Birthday Celebrations and Vacation Fun

Its been quite the week of birthday celebrations, but before I get into that, I’ll give a quick update on running being that is what this blog is suppose to be about ha!

There are 215 days until the Mesa Phoenix Marathon which means…..nothing to me. I need to know weeks. 30 weeks and 5 days. That I can work with. My plan was to have started running by 30 weeks so that I can have 12 weeks to build a base and then another 18 weeks for the marathon training. And, well here I am at almost 30 weeks out. And I have started running a little so I am right on schedule….well sort of….

A couple of weeks ago, as I mentioned in my last post, I started walking on the treadmill per PT recommendations. I have been on vacation (more on that later), but I still managed to get a few treadmill workouts in on some of those days. I just didn’t want to lose what I had gained if anything.  I didn’t keep strict records of my progress as far as the treadmill goes, but I was able to go to the gym about 12 times since that post.

These treadmill workouts started with a 5-10 minute warm-up at an incline of about 5 with a speed of 3. I would progress to an incline of 12-15 at a speed of 3.5 for 25-30 minutes. This past week, I started adding running to the mix. I would walk on an incline of 12, then run for about 20 seconds at an incline of 10 and speed of 4. I did this about every 2.5 minutes initially. I gradually increased the running time until I was running for 1 minute then walking for a minute after a 10 minute warm-up.  I also increased the speed to 4.2  during the run and stayed at 3.5 during the walk. It was quite a workout. My incline was at 10 the entire time. I felt pretty good and I didn’t feel any pain although behind my

knee felt tight. I was a little bummed about that. Not wanting to push it, I did a cool down and called it good. I did ice the area afterwards and I’ll see how it feels tomorrow. I also will see my PT on Thursday so hopefully I can progress to more strengthening and running. 

I have never been to a Planet Fitness before, but I found one close to where my Mother lives in NC which is where I was staying. I was able to get day passes (although a bit spendy for no more than I was doing). I really liked the big open area and positive atmosphere. I felt pretty much right at home there. To me, some gyms can seem a bit stuffy and intimidating. This place was great. I would definitely go there again.

Hopefully, all will continue to go well and I will be running more by next week and start building that base. So stay tuned! I am looking forward to making some progress and getting back to running.

As I mentioned, I was on vacation. I had gone down to NC to visit my Mother.  We spent a couple of days shopping (which ended up being bday presents for me), eating, and just hanging out in the 90+ temperatures with some pretty awesome sunsets.

And then we drove to Virginia to visit other family and to celebrate the 4th of July. My nephew and brother-in-laws ran the Independence Day run. I really wished I could have run with them! It was my nephew’s first road race ever. He is a soccer player but I think he might get into running too! He did awesome (8k in 35:26:83)!

The race was a first for Kevin (left) who did very well also. And Jose (right) runs this about every year.

We were not in Va very long being that I did not have much vacation time this visit.  We enjoyed the fireworks, played some games and just hung out with family for the 4th.

This niece of mine is an awesome dancer!

And she is pretty darn good at Jenga, too!

Mom enjoying the view and waiting for the fireworks to begin.

The fireworks display was amazing!

I went out on a walk the morning after the 4th prior to leaving for NC. Such a beautiful place my sister and her husband have. And such a beautiful day.

Back in NC, my brother surprised me with a beautiful birthday cake! And the card was so incredibly touching. It brought tears…..Love him!!

He took my Mother and me to Mt Airy, NC. I have wanted to go there for some time. Unfortunately, it started raining super hard so we didn’t hang out there too long. We did manage to make it to one part of the Andy Griffith Museum (yes I was a fan 🙂 )

Maybe next time I visit, we can go back and spend a little more time there.

Leaving NC was hard as usual. I just miss my Mother so much and hate leaving her. She is just so amazing. She just wants everyone  to be okay and doesn’t complain about anything she is going through which is a lot. Always thinking of others, Can’t wait for my next visit!❤❤

The birthday celebration didn’t end in NC, though. My husband made an Alaskan King Crab dinner when I got home and the next night my daughter took me out for a belated birthday celebration.

We had such a great evening! So special!

And then it was my grandson’s birthday. Scott and I took him to the Alaska Rock Gym and he had a great time. We went for frozen yogurt after and then shopping for a birthday present.

What a week of running, celebrations, and fun! My family is the best!

Coming up soon, I had an interesting, maybe even an eye opening experience at a clinic for keeping us older folks active. Kind of left me thinking about my running goals and whether or not I am being realistic in pursuing them. Soooo….should be interesting.