Post-Monumental Recovery Week

  I rested all of Sunday, and Monday was kind of a rest day unless you count chasing my future marathoner around the shop throughout the day... my quads were pretty sore. Tuesday was the same as Monday, along with Wednesday - no running except for fast walking and occasional jogs to keep up with Dorian through the shop. By Wednesday I wasn't feeling any soreness or aches, and I was itching to go for a run (especially out on the trails). 
  Thursday morning Rocky and I headed out on the trails for 3.3 miles, it was supposed to be 3 but eh.. we finished 3.3 in 37:18 with an average pace of 11:18 min/mile which is what I do like about the rooty trails right now - they slow me down. On the road I would probably be having an average pace of 10 minutes or less, but on the trails before dawn I am forced to slow down and watch for roots (these trails are becoming more roots than dirt now). So that is why I've been sticking to the trails even though I hate going so slow and running them before dawn.
   Friday we were not able to get up in the morning and run thanks to Dorian screwing up his sleep schedule, so Rocky and I  hit the trails later that afternoon when the sun was still up. We ran 4.1 miles in 44:57 with an average pace of 10:57 min/mile, finishing just as it was getting dark.
  Saturday I took as a rest day, and took Rocky and Dorian for a hike.
This morning Rocky and I headed out for the trails just before dawn so we ran them more in daylight. My plan was 6 miles, nearing 4 miles we ran into another runner and said good morning. Ran into him again just before mile 5 (he's apparently faster). The deer are quite active right now as we're coming into the rut, yesterday during our hike I saw THIS BEAST

As a runner AND a photographer (passion/hobby) this was like crossing the finish line of a half marathon (full marathon would be a beautiful sunset or sunrise and the buck standing tall and proud lol). I mean I can't even begin to describe how excited I was to see him, in over a decade I have searched for a beast like this with and without my camera so I was so overwhelmed with joy to have my camera with me. Of course in the span of 45 minutes of snapping photos, my son was almost a quarter of a mile down the trail..... yeah..... that was fun chasing after him.

  Anyways, back to the run this morning. We saw lots of deer, 3 bucks but they weren't near as big as that big boy was, these other 3 were probably 6-8 pointers. We also saw a large flock of turkey(ies?)
  We ended up running 6.4 miles in 1:08:16 with an average pace of 10:40 min/mile so definitely a bit faster than Friday or Thursday, but it was still an easy pace.

  Oh and I should probably mention that Wednesday I signed up for 2 other races this month - November 15's Get Dirty Trail Run (the 15k distance though I am debating on changing it to the 13.1 distance) and the Turkey Dash 5k on Thanksgiving Day.... yep... lol