Weekly Rundown- January Advent
Since I now haven’t been to the gym in weeks, I decided some remedial strength training was in order. Caroline Girvan has an Advent Series, 24 shorter workouts which I assume were designed to keep you in shape in the busy days leading up to Christmas. Obviously, a great time to do this series would have been… December. But, the second best time is now! I’m not doing them in order and I’m not doing the cardio workouts, but my plan is to work my way through all the Advent strength workouts. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Monday In the morning, I started the Advent Series with a 20 minute shoulder workout. Given my recent lack of strength training, this was hard (I have a feeling I’ll be saying that about all the workouts). In the afternoon, I did a 4 mile run. Tuesday I did Caroline’s deadbug workout, which kind of felt like cheating since I do that one all the time. But it IS part of the Advent Series, so I counted it. I also did my hip stability exercises, and called it a day. Wednesday Long run! Here’s where I made a questionable choice. I decided to do the 15 minute glutes workout from the Advent Series before my run. I figured it would be a good warm up. GAH. WHY did I think this would be “easy?” I should know Caroline Girvan by now! Somehow in this 15 minutes there were a gazillion hip thrusts, and three sets of sumo squats. The problem was, it didn’t just work my glutes- my quads felt trashed by the end. Then… a 14 mile trail run. I definitely felt the fatigue in my quads the entire time. I can’t decide if this was a stupid mistake, or a brilliant strategy- a hard workout before the run to get me used to running on tired legs? Hmm. Thursday My quads were SORE. In the morning I did the Advent back superset workout, and after work I ran 3 miles. Somehow I neglected to get a photo! Friday Okay, I’m not going to sugarcoat it- this day was hideous. My son left (boo hoo) and my husband, normally the airport chauffeur, wasn’t able to drive him. So I took him to the airport, which involved two solid hours of driving BEFORE I WENT TO WORK. I worked all day and then had two private clients in the evening, and then had to pick up my daughter from a rehearsal. Yes, I realize people just had their homes burnt to the ground so I really shouldn’t complain, but I’m complaining anyway! It was an exhausting day, mentally and physically. BUT! I didn’t want to break my Advent streak, so I did the 15 minute “tucked abs” workout in the morning. There is no rest in this workout (WHAT.) I still can’t decide if I loved it or hated it, but it felt good to do SOMETHING before a super busy day. Saturday 4 mile run before work. My quads are STILL sore from Wednesday (???) but I added some speed work. After work I plunked down on the couch to watch football… and there I stayed. I had a vague idea to do an Advent workout in between games, but in the 4th quarter of the Chiefs game, pizza arrived, and, well… don’t be ridiculous. Thus endeth the streak. Sunday Okay, I’ll get right back on it! I think a lower body Advent workout is on tap, because I’ll have a few days to recover before my next long run. Has anyone else done Caroline’s Advent Series? Are you watching football this weekend?