Thank you for all of the kind words last week. Unfortunately our little foster kitten Bernard’s condition did not improve so it was another tough week. But I think we are on the positive side of this now with our last foster Bekah. I hope our experience has not reflected negatively on fostering. There are some rough spots for sure, but this is not a common experience. Newborn kittens are a rare situation for foster families. We have fostered since 2014 and have had many, many happy healthy kittens who have found their forever homes because of us. If you are considering being a foster I still highly encourage it and think you will find it very rewarding ❤️

Last Sunday – I was able to get a 30 mile bike ride in, enjoy a mimosa at the baby shower, and take a much needed nap.

Mon – 5 miles, with strides.  I’ve decided to start on one of the training plans I have which I used a long time ago.  It’s from Another Mother Runner, the “Own it” plan.  I used it for my 2nd marathon and took 15 mins off my time and got my first sub 4hr marathon.  Even though I have enjoyed my previous training plans, maybe it’s time to mix it up a little!  Today’s run was “4 – 5 miles with 6x strides”.  Given the time I had, I ran 4 and did the last mile as strides.   As much as I feel like I don’t have the time for training right now, a training plan is what I really need to keep my life in order.  You know what I mean, right?

Which brings me to this sad announcement, our remaining “smallest” kitten (Bernard)  had to be put to sleep.  I took him in for fluids due to his dehydration and a test showed that he had FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis).  FIP is a complex disease that is caused by certain strains of feline coronavirus.  This sucked.  It was heartbreaking to watch him struggle.  He was only half the size of our “healthy” kitten, Bekah.  Chances are that FIP also took the lives of the other 3 kittens in this litter.  We did get some great news about Bekah – she has now been upgraded to eating canned kitten food which means we are weaning her off of bottle feeding!  This is a huge deal because we don’t need to get up for 2am feedings any more.  Super huge deal for these sleep deprived foster parents!  

Tues – 7 miles running.  You know how everything just clicks when you get some solid sleep and the temperatures are perfect??  Oh yes, this was that run.  The plan was 7 miles with mid 4 at tempo pace.  Nailed it!  And to think I couldn’t even run 7 miles a few days ago and had to take walk breaks. I fed Bekah at 5am and got out for an early run.  

Although Bekah hasn’t been in the same space as her siblings due to her behavior (a feeding issue), she was acting a bit lonely now that she has a bigger place to live.  Since I was working at home I got to have her next to me, which was wonderful!  Fostering really had a huge gain in interest when COVID hit and so many people were working at home.  I can see why!!  Who wouldn’t want to look at a cute fuzzy friend like this all day?  We also had the Two for Tuesday challenge happening today in my 2022 Mileage club and I got to enjoy a lunch walk with my friend. It was so good to catch up with her!

The band had an end of year band concert / chicken BBQ fundraiser event. I helped out on the food line serving drinks and then we got to enjoy a final concert for the school year.

Weds – Rest day! Bekah update – we are weaning her and I have made some progress. She is literally eating out of my hand now! Ok, a bit messy, but it’s progress! I hope I don’t have to be a human feeding plate for too long 🙂

Thurs – 7 hilly miles with intervals. Yikes! This run actually went quite well. The middle section of the run was 6 x 2:30 intervals. I’m not a big fan of doing any workouts based on time, but that’s what the plan said. The funny part of this run was that I accidentally crossed through a section of the road that was closed to traffic. On the way back through the area I told the construction workers that I was sorry, and I had to get back to my car. What I heard him say in response was “Come on through beautiful. There is a bit of mud.” After thinking about it for a bit, I’m guessing he probably said “be careful” and not “beautiful”. 😂😂

Fri – 4 easy miles. I was feeling that run from yesterday, so an easy run was perfect. Enjoying the color of my shoes and flowers to be planted!

I figured it was finally safe to put away the cold weather running gear. Clothes rotation is a lot of work!

Sat – 11 miles, long run. Double digits baby! It was warm out (76) but I kept it slow. Much to my surprise it started pouring down rain when I was half way done! This was a surprise for everyone I think because there were boats in the river!

I went on a peaceful path along the river and saw two bald eagles.

Another Bekah update, she ate from a plate! My hand is thankful.

Sun – Another baby shower on the calendar for today, and hopefully a morning ride.

Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!

Q: Has anyone started a vegetable garden yet?

Not me. Mine is filled with dandelions right now!

26 thoughts on “Weekly workouts – new beginnings”
  1. I do dream of having a fantastic vegetable garden but I am not good with plants and our backyard is filled with deer who eat everything. Those runs where everything just come together are a gift. I have come to like the time based intervals with my new training plan.

    1. The deer would be a challenge! We have a small fence set up to keep out the bunnies. We learned that lesson the hard way one year. It’s always such a wonderful idea for a veggie garden, but waiting so long to harvest is tough!

  2. I’m sorry to hear about Bernard, but glad Bekah seems to be thriving. It’s great that you have the experience, time, and energy to care for them.

    I do not have a green thumb and our yard doesn’t get enough sun to grow veggies, but I started a fresh crop in my Aerogarden last week. 😉

    1. Do you grow herbs in the Aerogarden? I did find an old pack of basil that I planted and it actually thrived! I usually just buy plants that are already started and skip the seed packs.

  3. Awh, sweet Bekah <3 Bless you, for all your fostering time! I don't think I could do it…I'd want to keep every one (I'd have to do dogs, if any, because I'm horribly allergic to cats). I had to dig out a fleece headband and gloves (and jacket) for this morning….UGH!!!!

    1. I do love kittens, but they sure are a bundle of energy! So chasing them around makes me appreciate my full grown cats. The nice part of fostering is that they get to continue to a new home – kind of like grandchildren. haha!
      I hope we do not get back to fleece wearing around here!

  4. You are doing such an amazing thing by fostering. Bekah is getting a great start in life and will make her forever family very happy. The other two kittens had a much better life with you for their short time on this earth.

    I think the construction guy said beautiful;-)

    Congrats on starting the new training plan!

    1. I mean, it is a pretty cute sports bra so “beautiful” really did seem to fit. haha! Side note, it was my amazing Amazon find. Super comfy and cute for only $19. DEAL!

  5. As I’ve said over and over again (boringly) in these comments, I really do know how hard it is to keep the newborns alive! It’s amazing that you were willing to take this on, and I’m soooo happy you were able to save one of them. And, how exciting that she’s starting to eat kitten food! You can finally get some more sleep.
    I’ll bet the rain was welcome on that hot long run (I wish it had rained on mine today.) Overall it sounds like you had a great week of running!

    1. I don’t know how I kept sane having two kids with the way I have felt with the lack of sleep with these kittens! It has been a relief to get some more sleep. It was just so sad watching them and wondering why they were not thriving. Now all focus on Bekah and I hope there are no surprises with her. She is an eating machine lately!!

  6. Awww, I’m so happy Bekah is doing well and eating kitten food out of a plate now. I’m sorry to hear about the other kittens, but it sounds like FIP is tough when it strikes the little ones.

    I haven’t planted a garden in years… Not since a deer easily leapt over the fencing to eat our vegetables and squirrels regularly took single bites out of each and every strawberry. 🙁
    Debbie @ Deb Runs recently posted…Weekly RunDown: May 15 – 21 / Taking a Baby Break from RunningMy Profile

    1. It is always so mysterious when kittens don’t have an interest in eating. We’ve been challenged before when it’s something other than a medical issue. Glad we are past that now and will be getting Bekah to a forever home.
      We had a strawberry plant last year that the chipmunks were feasting on! Sneaky little critters.

  7. It’s great to hear that Bekah is doing better!

    While I have had wonderful success with flowers, my attempts at vegetable gardening have been futile. That said, I bought a strawberry plant today so going to try this again.

    Good luck with your new training plan – when is your next race?

    1. Good luck with the strawberries. My strawberry plant didn’t amount to much!!
      I haven’t committed yet, but I’m fairly sure it will be Erie marathon on Sept 11th. I will have to pick out a back up plan in case the dates don’t work for Boston 2024 qualifying or the race day is going to be hot! I haven’t given the backup race much thought yet though.

  8. We have so many dandelions this year. Gardening is so much work.

    I enjoy your kitten updates. I’d love to foster but my two cats would get in the way.

    Good running week. What is your next big one?

    1. Bekah really is thriving right now, so fingers crossed it goes smooth for the next few weeks we have her! She weighs a little over a pound now. So big! (but not really, so tiny!!)

  9. I’m so sorry to hear about the kitties who succumbed to FIP. Very sad. Glad Bekah is doing well! She’s a cutie. Hooray for a final band concert! I love hearing them play. The school year went so quickly. It’s finals week here. I used to have a huge plot in our community garden but scaled down to a couple of deck planters a couple of years ago. I’d love to go back to a plot but it’s a huge amount of work.

    1. I’m bad about weeding the garden, but the biggest challenge for me is taking the time to water it! Our lawn sprinkler does hit it, but it often needs more water than that.

  10. aww Bekah is so cute. Love the human feeding plate comparison. So sorry to hear about her siblings.
    And yes, changing clothes over is a ton of work. I think they multiply while we’re sleeping!

    1. I’m so glad she figured out that her bowl was a safe eating space! haha! Now we just need to get her to eat dry food and we’ll be all set.

  11. Hugs. What a devastating loss. You are an angel for fostering and loving on these babies.

    Yay for mimosas. It’s been a while for me.

    What a fun end of year band event! A is playing in the spring football game this week. He’s a little nervous, but excited to be playing with the high schoolers.
    Jenn recently posted…week 73: almost through the may-hemMy Profile

    1. I remember my son playing with the high schoolers when he was in Jr high. Luckily they just had to stand there and play because the high schoolers do some really impressive moves while they are playing. I don’t know how they remember all of that stuff! I hope he enjoys it and he catches the marching band bug 🙂

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