just ordered a box from Indiana so fingers crossed. It’s usually good this time of the year. Glad your mom is doing well. Have a great week ahead

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Fingers crossed for your ID corn. We’ll have more corn in our box next week so we’ll see how that is.

      Hope you get a break in your heat sometime soon (even though I know that’s unlikely!).

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  4. So glad that you were able to visit your mom and connect with family via Zoom – sounds like fun! It was super humid here all week, with today probably being the worse day. Thankfully we are getting a break in the humidity and heat on Tuesday 🙂

    That photo of Bandit is so funny, lol.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m trying to go to my mom 2 x month. Because I don’t know if I’ll be able to see her at all when it gets cold. 😦

      Tomorrow is supposed to be our super-hot day. Normally I’d be running but I’m gonna take a little break!

      Bandit is often in that position when we eat there. 🙂

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  5. Try spraying a baseball cap with bug spray. I haven’t had any bug problem when running.

    I have one beggar cat. One not.

    Glad your mom is ok and you are able to see her.

    I haven’t made any salads. I like them. Just not in the mood for them.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I use natural bug sprays — which often means not as effective. It’s a tradeoff.

      Totally in the mood for salads in the Summer! Which is a good thing with #allthelettuce (I have some that reseeded itself in my garden, too).

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      1. Nothing (so far) keeps the gnats away. I’m not usually troubled by mosquitoes — not where I’m running — but the gnats can really suck the life out of a run, too.

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  6. Knock wood, we haven’t really had much for bugs (yet) this summer. Or maybe because I’m out early enough to miss them (?), but I haven’t had ANY to deal with on my runs. I get an occasional one flying into my helmet when I’m biking, though, but I know they’re not the biting kind. I love that pic of Bandit…Max doesn’t beg vocally, but he does give you the most intentional stare-down if you’re at the table, eating.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I like salads but sometimes am not creative enough on what to add to the lettuce. But seriously how hard can it be, right? I don’t like adding chicken to it so I only do a variety of beans.

    What’s up with all of the rabbits? I sometimes see one or two (or maybe it is the same one?) while out on run.

    I donated!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. There is SO much you can do with salad! Cucmbers, bell peppers, carrots, radishes and a lot more. Quinoa (adds protein!). Nuts/seeds. Avocado. Goat cheese.

      Lots of rabbits. Every morning.

      Thank you so much for donating!

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  8. I don’t usually see rabbits where I run, so when I do it’s a real surprise! Glad you got to see your Mom. Some of the people I attend church with live in a retirement community that isn’t letting them leave for fear they will bring Covid-19 back in with them. That’s pretty drastic for healthy, independent people, but I get it. I’m not sure how I’m going to tally up July mile if Garmin’s still down. It will be a tedious process. 😛

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I actually had one rabbit that almost ran with me last week — never saw one do that. It spooked, and kept running in front of me for like a minute — both coming & going! So weird.

      There are a lot of retirement communities where residents are in lock down. Thankfully it was never that bad for my mom. They’ve just recently allowed them to start eating together again, but now my mom complains that they rush them too much (before it was that service was so slow). I just try to be compassionate!

      I was actually able to connect with Garmin briefly this morning, but I was getting ready to walk the dogs so I just didn’t have enough time to let it sync completely. When I got back it was down again.

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  9. I eat a ton of salads. I take them to work, and eat them at home too. There’s so many ways to switch them up! I recently went to a store that had “all you can fit in a bag” corn for $1. I walked out with 12 ears. Yummy dinner for three nights :). Glad your mom is doing well. We had my parents over for dinner yesterday. It was good to see them again.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. There’s only two of us, so even 4 ears was a lot! But we do like to grill corn in the summer. I made a corn chowder from the other two ears; haven’t tried it yet.

      So happy you got to have dinner with your parents!

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  10. Glad your mom is doing better and you can visit! Lots of driving though, it sounds like. Good for you for listening to your heart (and the rest of the body!) to run and walk when needed!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Well, it’s much less driving then I did in the fall. And over all I don’t drive that much now. I think my recently fill up was the first time in months, LOL!

      Still listening to the body and taking a short break from running this week. Not all week, not quite sure how long it’ll be. I do have at least one run I need to get done this week to earn my mug. 🙂

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  11. Bandit is so cute.
    I can deal with summer temps, but the humidity is just awful. It’s gotten me in the nice runrise habit though.
    I miss the salad bar by the office

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Some people don’t see the difference between dry & humid heat, but it’s huge.

      Well, at least you don’t have to cook the salad if you make it yourself. 🙂

      It’s been a difficult summer on many levels.

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  12. Glad you have been able to see your mom more, but I’m sure its tiring! The heat and humidity this summer have been draining. I feel like this summer is worse in terms of consecutive days of heat and humidity.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Rabbits are prolific here right now as well. Ozzy chases the big ones but is sweet to the babies. It’s been so hot here I find it hard to believe August could be hotter but I suppose that’s always possible. How great to see your mom again. I need to follow your lead on that.

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    1. Oddly we didn’t see one single solitary rabbit this morning. Probably because of the impending thunderstorm that struck shortly after we finished our walk. Grateful it happened after the walk!

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  14. Aw. I am glad you are getting to see your mom more.

    I love salads in summer. I also love summer corn, but Mr PugRunner isn’t supposed to have it right now, so we are abstaining (sob!)

    No bunnies here. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one in Florida in all my years here!

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  15. It’s great that you got to see your mom again. It was wonderful spending the week with my mom and getting her caught up on a bunch of doctor’s appointments.

    I am a salad fan all year round and make a big salad for lunch most days. I bought some really good corn while I was visiting my mom. Hopefully, your next batch will be better.

    Have a great week, Judy!

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    1. It wasn’t bad corn, it just wasn’t great corn. But the truth is it’s still relatively early for corn here.

      Glad you got to stay with your mom, too! It was easier when we could actually go inside, then we could bring the dogs & both of us could go (although I know my husband is glad to be able to use the dogs as an excuse to stay home).

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