The rhythm is back, and we are moving and grooving and putting in the work. With the DONNA half marathon the first weekend of February, and the Gate River Run (15K) exactly one month later, it’s time to really see the results of our training.
Sunday – 3.33 miles, running
When I tell you I was up and out of bed on Sunday morning, I mean it! I had things to do and places to be. But first a nice walk.
Friends! We had a date! At the Alligator Farm! To see the sloths!
Our amazing, incredible St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park offers animal encounters. Guests can add on packages to get up close and personal with some of the park’s VIP animal guests, including Galpagos tortoises, alligators, and the Hoffman two-toed sloths, Teddy and Grizzly.
We arrived at the park, and I was so excited I was shaking. A was excited, too. We signed our waivers and the staff gave us the cutest sloth masks to wear for our encounter. After a quick briefing, we entered the habitat, and I may have cried. Grizzly and Teddy were the most adorable things. Since the weather was nice, they were actually awake and active, and very happy to accept snacks from us.
The encounters are participatory for the animals, meaning that guests may offer snacks and pets on their back, but few are not allowed to hold them, if the sloths do not wish to eat or prefer to sleep, then so be it. I highly recommend any of these encounters.
Monday – 5.04 miles, walking
Again, I skipped the beach. The weather was iffy and I had a busy schedule. I got in just as many miles without the drive time. Of course, things weren’t as pretty, but what can you do?
Tuesday – 5.3 miles, running + .8 miles, walking
And just like that, we were back to our regular running schedule. It was cold again, so I picked tights over shorts. It’s a rare thing.
Taco had the day off. I wanted to go groom him, but Luna had a vet appointment. She needed her bordetella dose, in advance of her trial day of playcare. See you next week, sweet pony.
Mr PugRunner and I had a lunch date at Carolina Jax for Yelp Elite Week. Sometimes, you just need a solid, tasty burgers and these were divine.
In the evening, A earned his Life Scout rank, I didn’t get to see him receive the patch, but I did snap this picture after the meeting. He has to earn six more merit badges and complete his Eagle project to reach the rank of Eagle Scout. He has two incredible projects in mind, so we will see how it works out!
Wednesday – 4.59 miles, walking
And warm again.
Wednesdays are always weird. A has a short day of school, but he usually gets to hang out with his buddy who attends a different school. I love his for them. However, the day itself always feels lopsided, because he gets home before 1PM. Oh, well.
Thursday – 5.00 miles, running + .15 miles, walking
Run, run, run!
I had to scramble because Luna was going to play care! Thanks to a certain pandemic, it’s been difficult to get her officially socialized. She’s usually ok with dogs she meets on our walks, and she loves her Ollie friend, but I wanted her to get used to other dogs. We also need some other options for boarding in the future. This particular place is near the house and so many friends raved about it.
Check in was great, and I got the full tour. The facility was spotless and the staff super sweet. She was nervous, but I checked in on her via webcam, and after about an hour of confusion (not hiding, just unsure), she fit right in.
Also, I got my nails done.
That evening, we were supposed to attend a high school showcase. In our district, rising 9th graders have a sort of choice. They can go to their zoned schools, or they can apply for dual college enrollment or specific educational academics (medical, technological, business, etc). Both of the latter are by lottery and may involved going to a school out of zone. The event was canceled for safety reasons (which I totally understand), but again my heart breaks for our kids because they are missing out on so many enrichment opportunities, but still expected to perform at a high educational level.
A decided to attend our zoned school (it’s basically brand new, smaller, and close to the house), and will join the marching band there. We are fine with that decision.
Friday – 3.94 miles, walking
I went for a my morning walk, but my heart wasn’t really in it.
Mr PugRunner and I had a breakfast date, and then it was back to working on some things. I signed up for the Zooma Run Club, and am having a blast tracking my miles for another great year! (You can join for FREE without swag or upgrade to get all these great things!)
That night, we watched The Eternals, which was amazing. I highly recommend it.
Saturday – 11.62 miles, + 1.67 miles, walking
Did we crush 11 miles? Yes we did!
I spent the rest of the day reading and lounging. A went to volunteer for his friends Eagle Scout project and then Mr PugRunner and I went out to dinner. It was a nice night out, although I was tired.
Goal-getting + Thoughts
First, a lot of you asked me about my coffee making and I finally did something about my lack of skill. Stay tuned for the announcement of how you helped me kick my Dunkin habit. And yes, I’m still drinking at least a little water every day.
This past week, I finished A Court of Frost and Starlight and Hour of the Witch. I just started The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, which was an impulse buy, and OMG it’s so good. Not my usual reading fare, but it’s hitting right. I attend my first book club meeting on Thursday, to discuss Finding Dorothy.
In other news, I am so proud to share that I am part of the Honey Stinger Hive AND Be Inspired Brands (Zooma, Skirt Sports, and Momentum Jewelry). These are all incredible, supportive, and inclusive running and fitness communities, and I finally feel like I am getting back to myself after a few long years of injury and isolation. I can’t wait to share more with you on all these fronts!
I am linking up with the Weekly Rundown, with Confessions of A Mother Runner and Running on the Fly! Check them out!
How was your week in training? How are you feeling about everything this year, so far?
Great week of training! Love the nails!
Huge congrats to A for reaching another milestone on his way to Eagle Scout. 9th/10th grade seems awfully early to commit to a specific career path. I thought it was hard to pick a major as a college freshman, let alone in high school!
Have a great week.
Right? Some of his peers will have a certificate to read EKGs as juniors (if they get in the medical academy). That’s insane to me!
You have a great week, too!
Looks like another solid week of training. You are ready for your February race. Congrats to your son on his badge. Have a great week ahead
Fingers crossed that I am!
Yay! Sounds like you had a great week! For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan of doing the easiest thing whenever possible, which meant my kids have always gone to our zoned schools rather than any of the other options you mentioned. There’s something to be said for going to school close to home, and then all their friends are closeby as well. Our zoned schools offer all sorts of cool programs and honors classes (I’m sure yours does too) and we’ve been extremely happy with them. So I think you guys made a good decision!
Luna at play care is TOO CUTE!!!!!
I do tend to agree with you. I was stunned when he said he was considering an academy (because he has shown zero interest earlier), as it would totally make everything so much harder (I would have to transport him, marching band might not be an option, no friends with him). But we are back to the zoned school, so that’s done.
He will be at the school for its second year in existence, which means that it doesn’t have everything, but it is clean with the newest tech, and he kind of gets to forge the path.
Great active week with fun stuff and workouts.
Love those nails. I keep my boring French manicure but am ready for a change.
You are ready to rock that half.
I am ready to leave this sub zero weather. Feb 10 can’t come soon enough. Are our halfs on the same day? Mine is Feb 13.
ooh, I would love to see what nails you decide on if you switch it up! I am so obsessed with nail artists. They are so freaking talented.
Mine is February 6 – I thought they were the same day!
What a busy week, yet you managed to get all your miles in! Nice work. I’m sure the cooler weather helps a lot.
Congrats to your boy–he’s got so many exciting things on the horizon. You must be so proud of him!
Those sloths tho…so adorable!
I really am proud. Honor roll again today, so he’s definitely doing the work.
Congrats on your ambassadorships! I’m sorry about the canceled event for A. It’s a very difficult time for everyone, but definitely especially for kids.
Nice job on 11 miles!
Nice job for Luna at daycare!
Bandit was not well socialized but he is generally better than Lola was, LOL! She was always very reactive on leash, although loved to play.
Chocolaterunsjudy recently posted…Slowing Expanding: 1/10 – 16 WRD
These kids are really rolling with the punches. I’m so proud of them, but angry for them, too.
Luna isn’t reactive but she does bark more than I would like and her mouth writes checks she cannot cash. She also just wants to be chased.
Congrats on the Life Scout rank! Nicely done!! Great job getting all the miles and runs done, especially your Saturday run 😉
We are so proud of him.
Congrats on all the ambassadorships! So cool! I actually had my first Honey Stinger gel at the race today (they were handing them out). I know you’re not supposed to try something new at a race, but it was far enough along and I took a chance- I really liked it!
Strong work on the 11 miler!
I’m so glad Luna enjoyed playcare! Ruth goes about once a week and its SO good for her. Matilda used to, but she would rather nap these days 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad it worked for you!
Luna is super high energy, so I was glad for her to have something fun to do. Mr PugRunner wasn’t too thrilled (she was the tiniest dog there and he is protective of that baby), but she will go from time to time.
Looks like a great week! Big congrats on both the Hive and Be Inspired ambassadorships!
Congrats to A on earning his Life Scout rank!
Thank you!
When Thing 1 was little, she thought sloths were pronounced SLOBS. It was so cute I let her believe that until she figured it out much later, so they’ll always be slobs to me! Haha! They are so cute. What a fun encounter. Great workouts for you in a busy week! Exciting times ahead for A!
That is so sweet! I love the idea of slobs!
Looks like you had a great week of movement! I’m with you, every once in a while you just need a good burger and fries!
And this one was so delicious!
Great week of training, and hooray for that long run! I have to say though, if those shins are showing, those are only capris not tights. haha! Just teasing you because of course in Ohio we have at least 3 “levels” of tights (light, warm and fleece lined!) in addition to capris. I move on to fleece lined very early and hang on to those for a while into the season. So toasty!
That is such a fun opportunity to see the sloths and so cool they were alert and moving around!! Glad your son was happy with his decision about high school. It’s a big choice! Band will be awesome.
Haha! You’re probably right. I don’t own fleece-lined anything – I would probably just spontaneously combust on a run due to overheating.
I was so glad that the sloths were excited to see us. Or snacks. Or both. 🙂
I think band will be great for him. He’s not into team sports, so I’m glad to have him looking at something group=related.
I find sloths to be so cute! They also seem like they are doing life correctly – taking their time, not getting exciting, and ultimately getting where they need to go, lol.
Congrats on a great week of training! You’ve got some fun races coming up.
They are amazing. They just want to vibe.