Weekly Wrap: It was a lot to wrap!

Sunday: 3.1 miles running, 45 minutes of yoga,

 2 hours of horseback riding. The kids got to try out some more advanced horses and both did amazing and loved it! Time to get them an upgrade I guess! I rode my daughters horse much to the kids amusement.

Monday: 24 minute strength workout that was low impact.  Took it easy, knees were upset from riding my daughter's horse the day before, for some reason it made my knees swell up.  They didn't hurt, but as soon as I got off Shorty both knees seemed to pop and then swell, and they felt funny to bend deep. They were quite a bit better on Monday but I didn't want to push it.

Tuesday: First day of school for the kids.  5 mile run for me

Wednesday:4 miles running easy

Thursday: 14.6 miles with my little sister Jessica. SO fun to get to run with her again. The first half was uphill although nothing was as bad as the first 2 miles which seemed to be straight up hill.  We didn't so much as puff out more than 2 or 3 words the whole time and I thought we weren't going to get to talk the whole run!  But once we got up on top and caught our breath there was lots of talking. The views were very worth the climb. We of course had a photo session.

and yes we ran all matchy matchy. She's an InknBurn addict too. Everyone who saw us was impressed (her two kids and our parents)  Her son's reaction

We did of course plan to match

I really only had 12 miles on my plan, but since we stopped twice for pictures and walked once, I figure its fine.

Friday: The only day this week I actually had to go to work. When I got off work it was so beautiful out I couldn't resist a run. It felt really good after the long run the day before so I added some speed. Normally I don't run on Fridays but I knew chances of running over the weekend were really bad.

Saturday: I got up and did a 24 minute HIIT at 4. Chances of running were bad, because both days we were up before sunrise to catch horses and get out to where we needed to be by sunrise. Saturday we left the house at 5:55 and were still almost late. The sun was just coming up when we pulled our trailer into the line up.  We had a portable corral setup and we use the trucks and trailers as a wing to help guide the cows and calves into the corral.

and four hours later we were pushing them into the corral. This weekend was all about preconditioning.  What is that you ask?   Everyone's cattle program is a little different, but it consists of vaccines, checking the health of the calf overall, a vaccine booster, taking the bulls out of the herd and fly dope for everyone.  The biting flies are terrible this time of year and cause a lot of stress.  We do this because it adds value to the calves, they do better during weaning and it results in a lower morbidity and mortality at the feedlot. 

The kids found an enormous spider and that kept them entertained for quite awhile.

We got home from working cows at about 4:30. I showered and was in bed by 6:45.  My husband was already sleeping. It was a long day!

Miles run for the week 30.9

Strength workouts: 2

yoga 2

Overall a great week.  I already miss my sister and the kids miss their cousins but we are so grateful to have seen them.  My little sister and I are thinking we may have to plan a marathon together soon. 

How was your week?

Three Things Thursday and Two More For Five

1. I finally got my hair trimmed. I have no idea when I got it trimmed last, but I remember thinking last time "Did she even cut any off?" This time I specified not just a trim, but about an inch and a half to 2 inches off please.   I think it is shorter.  She hid the evidence by curling it and making it harder to tell how much shorter it really is.  I twill find out later today when I shower after my long run if she is in cahoots with my husband to keep my hair as long as possible.

2. I picked 7 and a half gallons of crab apples at my neighbors house yesterday and last night managed to get 2 and a half of those gallons chopped, and boiled and through the saucer.  The whole thing took 3 hours.  (There was a small break while I ate supper) Today I will finish making the crab apple sauce, and crab apple jelly with the juice off the boiled apples and get it canned up. This Suzy homemaker crap is time consuming.  And I still have 5 gallons left. First, a long run with my little sister though.

Little bucket done.

3.  Fisher and Milk Dud have found a happy cool sleeping spot in my flowers of course.

4. The first day of school happened on Tuesday. I took Tuesday off from work this week so send them off. You would think that meant I had a super productive day at home getting things done. Nope. I did get in a run and cleaned the kitchen. I also surfed the internet, took a nap and read a book. Sometimes downtime is better than getting shit done.

Somehow I let my kid go to school in old jeans on his first day.

5.  17 days until the Bozeman Marathon! I am feeling pretty good overall, except for a back/shoulder thing that I have aggravated somehow and was further aggravated by chopping up minature apples for two hours last night.  I think I will need a visit to a chiropractor or a massage to get that worked out.

Do you can things like jelly, applesauce, veggies etc?
 I used to a lot more, but it's such a lot of work!

Weekly Wrap: Last blast of summer

Sunday: Easy 5 and a 15 minuted strength workout

Monday: 7 miles with 800s x7  This was supposed to be 800s x 8 but I added wrong in my head and did a two mile warm up, I didn't want to go over 7 miles and doing another would have made it almost 8 miles, not a big deal maybe, but my LAST long run is this week and I don't want to have tired legs for it.  I have worked really hard this training cycle not to over do it.

Tuesday. 40 minutes of yoga

Wednesday: 15 minute HIIT workout in the morning

Thursday: 21.2 miles This run was pretty huge in boosting my confidence for the marathon.  I broke it into two parts. The first part was 9 miles and then since all the kids (mine and 2 cousins) were awake I had about a 12-15 minute break where I got them all piled in the car and down to my parent's house. I had planned to run at least 20 miles and up to 22 if it felt good to make up for taking the break.

It felt really really good, in fact mile 18 was run at 8:11 pace and felt great! But then it started to rain, like rain really hard. I was by now running on a field dirt road and it was getting so slippery so I was running in the wheat stubble in the field, which wasn't all that fun either. I did make it 21.2 miles though and when I was done I was soaked and happy.

Friday: Took a rest day

Saturday 7 miles easy

Run: 40.2 miles
Strength: 2
Yoga: 1
So officially I am into taper mode and there are 21 days until my marathon!

Other happenings this week..  my kids have their cousins from Virginia here and its been one big party for them. They have had sleepovers at my parent's house or here every night except one since last Sunday.   So much fun! My kids let their cousins ride their horses yesterday and my aunt brought some more advanced horses for my kids to ride. Everyone had a great time!

We got well over an inch of much needed rain this week as well as a break from the hot temps. It has been a hot and very dry summer so the rain made us all very happy!

My kids go back to school Tuesday and my little sis will be here to take her kids back to Virginia next week.  Before she leaves though we get to do a long run together! She is training for her first marathon and is doing the MCM in October.

My kids will be very sad to see their cousins leave, and I think their cousins will be sad to leave too!

linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Three Things Thursday: Heading into Taper Mode!

1. Its been a week of fun and last blast of summer before the kids go back to school next week.  The school shopping is done and they have cousins here from Virginia.  We have been to a trampoline park, a water park and had 3 sleepovers since the boys got here on Sunday. They have built a secret fort, had nerf wars, and ran through the sprinklers with flashlights.

2. I did my last long run today! It was broken up a little, I did 9 miles and then drove my kids and their cousins down to my moms and finsihed my run. There was about a 12 minute pause so I added on another 1.2 miles just for fun to help make up for the pause.  I knew there was a 70% chance of thunderstorms towards the end of my run so I was motivated to get it done! Luckily I only saw lightning twice in the distance and heard thunder once.  I started to head home, but it quit and just rained so I was able to finish my run in a downpour.  It felt heavenly. The temps started out in the mid 60s for my run with pretty good winds and ended in the low 50s with rain and a light wind.

Nearly perfect conditions, but I was soaked at the end!

3.  That said, that means I am tapering!  I have 23 days until the Bozeman Marathon! My little sister will be here next week to get her boys and take them back home to Virginia and we are planning a "long" run with her.  I'm so excited to see her and get to have a good run with her.

The sky was beautiful for my run.

Weekly Wrap: August Week 2, 2016

Sunday  8.3 mile easy run after a pretty big 7 hour hike the day before.  and a 15 minute strength workout in the afternoon.

Monday  7.1 miles.  This was sort of like a tempo run with a pause.  I ran 4 miles with the first easy and the rest at a 7:38 pace, then went home (my father in law was here and when I went running everyone was sleeping but I didn't want to miss when he left so I cut my run short) after 45 minutes I went out and ran another 3.1 to complete my run.  It felt really good! My legs felt speedy and they haven't felt that good in a while!

Then after finsihing school shopping I came home and did 40 minutes of yoga.

Tuesday  NOthing

Wednesday: 13.1 mile run

Thursday: 12 minute strength workout before work

Friday 18 minute strength workout before work

Saturday: Hill repeats  and some easy running for a total of 6.4 miles

run 34.9 miles in four runs
yoga 1
strength workouts: 3


Randoms... my hair..is soo long! I am planning on a trim as soon as the kids go back to school

Sometimes Cola gets bored when I do yoga and he tries to be helpful

What is a random from your week?
linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Three Things Thursday

1. My kids have 12 days of summer vacation left! They found out their teachers last week and are both very excited to have their best friends in their class this year,  School shopping is complete..thank goodness, and now all we have to do is enjoy what is left of summer!  Cousins from Virginia will be here next week and flag football will be starting Sept 10. The air definitely has more of a fall feel in the morning this week.

2.  Running and marathon training is going good. Really good.  I don't predict a knock it out of the ball park time, but I have one 20 mile run left next week and I am on to taper time. Kind of starting to get excited and starting to wonder about what I will wear, which shoes, am I going to carry my own hydration or just get it along the way. All these things I need to figure out! I want to try to do my long run next week in my marathon shoes and clothes.

3. Randoms.. my dad found a praying mantis and caught it for my son, we have been having a great time catching grasshoppers and watching them get ate.  We also recently got two pigs and the rabbits were moved to the chicken house to give them more room to run around.  The chickens don't need it anyway since they all got ate by raccoons.

Wrapped Up Again

Sunday:  6.2 miles I did 8 hill repeats and then did a tempo type run.  It felt good! The cut back week last week made my legs feel fresh again.

After I ran I saddled up and we moved the heifers and got the bulls out. Once again the kids all had a great time.

The Crew

In the afternoon after a nap I did a 24 minute strength workout that left me a sweaty mess. Its so hot!

Monday: Nothing
Tuesday: LONG run day.  It was hot, and miserable and I pounded it out.  I was a bit dehydrated by the end I think. I should have drank more while running.  It seemed to take a lot out of me.

Wednesday: Easy run 

Thursday: 20 minutes of easy yoga
Friday: Nothing but a lot of running around at work

Saturday: Hiking, 8.5 miles of hiking with the family in the Beathtooth Absaroka Wilderness.  We had a great time and it was a lot of hiking for the kids. They did great.

We stopped to play a couple of times too.

and take in the views.

and I started an Instagram yoga challenge this week after two month off from them. Cola even got in a few of them.

Miles run: 30.6  I missed my run Saturday thinking I would make it up after hiking, but to tell you the truth after all that hiking, I didn't feel like running.

Strength workouts: 1
Yoga: 1

Not the best week, but it is summer and what you can when you can!

linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules} 

Week in review: Catch ya next year July

Last week seemed like a busy one, probably because I picked up an extra day of work.

Sunday I got up and did my run, and most of the run was before the sun came up...best time to run this time of year!

Then we took the kids on a ride just to check on the heifers, in a rather rough but beautiful pasture. The kids did great.   Below my aunt Linda is showing them where gates are and quizzing them on the pasture names that this one borders and how would they find their way home from here.

Monday I worked but I did get in a 12 minute HIIT workout before work.

Tuesday:  Work day. 12 minute HIIT after work

Wednesday: Long run day...but it happily was also a cut back week so it was only 12 miles, which was awesome!

Thursday:  Workday day but I did fit in about two miles of running in the evening with my girl.

Friday: 12 minute HIIT in the morning before work and  1 mile run after work with my girl

Saturday:  We were meeting up to help our neighbors get the bulls out at 6:30 so I ran down to where we were meeting up, it was a nice run with the last two miles being mostly downhill. My husband was awesome and brought my horse and riding clothes.

Miles for the week: 28ish  The cutback week felt DIVINE, my legs are feeling refreshed and fast again... and I have a 20 miler on tap this week!
Strength workouts: 3
Yoga: 0 but I did do some stretching!

and how about  a cat in a saddle on my fence,

My aunt making the kids do drills with their horses,

and the kids with their Great Grandma Pat who still rides her horse too.  Note the hitching rail in front of her house behind them.

Any way that concludes July pretty much.. how was your week?  Counting yesterdays run.. I ran just over 142 miles in July...wow!  You would think I was marathon training!

inking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap

 feel free to check it out and join in! 
The purpose of this link is to connect with and support other active women.  You can summarize your whole week or just a small portion of it.  It's up to you!  Race recaps are also encouraged!   {See complete rules}