Weekly Rundown- It Was a Crazy One.
Whew. What a week! The car saga finally ended, I made a pretty big change in my workouts, and oh yes… there was a storm! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the weekly rundown… let’s get right into it. Sunday Sunday seems like seven weeks ago instead of seven days. It was a low-key day, and I did Marcia’s Cardio Barre Workout. Monday Big day! In the morning I did a 3 mile run and a core class on Peloton. Then in the afternoon… WE GOT MY CAR BACK. They guy did such a beautiful job, even had it detailed, and kept within his original estimate (when does that ever happen???) We were so happy, we forgave him for taking four weeks to fix it. Tuesday I decided to mix things up and, instead of doing a Peloton workout, I did Day 1 of Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series on Youtube. This was a lower body dumbbell workout and it was HARD. And then… happy, happy day! I drove off to work in my own car, and my husband drove to work IN HIS CAR instead of riding his bike! Good thing, because it rained all day. We knew there was a major storm coming, and when I checked the weather I saw this: We’re on the southeast coast of Florida, below the cone of danger in this model. But you never know with a hurricane- it can change course at the last minute. Either way, we were expecting heavy rains and winds. Knowing that my Wednesday run wasn’t going to happen, I got out for a quick 3 mile run after work. Wednesday I feel really bad saying this, but while the west coast of Florida was being pummeled by Ian, we enjoyed a cozy day at home. School was canceled and both my husband’s and my work was closed (although it was my day off anyway.) We slept late on this windy, rainy day, made waffles, and watched the hurricane coverage on TV. We’ve been through many hurricanes- had trees come down, lost our power, screened porched ripped apart, tiles blown off the roof… but this time we were the lucky ones. Since Ian made landfall on the west coast, our area was affected minimally. Even in our worst hurricanes we’ve never experienced devastation like we’re seeing from Ian. The scenes from Ft. Myers are terrible! I can’t imagine how long it’s going to take to rebuild the area- those poor people. Workout-wise, in the afternoon I did Day #2 of Caroline Girvan, which was upper body, and another killer. Thursday School was canceled again, but all we had was a nice, breezy day. I got out early for a 4 mile run. Friday It was with great trepidation that I approached Day #3 of Caroline Girvan, because I knew how hard the first two were, and also I had previewed this the night before. It was a glutes workout, and…. OUCH. It was so hard, I thought I wasn’t going to make it through the finisher. But I did, barely. I’ve decided to continue on with Caroline’s Iron Series. It’s 30 workouts, and I think you’re supposed to do five a week. But my goal is to do three a week, and run four times. In light of this decision, I decided to quit Peloton. I explained my reasoning in the last post, but basically I was just doing the same strength classes over and over again, and I needed a change of pace. I’ll definitely write more about the Caroline Girvan program as I go on with it! Saturday I got out early for a 5 mile run, and it felt AMAZING! Once again I don’t mean to sound too cheerful, but the aftermath of Ian brought slightly cooler weather. (This is definitely a bonus for all the people over on the west coast who have no power and therefore, no AC- at least it isn’t sweltering.) It wasn’t cold- but 70 felt pretty good. I know we still have hot weather ahead of us, but it was a hint of fall. There’s hope! Sunday On tap for today… Day #4 of Caroline Girvan, which is a full body strength workout. So it was a week! I didn’t do a long run, but was happy with the runs I did. And I was really happy with the strength workouts- I felt like I pushed myself more than usual. And… it’s October- time to put up the Halloween decorations! Is your area being affected by Ian? Who else has done Caroline Girvan workouts? Do you decorate for Halloween?
September Runfessions… or Pelo-fessions?
Well, hello! Before we get into the runfessions- we had a hurricane! When I say “we,” I mean the state of Florida. Our area very, very luckily did not get hit with the storm. We’re on the southeast coast of Florida, so we got some wind and rain, but it was the west coast that was pummeled. The devastation from Ian over there is shocking. My heart goes out to all the people who had their homes and property damaged, and who are now without power (potentially for weeks.) They have a long road ahead of them! Thanks to Marcia for opening up her runfessional as she does on the last Friday of every month. Let’s get started… I have a big one this month- I quit Peloton! This may come as a surprise because I’ve been so enthusiastic about my Peloton classes, and even wrote a post recently about my favorite ones. Yes, I had a handful of classes that I really liked and took over and over again, but I got kind of tired of them. I know- there are hundreds of classes on Peloton that I never even tried, but I think a lot of what they have to offer is wasted on me. I don’t do any of the cycling or running classes. I know I could take a Peloton running class when I run outside, but I like to listen to podcasts. And if I’m going to listen to music, I like my own playlists. For a while I was doing a lot of yoga, but I haven’t been doing that lately because of a sore wrist. So all I was doing was strength, and well… I’ll Pelo-fess that I was getting a little lazy- I would do a ten or fifteen minute arms and shoulders class and say “There! I’ve done upper body!” That wasn’t Peloton’s fault… it was my fault. It felt good to say that I did upper body, lower body and core, but the truth was, most of the time I wasn’t working out as hard as I could have been. This week I’m trying out Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series on Youtube and I’m liking it. The classes are SUPER HARD (I’ll be talking more about them in the Weekly Rundown on Sunday.) And, of course I have to give a shoutout to our intrepid host, Marcia. She has a great series of classes on Youtube, including a Cardio Barre workout that I really like. There’s a lot of free content out there, but this wasn’t really a cost issue. I had the $12.99 Peloton membership, and you really do get a lot for that. I just felt like it was time to take a break and see what else is out there. Do you like to stick with one thing, or switch your workouts up a lot? – The only thing I seem to be able to stick to is running!
Things Are Looking Up…
You guys. I GOT MY CAR BACK!!! Just look how beautiful it is! As a reminder, this is how it looked five weeks ago: Yes, the guy did a great job. And he kept the cost within his original estimate, so we forgive him for taking four weeks to fix it. And it was literally in the nick of time- Hurricane Ian is barreling towards Florida, and while it won’t hit us directly, here’s our forecast for the rest of the week: Yes, torrential rains and a flood watch are not conducive to bike riding. I’m so happy to have my car back, I’m feeling positively jaunty. So…. here are some lighthearted topics from the past week. First up, I received this email from The Paper Store: What? It’s my half birthday? Oh… I guess it is! I don’t usually celebrate my half birthday, but now I’m wondering why not. In honor of the occasion, I made myself a pumpkin mug cake from Chocolate Covered Katie. Next up. I’m always grateful when my husband does household chores, but sometimes I have to laugh when he unloads the dishwasher. In all seriousness, this was his best attempt at stacking the bowls. I especially love how on the shelf below, there’s ONE lone bowl- and then look how the bowls are stacked on the shelf above. I doubt he noticed anything wrong with this. Oh well! No picture of this last one, unfortunately. An older woman came in for massage today. She looked to be around 70, and the most striking thing about her appearance was her bright red lipstick. “Oh, that’s cheerful,” I thought. Then when we were in the treatment room I noticed a very strong scent of vanilla. i mentioned it and she said “Oh yes, that’s me! I don’t like regular perfume but I love things like vanilla body wash.” Well, at this point I was really starting to love her. A 70-year-old woman who wears bright red lipstick and smells like a bakery- you can just tell she knows how to enjoy life! It put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. I hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks as always to Kim and Zenaida for hosting Tuesday Topics! Have you ever celebrated your half birthday? – We used to celebrate the kids’ half birthdays when they were little because they both have a birthday very close to Christmas.
Weekly Rundown- The Curse of the Pumpkins
Well, I’m not gonna lie. September has been a tough month! My sister and I were all excited to start celebrating Pumpkin Palooza, but the month has not felt very festive. There was my car accident which put my car out of commission for weeks, my sister and her husband both got Covid (after avoiding it for the past two and a half years), my daughter had a stressful incident (and believe me, when a thirteen-year-old girl is stressed out, the family suffers), my husband got hit by a car while riding his bike to work, then when my sister recovered from Covid she had a tooth emergency, and then yesterday her elderly cat had to go to the vet (coincidentally also with a tooth emergency.) Everyone has survived these issues, but instead of a festive Pumpkin Palooza, we’ve decided it is more like the CURSE OF THE PUMPKINS. But all curses have to lift sometime, right? We’re anxious to move forward and put this unfortunate month behind us. And oh yes… there were plenty of workouts this week! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Here’s how the week played out. Sunday Now that I’ve switched my long(er) runs to Wednesdays, I’m trying to figure out what I’m doing on Sundays. Last week I took the day off but ended up feeling too blah- so this week I did a 30 minute glutes and legs strength class, with my favorite instructor Matty on Peloton. Monday Okay, let’s get this week started right! I did a 3 mile run followed by a Peloton core class. (Side note- yes, my hamstring is still bothering me. I’m ignoring it! That always works, right?) Tuesday I did two Peloton classes- upper body and core, and then Runner’s Touch exercise. Once again, this helps me so much but I STILL forget to do it. Why??? It felt good to get back to it. Wednesday After dropping my daughter off at school, I went to a park where I used to do my long runs, back in the day. It’s a really nice park and I was happy to be back, but man… the heat. I’m not sure this schedule is working. I just can’t get started early enough on a Wednesday morning, and these runs have been hard. Most of the paths in this park are paved, but there’s a cross country trail as well and I ran a loop of that at the end. I ran 6 miles total but it felt like 16. I’m going to try to hang onto this running schedule until the weather cools down… we’ll see if I can make it. Thursday I stacked three Peloton classes- glutes and legs, upper body, and core. I like Peloton, but I’m toying with the idea of trying something else. GASP! I know… blasphemy. I haven’t been doing yoga (trying to heal up a nagging wrist pain), I don’t do any of the cycling or running classes, and well- there’s a bunch of free classes on Youtube. Just something I’ve been thinking about. Friday 3 mile run, and this felt about 1000 times easier than Wednesday’s run, because I got out just as the sun was rising. Saturday Ah, running is funny. Today’s run was also early in the morning, but felt waaaay harder that yesterday’s. What the…? Oh well, I slowed my pace way down and got it done. Any running is better than no running. Followed this 3 mile slog with another core class. In other news… my frickin’ car is FINALLY FIXED. Here is the text exchange my husband and I had while I was at work. So, after four “short” weeks, my car is done but ironically we couldn’t get it, because by the time I got home from work my husband had to leave for his job. But my husband isn’t working on Monday, so he’s going to get the car. Just in the nick of time, because there really is a hurricane heading our way. The weather this week will not be conducive to bike riding! Sunday On tap for today… probably some less intense strength class, like barre, and possibly runners touch again. And football watching, obviously! How has your September been? Were you affected by the Curse of the Pumpkins? If you do strength classes other than Peloton, can you recommend any to me?