Week in Review

This week was kind of a blur. It is has hard to believe that is over and we have been through a lot, saw some family, sat in a hospital, drove for over 16 hours, and still found some time to workout. Where did it go?

Monday: Woke up early and got an hour run in before getting the kids off to school. Ran about 6.5 miles and I was not able to workout in the evening due to a Tulsa Running Club board meeting. I hurried and got home and went straight to bed as I had to be in at work at 5 AM the next morning.

Tuesday: Got up at 4 AM, at work by 5 AM. Left work at a little after 1 PM and went to the YMCA and swam for an hour. My swim is really struggling and I am really having my concerns about the St. John's Indoor Tri on 1/24. Went to Walmart got some goodies for the road and went home to pack and wait for the kiddies to get home. Managed to get out the door by 5 PM and hit the road back to Illinois. Got to my father-in-laws in Macomb, IL at 1:15 AM. In bed by 1:30 AM.

Wednesday: Got up at 6:30 AM and out the door to the hospital by 8:00 AM. When we got to the hospital Mom was not in surgery yet and we got a chance to talk to her before going in. She was a little nervous and I think that having us there, helped her. She was in surgery by 9:30 AM and out by 11:30 AM. The doctor came out and talked to us and they were able to remove the mass in her colon by cutting part of it away along with her appendicts. The mass was non-cancerous. That was a blessing! The surgery was treated as a appendectomy and she was put into Intensive Care for a day.

We went out to get something to eat and drove around my home town of Carthage, IL. It was a dreary, snowy day and was very typical of January. It is always strange going home. We have come so far since leaving the area, that it very depressing going back. No jobs, high unemployment, alcoholism, and extreme poverty are the flavor of the day. It is a very depressed area.
We went back to the hospital and saw Mom in recovery and she was doing well. We talked briefly and then let her get her rest. We headed back to the father-in-laws to get a run in. I was hoping to get a trail run in at Spring Lake, but it was not going to be in the cards.
We instead ran in the country outside my father-in-laws house. It had been a cold, blustery day with snow, so I knew it would be a cold run. I dressed warm and headed east for at least three miles and then turn around. During this portion, I was starting to warm up and thought I was severely overdressed. As I was almost to my turn around, the wind picked up and the snow came. When I turned around, it was a strong westerly wind with pelting snow. This is was not turning out to be fun. I ran for awhile and then I saw Julie driving down the road in the Jeep. She had went for a run and had come out to check on me to see if I wanted a ride back. Anyone that knows me, knows that I do not quit easy. I kind of looked at her and said, "What?", and she just shook her head and drove off. By the time I finished the run, I was covered in snow and ice and was cold. It was real nice to be finished. I managed to get in a hour run for a little over 6 miles. If you look real close at the picture, I have an icicle hanging from goatee. This is what you look like after a run in January in Illinois.

Thursday: I got up early and went to the Macomb, IL YMCA. I found out that they would honor my Tulsa YMCA membership and took advantage of it. I swam for an hour in their really nice pool. They had six lap lanes and a 9 foot deep end. I followed this up by lifting weights for an hour. I really like all the bike racks out front.
We then headed back to Carthage to see Mom and spent the afternoon with her. On the way back, we stopped at a convenience store and I saw a girl working there who I had went to school with. It was nice to see some familiar faces and see how far we have come. I used to party with her and you could see how it had affected her looks. Life is a little tougher back home.

We also stopped by my Alma matter, Western Illinois University. We went to the Union and drove around. It was very quiet as the students were not in session. This is the Alumni House.

The student Union.

The WIU.

Friday: We ate breakfast and headed back home. We stopped at the outlet stores in Osage Beach, MO on the way back and it was a big waste of time. We had always wanted to stop, but never did. We will not stop again. We got back home about 6 PM. It was nice to be back home as it was 2o degrees when we left Illinois and 70 in Tulsa. A big zero for the exercise today.

Saturday: Got up and rode the exercise back hard for 2 hours in the morning. This was a hard interval workout and I was really sweating. I followed this up by an hour swim at the YMCA in the afternoon. Chilled the rest of the night.

Sunday: Church in the morning at GUTS and then went for a 20 mile run on Riverside. Why a 20 miler? I guess, because I could. I parked at the 69th Street parking lot and started at mile 6. I ran the entire Creek Turnpike trail to mile 16 on the Liberty trail and turned back. The weather was great, but I did not take in enough calories and was struggling towards the end. I took it slow and did 20 miles right at 3 hours. This was enough for one day and I rested the rest of the day by watching Pre and Meet the Robinsons.

Not a great week, but here are the weekly totals:

Run: 5 hours, 32 miles

Bike: 2 hours on trainer

Swim: 3 hours

Lifted weights for one hour.