riots#8: you take the good, you take the bad.

Happy Monday! I hope you’ll join us for the #RIOTS (Running Is Our Therapy Sisters) link up every week on Mondays. We’d love to be a part of your weekly routine!

Set some goals, share them on your blog and then link up with other awesome fitness bloggers to help keep you on track! We’d all love to support you!

This week. Oh, this week. I will admit to being a hot mess this week. I’ve been quiet on social media, and a bit of a hermit in real life.

Sunday – 5 miles, hiking

My big plan for Sunday was a nice hike at Ravine Gardens State Park. It’s a beautiful park about 40 minutes away, with both paved paths and technical trails, suspension bridges and azalea gardens. I figured the kids would enjoy the extra challenge to it, and the adults might appreciate that it was during the Azalea Festival.

I have exactly zero photos of nature, because I was busy hiking and taking some pics of the kids, but my friend did capture this for me: I’m standing next to a sign for the “Pug-Puccy Trail” and we were all half-hoping to be attacked by a grumble of wild pugs. Spoiler alert: “Pug-puccy” was a nickname that means “Flower-Gatherer” and had exactly nothing to do with pugs.

We hiked for hours, enjoyed lunch and then I had to get home to shower and change for a goodbye dinner with our now-former Cubmaster. She will be missed.

Monday – rest

Monday started beautifully. I got to “sleep in” a little and rest after Sunday’s huge hike. We were going to pick up little man’s hedgehog after school. It was going to be epic.

Things took a downward turn very quickly. Molly got violently ill in all the ways, and we ended up having to rush her to the vet. After a blood draw, the vet found that her kidneys were not doing well at all. It was like a knife to my heart. Our first plan of action was to put her on 72 hours of IV fluids to see if her kidneys would respond positively, and so we had to leave her in their (fabulous) care, with a promise that we could visit as often as we wanted.

I was useless the rest of the day, but I had to put on a happy face for little man. He had waited for months for his hoglet, and no matter what was going on, he deserved to enjoy the moment.

Guys. There are no words to describe being the owner of a hedgehog. It’s pretty freaking cool.

We are still adjusting to each other, but I think we are doing fairly well. Little man is a bit afraid of being spiked or pooped on, but we are working through those fears.

Tuesday –6.5 miles, running

Oh, I needed this run. Badly. I know I look awful and tired in this photo but it felt so good to stretch my legs and breathe in fresh air.

I dropped little man at school and visited our girl. She had had a great night, although she was absolutely ready to come home. 🙁

There were some errands to be run, and I decided to treat myself to a manicure to take my mind off things.

I had been in the habit of getting them done before the holidays, but then I slacked. Maybe it’s time to be more consistent again.

Wednesday –rest

I was grateful for the rest day. Little man had karate in the evening, but the rest of the day was just quiet, with a few visits to miss Molly.

We got a sweet welcome card from one of my oldest friends and her family.

And we were able to spend a little more time with Hufflepuff. She is definitely getting more comfortable.

Thursday – 6.5 miles, running

Ah, yes, the temperatures dropped again, putting us back into the 30s. Enough, already!

I stayed home all morning so the glass guys could come finish their installation of the shower doors. And there was much rejoicing. There is still a bit of work to be done, but it’s nothing critical and I still have to figure out exactly what I want as far as mirrors and light fixtures. We’ll get to it.

From there, I visited our girl and then headed up to the Gate River Run Expo to pick up our packets and check out some shoes. The Brooks rep didn’t have my size in the Adrenaline GTS 19, but we got to chatting about my needs and likes and he asked me just to try the brand new Ravenna 10.

I need a stability shoe, but I like a light, flexible shoe with a bit more responsiveness than cushioning. Ravenna is the shoe I always wanted to love, but it just never quite fit me right. The new update, however, seems like it checks off all the boxes.

I wouldn’t be able to run in them until after Saturday’s 15K, and they are a little more pink than I would normally like, but I love the width in the toe box, the shape of the instep and the bounce. We will see how these work out. It doesn’t hurt that I got them for 20% off, too!

Even better, we got word that Molly could come home! The final blood draw showed that her levels were much improved. She will go back in on Monday to see if this is something we can manage with diet and meds, more regular IV treatment, or if we have to make a different decision altogether. I’d prefer not to think about that last option, and simply threw myself into loving on her.

Friday – rest5

I spent most of the day working and cuddling Molly.

Since it was International Women’s Day, I chatted/texted with some of the incredible women in my life, and thought about how lucky I am to know so many great ones.

After school, we drove little man to my parents for the night, grabbed a quick, carb-loading type of dinner and tried to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Saturday – Gate River Run 15K

The Gate River Run is Jacksonville’s biggest race. It’s also the largest 15K in the country. It’s a hard course with a late start, and two monster bridges (the second hitting in the last mile of the race). It’s an experience unlike most others, with incredible spectator support (Fireball shots at Mile 2? If you insist!).

I was actually going to pass this year, maybe take on something else, but then I saw the medal, and couldn’t bring myself to skip it. I do a lot for bling.

Obviously, a full race report is to come.

That afternoon and evening was dedicated to: eating, napping, eating and watching movies. As it should have been.

March is off to a mostly great start with two 15Ks under my belt, in addition to my training miles.

With our hike on Sunday, I did get in some cross-training. So two thumbs up there.

Did I hydrate? I did! The Gate River Run 15K was a hot and humid one, and I made sure to drink water leading up to and after (never during – water during a race does not do well by me). So that was a huge win.

Our new meal of the week was a jambalaya pasta dish, in honor of Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras. I tweaked the recipe a bit: I don’t love andouille and little man doesn’t love shrimp, so we stuck with chicken and called it good. Everyone loved it, except little man would have preferred it to be tomoato-chunk-free. Fair enough.

On Friday, little man made me breakfast in bed, completely unprompted and unassisted. Cheesy eggs with half a pumpernickel bagel and a little orange. Yum.

And one more hoglet photo because she’s freaking adorable.

I will keep everyone posted on Molly. She’s been getting all kinds of love this weekend and seems to be thriving on her new food and medication. I’m hopeful that things will continue on this path for her.

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I am also linking up with the new Weekly Rundown, with Confessions of A Mother Runner and Running on the Fly! Check them out!

How was your week in training?

Have you ever changed your mind about running a race because the medal was super awesome (or super not-awesome)?