The one that ended with a hilly run

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Monday

Did: 1.3 mi pup run + 45 min pickleball 

Took the pup for a morning run in TR but again she was being pretty lazy. I thought the cooler temps would help but not so much. 

In the afternoon, D and I went to play pickleball after school - it was such fun! We honestly don't know the rules and end up just making them up as we go, but it's fun hitting the ball back and forth. :)

Tuesday

6.3 mi @ 8:53/mi avg

Ran loops in the neighborhood due to being solo this morning, was really dreading it and had to argue with myself to get out the door (and get up out of bed in the first place). Ended up being glad I ran (of course) and enjoyed the cool breeze under the full moonlight. 

First light of day is my favorite time

Wednesday

2.2 mi @ 9:24/mi

Cool temps means 2 miles at a sub-9:30 pace and a heart rate in the 130s! 😍

2.3 mi pup ruck

Took the pup midday for a ruck walk around the neighborhood carrying 20# plate.

This sweet girl 😍

Thursday

5.05 mi @ 8:57/mi

Early crew run downtown with more pretty comfortable temps!

30 min work gym

Actually made time to hit the gym before lunch today! Mostly upper body but did some one-leg deadlifts with the kettlebell and oh yep those are gonna hurt tomorrow.

Friday

Update: I was wrong, everything (not just legs) is sore today. 😂

1.7 mi pup run

Was going out for early morning miles in the neighborhood but the pup awoke and seemed eager to go with me, so I took her and we enjoyed the darkness together.

1.2 mi pup walk during baseball practice.

Saturday

12.5 mi @ 9:26/mi avg

Wanted to get in some hill training, so got a small group (that got even smaller by the actual run morning) to agree to run the Paris Mtn Road Race 20k loop. Started at 6:30 right at first light of day, made our way up the mountain to view a glowing red sunrise that even cast red light onto the side of the mountain.

Continued on the loop, pounded the quads on the downhills through the crazy loop into Audubon Rd that was new to me, then finally made it in to the familiar neighborhood hills around the other side of the mountain. 

I was relieved when I looked at my watch thinking I was only about halfway but actually had already done 8 miles. Thank goodness! I was quite low on fuel and really would have liked another waffle or a few more gummies, but I hung on and dropped the pace quite a bit in the last 3 miles or so. Felt much better with 1 mile to go and knowing most of the climbing was done!

Got to the parking lot in just enough time to hop in the car and head downtown to meet the Greenville Ruck Club for a first meet-up ruck. 

Swamp Fox Ruck Club!

I'd met the leader of the ruck club at last weekend's Black Box Basic in Savannah, so it was cool to meet him locally as well and support the growth of the local club. Hoping for more group rucks in the future! We did 3.5 miles on a mostly-out-and-back along the Swamp Rabbit Trail through Falls Park. 

After that morning, I was toast!

Sunday

1 mi neighborhood loop

Just an easy recovery loop before church.

1.7 mi pup walk

Walked in the neighborhood in the afternoon.

Mid-August already?

Whew. Vacation then school starting then BAM, it's the middle of August before you know it.

Got an event this weekend - GO RUCK Black Box Basic #2 in Savannah, GA. It's different from a standard Basic challenge, but similar format (maybe?). They're being super secretive about it, but it's with Cadre Barbarossa again, same as my events from February. 

Unfortunately, I've had minimal training time to prep for this so I'm kind of going into it not knowing what to expect.

Monday

1 mi run + 1.6 mi pup walk

Intended to do some ruck strength but just didn't get to it. 

Tuesday

7.09 mi @ 9:04/mi

Made it downtown to run with the group this morning, was hopeful for some rain but only got sprinkles. It might as well have rained because dang it was humid. 

Wednesday

5.2 mi @ 8:54/mi

Planned to switch the typical Thursday distance with Wednesday in order to rest up a little for the weekend event. USC Loop and kept it moderate, no accidental progression this time 😂 Thought it was going to be a little cooler but the sun was quite hot in midday. Ready for some fall temps, please!

Thursday

4.77 mi @ 8:55/mi

Well, I was aiming for 3-4 miles with the downtown group but our loop went a little farther than anticipated. At least the temps were a little better today, and got some pretty sunrise as reward!

Friday

1.5 mi pup run

Thought the pupper would want to go for a little more, but she was being lazy and I didn't feel like fighting her. 

Saturday

1mi riverfront run + GORUCK Black Box Basic #2

Ran 1 mile on the riverfront before heading to the Black Box Basic: Event Report

Darkness along the Riverfront

Sunday

2 mi @ 9:57/mi avg + 1.5 mi pup walk 

Did a short run around the neighborhood as a recovery loop then walked laps with the pup at baseball practice. It was quite hot and we ended up camped in the shade by the end!

Event Report: GORUCK Black Box Basic #2

This was a somewhat last-minute sign-up, talked into by my always-convincing friend and neighbor. The motivation here is to achieve 5 events and get my Cadre Barbarossa V patch at the Rucking Dead events in October where I currently plan to do the Tough (12-hr) and the Basic (6-hr). I did my first 2 qualifying events in February and this one counts as the third. 

This event was a slightly different structure than the normal GORUCK Basic. Whereas a typical Challenge event includes a structure of team movements with weight + team activities (small group challenges, PT, trivia, etc), this one was more of a random set of activities, both team-based and individual. The goal of each activity (called an "evolution") was to allow the Cadre to gather data points for the evolution and allow them to gauge what tweaks might need to be made before including it in a Tier 1 event (for the "pro" type folk who do these events at an elite level). 

I won't go into detail on the evolutions since part of the intent is to keep these things a bit of a mystery, but will say there was some individual rucking over distance, some creative team problem-solving, some carrying of heavy things (like a 60# sandbag, for example). I will say one shocking thing: NOT A SINGLE BURPEE WAS DONE. 😱 Knowing how much Cadre Barbarossa loves burpees, this was a huge surprise. 

Overall it was fun, challenging, and has me eager to do more. The 15 GRTs who earned their patches worked hard!

Sunrise over Daffin Park, Savannah, GA

Tokens collected

Go team!

Patch and beer ✅

Post-Utah recovery

Was feeling surprisingly sore/tired after the Park City trail run, so took the week to recover and get back into a normal routine.

Monday

1.1 mi run + 1.4 mi pup walk

Ran in the late afternoon on the Swamp Rabbit Trail then took the pups (Ivy and visiting "cousin"-pup Libby) on a walk in the neighborhood.

Libby sploot

playful pups

Tuesday

6.25 mi @ 8:57/mi

Ran a lunch loop at work since I'm still adjusting time zones and couldn't muster the energy for a 4:xx alarm today. Not a bad pace for feeling like I'm still in recovery mode!

Wednesday

1 mi run + 3.75 mi ruck (20#)

Short run miles and some rucking since I have an event in uhhhh 1.5 weeks. 

Thursday

1.8 mi run + 30 min strength

First day of school, so early miles in the neighborhood before sending the kiddo off for 4th grade!

Got 30 mins in the gym at work in the afternoon.

Friday

5k XC Friday

Trails were puddl-y after Thursday's storms, but not terrible!

Saturday

6.5 mi @ 8:43/mi

Group run from Unity Park in the early hours of Saturday. Plans for the majority of the day prevented longer miles, but got in a nice hour at sunrise.

Sunday

2.2 mi run

Did a couple miles around the fields while little dude had baseball practice. Soooo hot still. Ugh, can it be fall yet? 😓

Vacation Week in Utah - all the adventures!

Family vacay in Utah, flew out there on Friday and returned the following Sunday, so 10 days of adventures!

Saturday

Race Report - Tushars Mountain Runs half marathon

14.8 miles, 3,900 ft of elevation gain at 10-11,000ft altitude 

4hrs 45mins 

Sunday

2 mile recovery run + 1 mi petroglyph hike

Spent some time with the little dude today while Scott did some mountain biking. First we did a couple of sunrise miles on the nearby bike path before checking out of the train car.

Train car village

💙

We also went to the Fremont Indian State Park and hiked around their paths to see petroglyphs. They were really cool!

Monday

1 mile run + 25 mi e-bike ride on Antelope Island

Explored Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake for the morning, including a super fun e-bike ride. It was "pedal-assist" but man, those things went 30 mph without much effort at all! After we turned in the bikes, I did a quick mile up a trail just to get in the daily run before we left the island park.

Running trail... I ran up that hill.

Tuesday

6.28 mi @ 10:24/mi

Found a park and greenway near the hotel in Salt Lake City where I planned to do my 10k Tuesday run. Got started, but then little over a mile out I came upon a construction barrier saying the trail ahead was closed. Oh well! Turned around, made up a route, and then ended up doing loops and a few out-and-back sections to finish out the miles. 

Wednesday

17 mi UTV tour + 3 mi afternoon run

OK, the UTV tour might not count as exercise but it was so fun I had to include it and of course recorded it on Strava. 😂 It was 2 hours winding our way through the Wasatch mountains in this awesome vehicle.

In the afternoon I got in a short 3 miles around the resort in Park City. This place sits at about 8,000ft and I could tell!

Ski slopes in the summer!

Thursday

3.92 mile run

There's a big hill/mountain behind our resort hotel, and I decided I'd run up it at sunrise. Really amazing views and oh the 48F temps at the start were absolutely fabulous.

Also did some rafting in the afternoon, but since we didn't end up actually paddling any (the guide did it all) I didn't bother tracking it.

Friday

3.11 mi @ 10:35/mi

Nice early morning sunrise miles on the greenway near our final hotel in Park City. Again, cool morning temps were perfect!

17 miles of downhill mountain biking

Rode ski lifts up, biked down. Super D did amazing, I turned into a bit of a chicken after a few gentle tumbles over on the trail. Still, fun experience and nice day out on the mountains!

Saturday

Race Report - Park City Trail Series half marathon

13.6 mi, 2h 21m, 1,300 ft climbing

Sunday

1.2 mi @ 9:54/mi

Neighborhood loop after we returned home. 

And that rounds out an adventure-ful week in Utah! So much fun!!