Truly, it was a good week. Most importantly, I got all my workouts in. It was a good thing because I needed it! Cocoa had her ear ablation surgery on Friday. If you know me at all, you know that I was really nervous for her. The funny thing is that when we got in the car to go to Madison on Thursday, she acted as if it was no big deal and slept most of the way. But when we got to the UW Veterinary Clinic, she started to shake. I felt bad leaving her there, but fortunately, the surgery went well. As you read this on Sunday, we are bringing her home. It's amazing how much these little furballs m ..read more

I won't sugarcoat it--the weather was just miserable this week. Except for Sunday, the wind, rain, cold, and yes, snow, was relentless. I managed to get all 3 of my runs outside. It was hard to motivate myself, but that old saying is true: you never regret going for a run. I reminded myself about that trail race in 2 weeks. I didn't want to run on my treadmill. Who knows what the conditions will be on race day? While I was glad to be done, I finished all of my runs with a smile on my face! Running in bad weather really tests my mental toughness and reminds me of what I am capable of ..read more

Disclaimer: I received ARCs of Real Americans and A Fatal Inheritance from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest reviews. Overall, this was a very satisfying month of reading! I didn't expect to read this many books--A Fatal Inheritance, a NetGalley prerelease, was very interesting. I just couldn't rush through it, wanting to savor all the details. I found some unexpected good reads this month with Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame, Yellowface, and What Happened to Nina? My other NetGalley pre-release, Real Americans, was amazing as well. The only disappointment was The Last Days ..read more

My idea of fun is certainly different from most people's!  I love running and I love trail running the most. Getting muddy doesn't bother me. I also love lifting heavy weights and challenging my body at CrossFit. It's hard in the moment, but the reward at the end is a feeling of accomplishment. Of doing something difficult, wanting to quit, but not giving up.  I have been struggling with finding goals for myself this year. What's a runner to do but to pick a challenging race? I signed up for a trail half marathon, Run From the Taxman, in 3 weeks on a segment of the Ice Age Trail. I r ..read more

Our early spring was put on hold this week with the return of cold, windy, and snowy weather. By the end of the week, I was feeling a bit fatigued. I don't know if it was due to the cold weather, an impending illness, or just the toll of some very active weeks. I'm finally adjusted to the time difference and am sleeping better. Hopefully, when things warm back up, I'll find my mojo again! Weekly Rundown: Sunday: Ice Age Trail run 7.5 miles Monday: CrossFit Tuesday: Fluid Running Wednesday: trail run 6.5 miles Thursday: CrossFit Friday: run 6.2 miles Saturday: rest/work We were up at the lake ..read more

From California to Wisconsin, I did some traveling this week! I won't deny it--between all the activity of last week and the time change, I was exhausted most of the week. I did my best to stick to my schedule and to my surprise, my runs and CrossFit felt good. Work was really busy and I dove right back in as if I had never left.  It's funny how that happens, isn't it? Weekly Rundown Sunday: trail run 8 miles Monday: CrossFit with 1050m running Tuesday: rest/work Wednesday: run 7 miles Thursday: CrossFit Friday: run 6 miles Saturday: rest/travel to Wisconsin With plans to fly home fro ..read more

Disclaimer: I received copies of The Road from Belhaven, My Side of the River, and Wandering Stars from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my review. This post contains affiliate links. February was a great month of reading for me. While I work on getting through all my NetGalley prereleases, I also was able to fit in a couple of books that I wanted to read. I'm happy to say that all 3 NetGalley books were great and my personal selections were too. If I were to recommend a book that everyone will like, I would pick Kristin Hannah's book, The Women. I believe this may be her best book ..read more

It sure seems that the groundhog was right this year! This false spring we've been experiencing may be the real deal.  We had some really strong storms this week with multiple tornados--a real rarity in February for us--a sure sign that the weather is shifting. I've been enjoying some nice runs and even got to run in shorts this week. We were above 70F this week and we're supposed to hit that again. If this warm weather pattern is wrong, I don't want to be right.  Weekly Rundown Sunday: Ice Age Trail run 7 miles 1100ft Monday: CrossFit Tuesday: run 6 miles Wednesday: Fluid Running T ..read more

On Saturday, I always sit down to finish up my weekly rundown. I write up my workouts in all week long and at the end of the week, I try to find a common theme to come up with a title for my post. This has been a pretty uneventful week and I have to admit that I was at a loss for a title! In fact, it's been all good this week. So there it is... Weekly Rundown: Sunday: Ice Age Trail run 6 miles/800 ft. Monday: CrossFit Tuesday: Fluid Running Wednesday: trail run 5.25 miles Thursday: CrossFit Friday: run 6.3 miles Saturday: rest/work We were up at the lake last weekend, so on Sunday morning ..read more

I runfess... I am happy to have that half marathon behind me.  Every race teaches us something new. What will I take away from this race? I won't play the age card or blame my struggles on RA, but long distances are definitely becoming more difficult for me. This week, it felt good to dial it back a bit--to just run and let my body recover. I'm trying to sort out what happened on the race course and why I struggled with my breathing. Did I run too fast at the start? Was I affected by the poor air quality? Was I anxious?  For sure, I wasn't properly fueled, having forgotten my smoothi ..read more