Training Recap: July Week 5

Either I am getting lazier or I'm just enjoying running much more that I feel lazy during easier weeks. Or maybe I was just lazy? I only accumulated 11.5 miles all week!

Monday

After my roller coaster of emotion trail run Saturday, I was in need of a good run. I kept it simple, taking Brewer for a run through the neighborhood. He still wanted to pee on just about everything. The problem? I'm in a groove and all of a sudden I'm whip-lashed to a halting stop. Could I dislocate my shoulder with him doing this? Time to look into different collar/harness options. We finished a 2.95mi run in 31 minutes.

Tuesday

July 30th is cemented in my brain for two reasons. First, it's my Tia's birthday and second, it's National Cheesecake Day! The Cheesecake Factory discounts all their cheesecake 50%off on this one day each year when you dine in. My selection was the Oreo Dream Extreme. I eat a few bites and bring the rest home so I can nibble off of it for a couple days.

Once we got home from dinner I was stuffed, no running was going to take place, but I wasn't going to dump my behind on the couch for the night. Brewer needed to get out of the house so we went for a walk. Abigail came too and we actually met another family while we were out, the little boy is a year older than Abs while the little girl is a year younger. They got friendly fast and promises were made to play again soon.

Bonus: September 30th marked the beginning of the 100 day countdown for the runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend!

Wednesday

Over the last few weeks Brewer has been getting tougher and tougher to control; he's getting bigger and stronger! When we run, if he wants to sprint I have a hard time controlling him. If there's a downhill portion, we don't run, we walk. I am not risking myself getting injured due to a puppy with too much energy and strength! I decided it would be in my best interest to check out a choker type collar. It definitely keeps him more calm, but I don't think I'd be comfortable running with him wearing it. We had a great walk with the new collar (no, Abigail did not walk him!). I'm still in my search for what will work best for us and I would love any suggestions you may have!

The three of us had another nice evening walk and chatted with a few other neighbors. I am still in a bit of shock we have almost been living here 5 years and I am just now starting to meet our neighbors.


Thursday
We started our morning with some FaceTime with my parents in Paris. Abigail has been very excited because we'll be picking them up from the airport in Tampa on Saturday night. I let Abigail have a 'jama morning (where she doesn't get out of her pajamas) while I finished typing up my training recap from the week before.

Abigail had swim and gymnastics classes as usual, this was her last gymnastics class of this session and next week we have an off week. While she was in her classes I stewed over still not hearing anything from Starbucks. I called the store I'm waiting on and spoke to a shift manager who unknowingly informed me the store manager still had not made her hiring decisions. In my frustration, I decided to call a local running store and inquire about a part time position. Now the perk of Starbucks would be getting full-time benefits for working part-time hours, this would be ideal. If this doesn't pan out, the next best option seems to be a running store. I feel like I could gain a wealth of knowledge about all things running, which would be a huge asset as I continue to train for marathons and endurance challenges like runDisney's Dopey Challenge. So for now, I'll continue to wait and pray for the right opportunity to arise.

Friday
Abigail and I attended a pool play date with some MOPS friends. It was so nice to chat and catch up with friends we hadn't seen all summer. Matt's parents were in town for an appointment so they were able to stop in and get some social time with Abigail before we all headed out for pizza. 

Saturday

I was registered for the Atlanta Run or Dye event, but decided I wanted to just get to Tampa. I have mixed feelings about skipping. While I had some friends running this event, I don't think I would have been in the mindset to fully have fun knowing I still needed to shower, pack the car and drive 8hrs. I also had re-read through all the race information and realized this wasn't a timed race, which is fine and would be more fun untimed. So still with mixed feelings that are difficult for even me to understand, I'll just leave it at that.

We stopped by the vet on the way out of town to pick up Brewer his monthly flea/tick pill and some puppy tranquilizers for his drive. Brewer does not settle and after one horrible drive to Tampa with him Easter Weekend, I asked for assistance. Brewer gets droopy eyelids, with bloodshot eyes...but he's calm during our 7-8hr drive. With him tranq'd, the drive was fairly easy. Abigail did as quite frequently some version of "are we there yet", wow. Luckily we arrived in Tampa early enough to get dinner and frozen ice cream with my grandparents. Then we picked up my parents from the airport at 11pm. It was a LONG day.

Sunday

With a late night home from the airport, and Brewer not happy with his Tampa crate, I didn't get much sleep. Then my parents (still on Paris time) were up and about at 7am. We ended up visiting my brother and sister-in-law's new home, and Abigail got to take the first jump into their pool. Abigail got to play with her cousin; he is getting bigger and moving faster and trying to talk more than two month ago when we last saw him. We got even more family time at Sunday dinner, where my dad's side of the family gather's weekly at my grandparent's house. While some of the family was missing (if we're all together, and if I didn't forget anyone, there should be 23 total spanning 4 generations), it was still really nice getting this quality time! 

QUESTIONS:

-Do you have a favorite dessert at The Cheesecake Factory?

-Any suggestions for a collar to best control my crazy puppy while we run?
-Have you ever decided to skip a race? What were your feelings after you skipped out?
-Do you live close to your family or far away?