Last week seems like a distant memory. Monday and Tuesday it poured rain. Tuesday evening Mr. SOTSS and I saw the movie The Founder, the story of how McDonalds came to be. It was very important that I saw it because my cousin wrote the movie! Isn’t that cool? He also wrote The Wrestler, Big Fan and Turbo. And then Wednesday I had jury duty….hard to believe I stressed so much about it. I lucked out and only had to serve for a whopping hour and a half! I was home in the afternoon and took Duncan out to the park to celebrate that the rain had passed and we could finally enjoy some sunshine.
Yay for sunshine and no more jury duty
I also went on another night hike which I’m really becoming addicted to.
Thursday I worked a ton but got out for my once-a-week run (still trying to rest the darn hamstrings!). A short run that felt hard thanks to the super high winds.
And then Friday began my super fun weekend getaway with Mr. SOTSS. He booked our 3rd annual ski weekend in Vermont as a Christmas gift for me. And this year was just as fun.
Two years ago was when I had that little snowmobile “incident”. Last year we stayed at the same B&B as this year and let’s face it, the best part of the trip might have just been the amazing homemade breakfast options they served. Spiced apple waffles that were the perfect texture….soft and doughy on the inside and crispy and flakey on the outside. There were also homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee cake.
Cinnamon roll!
Yes, I took a 2-day break from the whole healthy eating thing. But I’m back on the wagon today.
We drove up Friday morning with a stop at my friend’s house to drop off Duncan. He is very lucky to get that extra hour and a half with me before drop-off.
Wait? Am I going with you to Vermont?
Road trips are my favorite. I’m such a traditionalist. A little hand holding and some good tunes.
After grabbing dinner we just settled in for the night.
Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was fairly quiet. Friday afternoon I went for a run. Just 3 easy miles. I’m trying to limit my running to just once per week and only a few easy miles while I try and get to the bottom of this hamstring/groin situation.
Spent some quality time with Mr. SOTSS and his girls…my nicknames for them are “K-Corn” and “J-Beans”. Oh and Saturday was apparently Squirrel Appreciation Day according to Facebook. Duncan celebrated.
Squirrel Appreciation Day
Today it’s super windy (gusts expected to go as high as 60mph) and the rain is picking up as well so I tried to get the bulk of my 10,000 steps in earlier by walking briskly around the neighborhood for an hour. Most of it alone and about 20 minutes with the doodle.I’m already at 9,000 and I can easily get those remaining steps banged out just from doing my laundry. Bedroom on 3rd floor + laundry room on 1st floor = LOTS OF STAIRS! 🙂 Plus I can always hop on my trampoline if Duncan is willing to share…
Oh, and I registered for the Cold Feat 10k, another local trail race. I’ve run it a few times before and I’m looking forward to it again this year.
This is from a few years back
I might have to serve jury duty the rest of this week. I have to call in later to find out.
This past Saturday I ran the most dreamy of logistical races. With a 10am start time for the Resolution Run, a local 4 mile trail race, I left my house at 9:25am, was parked at the race at 9:35am, got my number and shirt by 9:40am and sat in my car until 9:55am when I decided to join the rest of the crowd (about 75-80 runners total) at the start.
easy peasy in the logistics category!
A little about the course…Miles 1 and 4 were in Bloomingdale Park, the park I take Duncan to almost daily.
Here’s the same spot in the race….
and 2 days before with Duncan
These miles weren’t technical, they were either on the dirt paths or paved paths and I could keep my pace similar to road miles. Miles 2 and 3 were loops in the woods next to the park, so being aware of tree roots, and other potential hazards under the leaves meant slowing down the pace a bit.
crossing over a little stream
pink ribbons marked the course
I really love a good local race.
finish line goodies
Yes, it’s weird to fork over $35 to run on the same paths I can run for free any day that I wanted but I like the medal a whole bunch and I think there’s something about being part of an organized even that pushes me to work harder than if I was just on my own. Also, I feed off being around people with the same passion as me. This race was the first in a series of 3. The medals are made to interlock and create one big medal so that really incentivizes me to run the other 2….both of which are the same 10 min drive from my house.
Love the medal!
There’s a 5k next month and a 10k in April. Also, part of the proceeds of this race will support a local volunteer CERT (community emergency response team) organization. 🙂
OK, now on to my chronic hamstring pain situation. Not that I’m looking for advice, I just feel like venting but I wouldn’t refuse the advice 🙂
Hamstring pain situation:
So it started a few months ago….maybe September or October. Initially it was just that “sticky” tightness on the backs of my thighs right in the middle of my hamstring. Then I noticed especially in November during my road trip to North Carolina how painful it was to sit for long periods of time and that the pain had moved up more to the top of the hammy and where it attaches to the sit bones. I also started to get some pain in the groin. All mostly dull, achy pain. Running or even walking uphill and sitting happen to be the two things that irritate them the most.
After basically not running for 3 weeks (aside from my leisurely holiday run on New Year’s Eve) I really wasn’t feeling much relief. I noticed that all the hill climbing during my weekly night hikes were aggravating everything too. Well, after Saturday’s race the pain intensified. So running is still the main source of irritation for sure.
I’ve been researching and think it might be one of the following 2 things: High Hamstring Tendinopathy or possibly trigger point issue associated with my adductor magnus muscle.
Either way, it’s a surefire sign I need to strengthen my glutes and hips! When will I get it through my brain that I need to strength train to prevent injury? I’m a glutton for punishment for sure.
So that’s that. I spent the rest of the weekend with Mr. SOTSS. We saw Patriots Day yesterday and allowed ourselves a little flexibility in our diet for some popcorn.
Patriots Day and Popcorn
The movie was really good but left me feeling such sadness all over again as I thought about the Boston Marathon bombings. I remember that afternoon so vividly. I was at my desk at work watching on my computer and tracking my friend Carey. She was a few miles from the finish and my boss and I went out to the ice cream truck quickly for an ice cream cone. As we were walking back into the office a co-worker came running up to me to say there was a bomb that exploded at the finish. My heart sank! I knew Carey was so close. She was probably still about a mile or so away from the finish when they stopped her and said the race was over. She didn’t know why at first. Once I realized she was safe I just refreshed CNN constantly for the rest of the day and the next few days too as I watched everything unfold. It is beyond my comprehension how anyone could cause such harm to innocent people. I had nightmares last night. 🙁
Yesterday was a day of simple pleasures. We started with a 2 mile walk, letting the dogs frolic for a bit and then we just ran some errands and cooked healthy meals for the week. We walked the dogs again at night and Mr. SOTSS caught some of the Playoffs Football action too.
The face he gave when I asked what Chester had in his mouth 🙂 “Um, you don’t want to know”
So my toe was feeling better on Tuesday morning. I was so happy! Then, after our morning walk, Duncan ran up the stairs and was doing what I call “the zoomies” around the living room and next thing I know he was limping. Geez….really? He wouldn’t put any pressure on his right foot at all at first. But by later in the afternoon he was doing better and by yesterday he was back to normal. Whew! We avoided a trip to the vet.
We made up for lost time today with a stroll together….no coats/no limp for both of us!
🙂
Where’d all the snow go?
It was 63 degrees and I actually had the sunroof open.
My “sunroof is open” smile!
I was plowing through work for a client yesterday and at one point he sent me this message:
Made me feel so good. When you work for yourself you need some validation every now and again 🙂
Last night, since my toe seemed good I decided to go on that night hike again. They go out every Wednesday evening from about 6-8pm. This was my 3rd hike and I love how each time there’s something else that is unique. Last week I could see a sky full of stars and a whole lot of deer. My headlamp would reflect into the This week there was still some patches of snow around and there was an almost full moon in the sky. It was cloudy but you could see the diffused light in the sky anyway.
a silhouette Sally selfie
It was unseasonably warm too. There were about 8 of us. There were times we were all chatty and other times all you could hear was the sound of our feet.
I registered for a local 4 mile trail run called the Resolution Run this weekend. This will be my first running miles and first race of 2017. And it’s the first of 3 trail runs in the series and each individual race medal interlocks to create one larger medal.
Between the hikes and the trail races I think I’m going to get much more acquainted with my local trails this year and this makes me happy!
It was very important that I saw it because my cousin wrote the movie! Isn’t that cool? He also wrote The Wrestler, Big Fan and Turbo. 
And then Wednesday I had jury duty….hard to believe I stressed so much about it. 
I lucked out and only had to serve for a whopping hour and a half! I was home in the afternoon and took Duncan out to the park to celebrate that the rain had passed and we could finally enjoy some sunshine.
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