Running With Perseverance

I spent most of this week in Austin, Texas, attending and speaking at a legal conference. Of course, I fit in some running in Austin even though I had to skip a breakfast session to do so.

The Texas State Capitol

Running In Austin

This was my second trip to Austin, and I was looking forward to running in Austin when the temperatures were in the 80s instead of when daytime highs were over 100F. I remembered wishing I’d had my headlamp on my last trip, and packed that in my carry-on. Good thing, because it didn’t get light until about 6:30 am.

The best running near downtown Austin is along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail that runs by the river.

The green square at the top center shows where the state capitol building is.

My hamstring had tolerated the 3+ hour flight well, so my first day running in Austin I headed out for a 5 mile loop. I went west (?) on the downtown-side of the river until I got to the pedestrian bridge, and then crossed the river and headed back east. The route was partly shaded, but once in a while offered views of the Austin skyline.

Some parts of the trail were lined with lighted railings.

Others were more natural.

I reached a boardwalk that went out over the water,
and used the end of that as my turn-around point.

There were lots of others out running and walking.

I hit 4.5 miles a few blocks from my hotel, and decided to walk the rest of the way. The warm temperatures, high humidity, and lack of water had sapped my energy, but at least my hamstring wasn’t complaining!

My second day running in Austin I opted for a shorter city route since the conference programs started earlier. I ran up to the state capitol building, and around the back where there were some gardens and statues.

The Ten Commandments

Texas Pioneer Woman

From the capitol, I ran back to the river and along the path in the direction of my hotel to end up with a 3 mile loop. The weather was much nicer than the day before, so I was glad I had gone out for another run in Austin. The conference session I missed was about how to manage stress, so I figured my time was well spent actually managing stress before my presentation later in the day. 😉

Weekly Wrap

Since I’m writing this late after traveling home from Austin yesterday, I’m going to skip my weekly wrap. I had early flights coming and going, but got my Peloton blue dot walking Scooby and walking at the airport. As I mentioned above, my hamstring continues to improve BUT now I have something going on with my ankle. Argh! It’s not in the Achilles area and doesn’t hurt when I run, so I’m not going to panic.

This week wraps up Lawyers Have Heart fundraising for the ❤️American Heart Association ❤️. Please use this link if you want to donate and thanks to everyone who donated already!

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.

Happy Mother’s Day! I will be enjoying a mellow Mother’s Day this year, but it’s much needed after a stressful week. I just saw my son last weekend and won’t see my daughter until our vacation in July, but I do plan to see my mom later today.

My Aerogarden petunias are still thriving!

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Some people are good about celebrating pet birthdays or “gotcha” days, but I have not been. That is changing now. After too many times not being able to answer “how old is he?” with any certainty, I dug out Scooby’s “paperwork” and realized we got him on May 5, 2018. It’s such an easy date to remember—Cinco de Mayo!—so I have no excuse. He was about one year old when we got him, so that makes him seven years old.

Our first photo of Scooby before we “rescued” him.

Celebrating Scooby

There are so many reasons to be celebrating Scooby! You know he is my favorite running buddy, but he’s also a faithful companion around the house. His favorite spot is on this corner of the sofa—when I’m not sitting there to watch tv. 😉

When I’m working at home,
he keeps me company in “his” armchair near my desk.

He’s usually napping, but he lets me know when it’s quitting time.

Hey, lady, it’s time for dinner!

I don’t usually let him in my “gym” room because he takes over my mat.

He also has staked a claim to my son’s bed.

But how could you resist that face?

Weekly Wrap

My workout schedule was off this week with Cari visiting over the weekend and then going to an evening baseball game on Monday. My hamstring did not love the hours spent in the car and sitting in the stadium seats, but surprised me by getting over it after a few days. 🤷‍♀️

Sunday: 1 mile walk with Scooby
I took Scooby out for a quick walk before taking Cari to the race venue!

Monday: Core + 3.8 Scooby miles
It was summer temperatures without summer humidity, so it was a warm but pleasant run.

Tuesday: 45 min Strength + 20 min Peloton Ride
After getting home late from the game, I let myself sleep in a bit. I did Jess Sims’ Turkish get-up class and then hopped on my bike for a 20 min climb ride with Jess King.

Wednesday: Core + 4.0 Scooby Miles
It was still warm but a bit of a breeze kept this run pleasant.

Drool bomb alert!

Thursday: Flash 15 + 35 min Peloton Ride
This Flash 15 class was mild for Jess, with two core moves and no plyometric moves. After doing that at home I headed to my office gym to use the Peloton bike. I hadn’t taken a class with Mila before, but was drawn in by the playlist.

Friday: Core + Strength + 3.25 Tread Miles
My hamstring is in no condition for true sprinting, but I like taking Logan’s HIIT classes to play with my pace. By starting with a warm-up and rounding up my mileage at the end, I was able to reach 3.25 miles.

Saturday: 3.85 Scooby Miles
My hamstring felt 100% fine after Friday’s run (and a bit of icing afterwards), so I braved the drizzle and took Scooby out for a run.

Yes, I wore one of my favorite Lawyers Have Heart shirts.
Please use this link to my fundraising page if you want to join me
in supporting the American Heart Association.
❤️ Thanks to everyone who donated already! ❤️

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up. And thanks to all of you for putting up with my hamstring saga!

Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday?

After last week’s trip to Chicago, this week wasn’t much to write home about. My hamstring is nagging a bit, but not too much—even on days I don’t take meloxicam. 😉 I’m am not ready to explore more aggressive treatment, so for now, it is what it is.

Scooby is sympathetic to my hamstring woes.

It Is What It Is

So, what is going on with my hamstring? Sometimes it feels tight. Sometimes it hurts. Some times it’s 100% fine. It doesn’t bother me much—or all the time—while I’m running, but I do feel it if I push my pace too much. My next treatment option is PRP, but I’ve read studies that it can be only marginally better than PT. So, I am going to keep my mileage low and get back to all those PT exercises and see what progress I can make on my own.

Weekly Wrap

Sunday: Core + Upper Body + 45 min Ride
I split my workout, doing an upper body class before church, and then a Peloton ride after church, with a core class each time as a warm up. I loved the playlist from Hannah’s ride.

Monday: Lower Body + 3.25 tread miles
As I mentioned in my runfessions, I found a few “cardio” classes I could take as pre-run warm-ups. This one with Adrian was really good. I modified some of the high-impact moves but actually love doing touch down squats.

Tuesday: Upper Body + 35 min Peloton Ride
For the last full week of the Ascend April challenge, we are doing 30 min climb rides. Denis’s class wasn’t too hard as it was broken into a series of 3 minute climbs. I thought Callie’s class upper body class was really good too.

Wednesday: 4.5 Scooby Miles
I wore my hat because it was supposed to rain, but it never did. At least the hat helped keep some of the sweat out of my eyes—it was humid!

Thursday: Lower Body + 35 min Peloton Ride
CDE’s 30 min climb was a 30 minute climb—well, maybe a 24 minute climb with the warm-up and cool-down. No matter how you count it, it was tough!.

Friday: Core + 3.25 Scooby Miles
This was the day Scooby looked forlorn after our run. I’m not sure why, as nothing stressful happened!

Saturday: 3.7 Scooby Miles
Took Scooby out for a short run before getting back to the house to join Carianne for coffee. She’s here for the Parkway Classic I thought we could run together before I knew my hamstring was torn.

A happier running buddy

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up. And thanks to all of you for putting up with my hamstring saga!