The week following my first triathlon race of the season was deemed an “unstructured workout” week by my coach, who also added “do you think you can handle it?” Hell yes.
Handling my unstructured workout week with a little SUP on the lake!
WEEK OF JUNE 5, 2017
RUNNING
Obviously I wanted to run but, you may recall, I had a pretty nasty blister on my foot from not wearing socks during the race. I ended up putting a band aid on it and then KT Tape over that and it held up nicely. Oh and first thing Monday morning was a downpour. I ran 8 miles in it and absolutely loved it.
Tuesday – easy 8 miles in the rain | 8 min mile pace
Saturday – easy 4 miles with some pick-ups, after a bike ride, just for fun | 7:40 pace
CYCLING
The weather started cooperating after the beginning of the week and we enjoyed some stunningly sunny days. I was able to ride with a friend and really just enjoy my rides with no worries about pace. Is this what normal people do? Interesting.
Friday – 25 beautiful miles
Saturday – 20 miles before running
SWIMMING
I had the best intentions of getting in the open water but, not surprising, I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to join me. I did manage to get in the pool twice and out on the lake (for SUP) once. I think I need a little anchor for the SUP so I can dive off and swim laps around it in the middle of the lake. The fishermen would love that.
FUEL
Since we’re going with an unstructured theme here I’m going to count fuel for my soul last week to fill in this blank.
My SIL is very much into the spiritual world with psychic readings, reiki and all others kinds of higher power enlightenment and healing. I decided to join her for a psychic reading and it was awesome!
Let the healing begin!
I had a reading done only once before, about 15 years ago, and it was eye-opening and dead on balls accurate (name the movie that quote is from) which is why I decided to go again.
It did not disappoint.
There was a lot she was so right about but this was the freakiest thing that happened:
My dog came up early in the reading and we discussed her for a bit and later on, when talking about something totally unrelated she stopped mid-sentence to say “oh, the dog…Star? She has something wrong with her mouth…is it her tooth? I don’t know but something,” so I said yes, she’s been losing her puppy teeth and we moved on. Fast forward three hours later when I picked Star up at puppy training and the trainer greeted me with “Star was a little off today and we noticed she has a cut in her mouth and her lip was swollen.” WTF???? I almost died.
I took notes on everything the psychic said and on some of the suggestions she made. I have a lot to reflect on and think about. And yes, the triathlon national championship came up and the “reward and recognition” card came up but only after I waded through doubt, fear and anxiety. Exactly.
THINGS I LOVE
Booking my flight to Omaha for nationals, along with five others. After going with just my husband last year (which was awesome!) I think it’s going to be really fun having the boys and my dad and stepmom there this year.
Surprisingly, the city of Omaha is gorgeous and had a ton of shops and delicious restaurants. Luckily I wrote a few articles on preparation and things to do, so I just need to reference them and start making some reservations.
This year’s pictures will have a lot more people in them!
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH
I know at least one other person will agree with on this because she wrote an entire like-minded blog post about it, but I really cannot stand “Global Running Day” or any other made up day. Enough. Just stop. It’s lame.
For “global running day” I went for a swim, just to be an asshole, but my kids had a track meet and their coach (bless his heart) gave them all bibs to wear with the day’s theme blazoned on them:
For once, I held my tongue and kept my comments to myself. I hope they enjoyed it.
READING
Since I was so unstructured in my workouts I was able to read a heck of a lot more. Here’s the best of what my eyes have seen and something from yours truly:
The Essential Guide to Pooping Anywhere Outside | Outside Magazine | by Brendan Leonard – – Runners know exactly how to get this done but have you ever thought about how you would take care of business on skis or rock climbing? You will after you read this. Bonus: the personal stories that go along with each outdoor sport.
Why We Believe Obvious Untruths | New York Times | by
Why Our Best Ideas Come On the Run | Women’s Running | by Allie Burdick – – Runners may not be aware of why but most all of us know we come up with our best ideas and can more easily clear our minds on the run and this article explains why.
TELEVISION
How could they not know?
That was my question when it came to the now infamous family of Bernie Madoff and their involvement in his Ponzi scheme of the century. Well, after watching HBO’s movie The Wizard of Lies, based on the 60 billion dollar scandal and starring Robert Dinero as Madoff, I can say they had no idea.
I’m not sure why I even wanted to watch but it was extremely well done, exceptionally acted (Michelle Pfieffer as Ruth Madoff is amazing) and written and confirmed what I already knew – – that Madoff is a monster and all he left his wife and family was a legacy of shame.
Probably the best scene in the movie is when the youngest son Mark is being questioned by the FBI, who are asking the same question I was, “how could you not know?” He gives a stunning dialogue as his response in which he details exactly who his father is (he invented NASDQ and sat on every board known to mankind in trading and investments) and looks directly at the agent and says “How did I not know? How the fuck did YOU not know?” Seriously.
RANDOM DIALOGUE OF THE WEEK
On my SUP and nearing one of the fishing boats on the lake:
Fisherman: How many laps around the lake do you do on that thing?
Me: It depends but today I’m doing two!
Fisherman: Wow. I should start thinking about rowing this boat.
[Tweet “The Rundown is #unstructured with #SUP, fuel for the soul and a guide to #pooping!”]
What is unstructured for you lately?
Ever been to a psychic?
Did you celebrate global running day?
I’ve never been to psychic but now I really want to! But I don’t want to hear any bad stuff. Thankfully the weather has improved drastically. I need some SUP time!
You should definitely do it! She told me at the start she doesn’t see violence or death or usually anything bad and, if she does, she keeps it to herself unless it’s something she’s positive you can change. Nothing even remotely bad came up so…
And yes to tons of SUP time!!
I have been to a psychic John Edward group event, but no personal reading. I DID participate in Global Running Day. Our local group of runners, training for Grandma’s Marathon June 17, ran/walk with the local Couch to 5K club, we did a 1:1 Galloway method. We had a fun time and most of our run group has decided to join them again this week for a nice change & something to do during our taper. I enjoy seeing your instagram posts, and am new to your blog today. Thanks for sharing!
So much fun to do group runs, especially when you have a common goal! Good luck to you all and thanks for reading the blog 🙂
When I did SUP yoga in Florida, we anchored! It was the first time I ever anchored and it was great!
Yesterday I was perusing FB and came upon Melania Trump’s post about moving to the White House. The comments were epic. And really frightening. I cannot believe the people who defend Trump and the things they say like this gem: “the Trumps are humbling themselves by moving into the White House”. WTF? I’m losing faith in humanity… altho I really believe that FB has been singlehandedly responsible for destroying civil communication as we know it…
I must stop. It’s too early to be thinking these thoughts! LOL! What would the psychic say about me?
The psychic would probably say you are RIGHT ON!!! LOL 🙂
Every day is __ day in my life. Today is walk the dog in the sunshine day. Tomorrow is Whatever I Goddam Choose Day. If you think I will only eat chocolate one day a year, you be crazy.
I think the people who “celebrate” chocolate day eat an extra amount that day 🙂 So maybe I should have run extra on GRD!
Look at you, inspiring fishermen to work out!!! Sounds like a really fun week. I went to a psychic once and she sucked, but my mum had a crazy reading done once when I was just about to move to Italy. The psychic said, one of your kids is going to live overseas and I hear North American accents, it must be Canada or the US. My mum said no, no, she’s going to Italy. The woman was adamant, its North America. 18 months later I moved to the US, which wasn’t planned at the time. Oh and I love that movie. Every time I see deer I hear the speech, “imagine you’re a little deer…”
OMG right? It’s so freaky when that stuff happens months afterward – which is why I tried to write notes afterward. She also said Hawaii felt like is was my HOME. God I hope she’s right about that one!!
And I absolutely LOVE that you know that quote – xoxoxox
I always love the unstructured weeks after a race! Everything about my training is unstructured right now … I’m mostly enjoying it, with moments of worry here and there about losing running fitness, but overall it’s fun to try some new things.
Good for you! I wish my whole summer could be more unstructured. Maybe next year…
I recently had a psychic reading at a party and it was terrible… she really had nothing to say to me. I did celebrate Global Running Day… and National RoséDay this past Saturday…. I love all the National days… (BTW, I didn’t get this post in my email inbox…not sure why and don’t know if that is the case with anyone else)
How awful! Mine did not stop talking and she was SO accurate about so much. It was seriously freaky. I loved it!
Every weekend should be Rose weekend. I deem it so!
And I got the email in my inbox?? Not sure why you didn’t?? 🙁 thanks for seeking it out anyway…
For my birthday last year, Ed got me a psychic reading but I never actually go to do it! She’s based out on CA (and came highly recommended) and was moving so needed time to get her space together and feel ready and she’ll be in touch when she’s ready. Fast forward almost a year and no word. Boo. Maybe I should find myself a new psychic! So great that the whole family is traveling to Omaha this year! And National Running Day? I only celebrate if I get invited to an event
What a bummer. You should look for another one because it was VERY cool.
We are total assholes! Ha ha! And OMG I can NOT get over your SIL’s reading about your dog’s mouth!!! WOW! That’s incredible!! I want to go over there and see her too!!! Although, I hate the dentist so maybe she can just avoid reading my mouth.
Yes we are and I LOVE it!!
The reading was bananas!! So much of it was right on and I truly hope a lot of her predictions come true like her feeling that Hawaii was my HOME. Yes, please.
I love unstructured weeks of training – glad you got to enjoy one with some good runs and SUP!
That NYT article is fascinating. In one of my grad school history classes, we learned about this theory called collective effervescence which is like the collective delusions that article talks about – how all of a sudden, people are totally okay with normally atrocious behaviors or believe seemingly irrational beliefs.
I ran on global running day, but didn’t do anything special. I like the big, real holidays – Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving – but the small random holidays that seem to occupy everyday irritate me. Like, a day can’t tell me when to run or not! I probably sound like a curmudgeon lol.
That is so fascinating! I love stuff like that which is why I was drawn to the article. It’s truly incredible how behaviors evolve and what was once unacceptable is now the norm. I would love to read more about it so thanks for geeking out with me 🙂
oh my star fire! i’m going to always say that since i usually say oh my stars.. 🙂
geez i’m going through the never ending tunnel of sickness that i guess comes with having a kid start a new daycare. i’ve been sick for weeks and that was after we went to a 1 yr old bday party. i’m so sick of being sick, ugh just make it end! i’m willing to do a cartwheel to speed up the process. it’s making me feel desperate i tell you.
so since i’m working my mornings have been very much just doing the best with how i’m feeling that morning. i had a good week last week where i felt well enough to jog for 30-50 min a day, but today i’m back down to zero and that’s fine. whatever. the little one is cutting another tooth and i find myself wondering if i should just give up on life goals till after she’s 3??? i rather have low expectations sometimes so i can be pleasantly surprised.
on global running day i smirked and said WTF, is this a thing??? common people! every day i can have time and health to run is running day.
I’m so sorry you’re stuck in the vicious cycle that is kid-related sickness. Fear not – this too shall pass and you will both have improved immune systems to show for it 🙂 Seriously, hang in there and keep the “whatever I can do is good” mindset going at least for a little while longer.
Ok, so I forgot to ask this on the last post…the no socks on the bike…is that to make transitioning easier? I can’t imagine not wearing socks to run! I’m super jealous of the SUP. I want one really bad!!! The Potomac is the perfect place to do it, albeit a bit dirty. I did not celebrate Global running day. In fact, I totally forgot about it (downside of not blogging anymore, it was totally off my radar). I have never done a psychic reading before. The Ougi (did I spell that right?) board freaked me out as it is when I was a kid. Not sure I could handle it, lol!