Gardening and a Trail Run

It's not even 9pm and I'm in bed, which is good.  But with my laptop, which is not so good - though I'm going to sleep right after I finish this post.  This weekend has been fabulous!  It started with a great workout on Friday.  I didn't make the same mistake I made on Thursday (going to the gym on a totally empty stomach), this time I had an AccelGel on my way and that made a huge difference in my energy level.  Friday was the last day of my "recovery" week (after being sick) but I was feeling ready to tackle Level 8 on the bike so I did, but instead of my normal 25 minutes I just did 20.  The bike went well, I managed to keep to my normal rpm plan.  After the bike I did legs/shoulders/core for strength training.  I saw someone doing squats on an upside-down Bosu, so of course I had to give it a try.  My legs were all shaky but I could definitely do them.  Not going to be adding that to the routine for now but maybe later.  The gym went great but I was totally wiped out afterward.

My gardening digs

Saturday was a day off from the gym but not from work.  I walked with the kids to the local garden store and bought some plants (lantana, penstimon, geranium, echinacea and pink yarrow) to replace the ones the gophers ate.  This time, as a defensive move against the gophers, I got gopher baskets to protect the plants.  I hear it sometimes doesn't work.  We'll see.  I spent the entire afternoon digging holes and planting the plants.  Growing up I thought gardening was the worst form of torture.  I must be getting old because I'm starting to enjoy it.  But I worked my butt off.  I planted a fountaingrass in a new spot and ended up running into a huge root that I had to break up.  Man, that was tough, so much that I gave myself 1 activity point for the gardening. I was a little worried I would wake up sore from all the manual labor but I was fine.  After a day out in the sun gardening I was too tired to cook so we had fish sticks (Trident from Costco) and french fries (Alexia sweet potato fries) for dinner.

Today we spent the morning at home and then Miguel took the kids to watch a soccer game while I went to the gym.  At first I planned to do a 4.5 mile loop from my gym but then I remembered it's Sunday and I should do something I can't do during the week - a trail run it is.  I did the Indian Valley trail loop that I always do.  I debated 2 vs 3 loops during the first loop and came up with a new running rule for myself, never think about when you're going to stop while running uphill.  In the end I decided I had enough to do 3 loops, plus a little extra to make it a full hour.  My pace wasn't record breaking but I was happy to be under 12 minute miles given the terrain and my ongoing recovery.



I ran just over 5 miles, stretched my legs some and then took the short drive to the gym to do chest/triceps/core work for strength training.  I did my full workout, even a few extra pushups, and then stretched. I am so stiff!  I think it's going to take a couple weeks for me to loosen up.  But what a triumph!  I'm back!!  I felt motivated all weekend and this great workout topped it off perfectly. 

My mom came over and made dinner - chuck roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob and asparagus, plus I had a glass of wine.  Ohhh, it was all so good.  I ate more than I needed but I enjoyed it and tracked it all so it was a regret-free meal (I don't really feel guilty anymore about "bad" food choices but I do sometimes regret bad choices).  After we cleaned up and spent a little time playing with the kids I came to bed.  I'm wanting to get a good night sleep after this very active weekend.  Ugh, I wish tomorrow wasn't Monday.  But on a good note, I've gotten through the weekend with 9 activity points remaining, those will do me some good since I wiped out my weekly points on dinner tonight.

This is the first weekend in what seems like forever where we had no plans, and it was lovely.  Ok, that's it from me.  Nighty night!