It’s my birthday week and I will be celebrating all month long. That’s right, when it comes to birthdays I go big! I see aging as a privilege since my mom didn’t live past the age I will turn on Wednesday — 43. In fact, a mere nine days after turning 43, I will have outlived my mom. Let that shit sink in. Instead of dwelling, I celebrate. Let’s do this…

Peace and love. It’s my birthday month!

WEEK OF MARCH 12, 2018

RUNNING

I enjoyed three runs this past week, with two of the longer ones outside, taking in another round of new snow.  I know most people bitch about the snow and the fact that we’ve had three nor’easters in 11 days but my only issue is no school for the crazies. Other than that, I love a good snowstorm!

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Monday – easy run before swim to shake out my snowboarding legs from the weekend | 3.71 miles

Tuesday – hill repeats on the treadmill | 6.60 miles

Friday – long run | 9.3 miles

Total = 19.61

CYCLING

My undercarriage is reaching a breaking point. I had another 2 hour ride this week and being in the saddle that long is rough. I absolutely cannot wait to ride outside. For whatever reason, it doesn’t hurt your lady bits as much.

Wednesday – endurance ride | 2:01:14 | 30 miles

Thursday – 30 minute spin bike ride after pool swim | 30 minutes | 14 miles

Sunday – VO2 Max ride | 1:10:00 | 18.2 miles

Total = 62.2 miles

SWIMMING

I had my first swim brick (meaning I went right from the pool to the spin bike as quickly as possible) and it was a tough transition. The swim itself was great but trying to put cycling shorts and a sports bra on a wet body is no bueno.

Monday – 12×50 and 12×25 after run | 1,750

Thursday – endurance brick before bike | 1,750

Total = 3,500

STRENGTH

My strength workouts consisted of equal parts weights and snow. It’s been amazing spring skiing and I much prefer the slopes to the gym.

I’m not sure my husband feels the same way…

After I posted this to Instagram, a friend of mine asked if he was trying to make “Jerry of the day?” I had never heard of such a thing so I immediately checked it out. OMG. Hilarious! Please do yourself a favor and follow JerryoftheDay on Instagram. I was cry laughing. (thanks Angela!)

THINGS I LOVE

Birthday celebrations, naturally. I also love that my kids finally seem to be healthy and we’re all back to a somewhat normal schedule. I had a fantastic weekend at Okemo with a live, outdoor concert with Blues Traveler, surrounded by my family. I mean, honestly, how can you not celebrate this?

I’m so grateful for the significance of this birthday. I take nothing for granted but especially not my health. I miss my mom every single day of my life and, because of that, I appreciate it on a different level. This doesn’t mean I don’t bitch and complain (obviously, you know I do) but I truly love my life and it’s why this blog is all about training for LIFE. #VITAbaby

I also made a pledge at this time last year to live like I was dying, and I have made good on that promise to myself in all kinds of ways. I will continue to live like this since it’s the best way I have found of honoring my mom’s memory.

Bottoms up!

THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH

Why, all of a sudden, is this ad popping up at me all over the internet? She’s everywhere I go like she knows it’s my birthday. I do not need an old lady stalking me about make-up tips. The internet is creepy.

Plus, I’m not that old, and I don’t have a dried up gray bun sitting on top of my head and wouldn’t be caught dead in whatever it is this old cartoon bag is wearing! However, I probably could use some good make-up tips.

READING

Some much goodness about women lately, and by “goodness” I mean it’s awful to actually read the insanity of it all. The article about how women treat other women is particularly nauseating, mostly because it’s true.

A Timeline of Bullshit Female Runners Have Had to Overcome | Citrusmag.com | Andrea Keklak

From the first time women were ever allowed to compete in the Olympics (1928!) to when the women’s marathon was finally added to said games (1984!) it’s  a sad history of ignorance. Although painful to read, it’s important to know how far we have come ladies…and how much father we have to go. #MeToo

Do Women Discriminate Against Women? | Linkedin.com | Pragya Agarwal

When the author of this piece, a successful business woman, noticed her customer service emails becoming increasingly hostile she decided to answer them as a man. It changed everything.

“The ‘man’ in question was thanked profusely for his help, and had an immediate calming effect on an irate customer, even if he repeated exactly the same thing that I had said in my previous email.”

Women, I’m begging you to please stop. We need to start treating each other with the respect we demand from everyone else.

RANDOM EXCHANGE OF THE WEEK

My husband was trying to persuade Miles to go with him somewhere and not stay home with Vaughn and I:

My husband: Come with me Miles and we’ll go out and party. There will be chicks everywhere, it will be awesome.

Vaughn: Baby chicks? Dad are you seriously going to see baby chickens, because then I want to go!

Please dear Lord make him this innocent forever!

[Tweet “The Rundown is clebrating birthday week BIG! Join the party, there’s lots of chicks. #train4life #therundown #VITA”]

How was your week?

Are you a big celebrator of birthdays?

Does the internet stalk you with creepy ads?

%d bloggers like this: