Weekend Recap and More

Yesterday’s (Sunday’s) Workout: 8+ miles

I’m not the only one worn out from the weekend!

Whew! What a weekend! It ended up being an unexpected three-day weekend when I got little to no sleep after hearing something (Bogie heard it too and started howling) and creeping around the house at 12 a.m. To make sure it was burglar free. I absolutely HATE it when JP is away for work! I ended up getting only an hour’s sleep because I was too busy making mental notes to keep the baseball bat within close range the next time JP goes away. At 3 a.m., when it became obvious that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep, I made the decision to call in sick on Friday. I’m sorry, if I know I’m going to be completely useless at work, I won’t even bother going!

Saturday was my cousin’s wedding. I managed to get in a 3-mile run beforehand. JP and I also had the best of intentions to do some weight lifting and an ab workout, but we had to rush to get to the wedding (which was 2 miles away in the Berkshires), and unfortunately never got to complete abs and arms.

That’s OK, though, because on Sunday, I had an 8-mile run scheduled. This weeks long run went much better than last week’s; I did much better at pacing myself, and the longest mile was mile 6, when I walked up the same hill that I had run the umpteenth time and was too mentally exhausted to convince myself it was a good idea to run up it. I had just about made it to mile 7 when JP called me and told me that if I didn’t make it back home, we were going to be extremely late for Father’s Day lunch with my family. So I decided to split my mileage up and finish the last mile later on in the day (which I did by trotting each dog up and down our street, so my final mileage was probably more like 8.5!). I’m not a huge advocate of splitting up long run mileage, but sometimes, it just has to be done, unless you want everyone in your family to consider you as a selfish person who puts running above everything else, including family. Just wait until I get up to 20 miles! I’ll have to get up at 3 a.m. to fit everything in!

After my long run, we went to Cracker Barrel for Father’s Day, where I pigged out on enjoyed some buttermilk pancakes topped with pie filling cherries. In my family, Father’s Day isn’t complete without Strawberry Shortcake, so after lunch, we went to my parents’ where my mom made homemade strawberry shortcake, and my dad opened his gifts. JP and I had been searching for a hot dog toaster (yes they make toasters for hot dogs and buns) to buy for my dad, but couldn’t find one in time (we literally had been searching for weeks!), and ended up having to draw a picture of one on the card and made him guess what it was, because our order hadn’t come in time.

Why did we order him a hot dog toaster oven you ask? The obvious reason would be that he absolutely loves hot dogs, but that’s not the case (he barely ever eats them). It was more of a joke gift for him because when he was younger (like a kid), he and his brothers had this brilliant idea to cook hot dogs in the toaster, and nearly set their parents’ house on fire. Now they actually make hot dog toasters! Go figure.

Sorry for the lack of pictures from the weekend! It was literally so fast-paced that we forgot to take photos. So here’s a dump of the few that I managed to take:

Me wearing JP’s work boots to go to the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru, because I was too lazy to tie my own shoes.

My view while stretching out, post-run. If I let the dogs out, they try to climb all over me!

Our Game of Thrones themed dinner to celebrate the season finale. If you watch, can you guess who this is supposed to be?

How did you celebrate Father’s Day?

Do you ever split your mileage?

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The Benefits of Kayaking and Cross-Training, Part I

Yesterday’s Workout: 3.03 miles @ 29:07
Today’s Workout: 6.00 miles @ 1:14:56

There, I’m glad we’re all caught up now with my mileage for the past two days! I downloaded the most recent version of the WordPress app onto my phone, so if this blog post looks a little different than normal, I apologize!

When I started to write this post, I intended to make it about both kayaking and cross-training (as in cross-training in the trails), but it started to get really long and out of control, so I’m breaking it down into Part I and Part II.

JP had asked for Giftcards to Dick’s Sporting Goods for his birthday. He originally had wanted to get an elliptical, but since the one he wanted is pretty costly, we’ve put our dreams of buying that on the back burner for now. Instead, he got another kayak. This one is for me to use (and I did not ask for, not put him up to this, I swear!). I didn’t really show any interest in kayaking until he asked me about a week ago if I would go with him if he got one for me, too. So yesterday, we hopped in the car, went to Dick’s and got a lovely bluish/greenish kayak for me, along with a paddle and life vest. When we got home, we walked the dogs, both went running, and in JP’s words, “We GOT it!” (My new running mantra).

Around six o’clock, we decided to take our kayaks out on the lake, which is literally two minutes away from my house. It took me a little while to get the hang of kayaking, but I managed to get it after about 15 minutes, and was paddling along in no time. The lake near our house is pretty large, with a dam, an island you can kayak around, and even a tunnel you can go through!

Not sure if you can see the tunnel too well, I took this picture today on my trail run!

The weather was perfect – a little chilly, but great for if you’re breaking out in a sweat. My arms started to burn pretty quickly (did I tell you I have no upper arm strength), but I just kept paddling. JP and I are pretty competitive, and I knew he wanted to turn this into a race, but this is one I wouldn’t be able to win. We paddled around the island, where people can actually rent out to go camping on, and the people staying there’s Pitbull chased us by running into the water, swimming towards us, and tried to hop into my boat. It was actually pretty scary! My first time out kayaking, and I get chased by a dog, lol. I’ve barely ever gotten chased by a dog while running!

I managed to get away, though, and have lived to tell the story. Now, if you’re wondering what this has to do with running, there are a few ways that you can benefit from kayaking as a runner. Kayaking is a great form of cross-training. A lot of runners like to lift weights to help build muscle mass. If you’re someone like me who wants to attain some arm muscle, but doesn’t get all to trilled about picking up a dumbbell, this is a great way to help you build some muscle, by:

• Forcing you to use your triceps by paddling
• Making you use your core (you get a total body work out, minus the legs) while pushing yourself through the water and breathing in time with your paddling

You’re probably wondering how this helps you while running? Well, you have to use your arms to help you pump yourself up a hill – or just in general – while running. And if you’re running properly, you should be using your core, as well!

I don’t think that kayaking should be the only form of cross-training that you use, but if you implement it in conjunction with weight lifting and running, it will help you build muscle mass…and you’ll have fun while doing it!

Stay tuned for Part II of my cross-training series, to be posted within the next couple of days!

Also, if you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to enter my contest to win a pair of My Soxy Feet!

What’s your favorite form of cross-training?