Weekly Rundown- In the Groove
When we left off last week, the Caroline Girvan Iron Series was absolutely kicking my ass- but this week I’ve settled into it. The workouts are still making me sore, but in a reasonable, not debilitating, way. Sprinkle in some runs and some yoga, and it was a good week! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown… here we go! Sunday Last week I switched around some of the Iron Series workouts, so today I had to go back and do Day #3, glutes. Oof! Monday In the morning I got out for a 3.5 mile run. Later on I did Adriene’s yoga for low back pain. Tuesday In the morning I did Adriene’s yoga for hip mobility, and later in the day I did Iron Series Day #4, which was a full body workout- this was intense! Wednesday In the morning I went to the gym, where I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and finished with some abs. I really outdid myself with the photo this time… Later on I did Adriene’s yoga for psoas. This was excellent- I need to do this one more often. Thursday In the morning I did yoga for low back pain. Now that I’m doing more strength training, my low back is acting up. I really need the yoga! Later in the day I did Iron Series Day #6- quads. Ouch. But I’m happy to say that that I’m all caught up and can continue the series in the correct order from now on. Friday In the morning- yoga for low back pain again. Later I did Iron Series #7, shoulders and triceps. Boy, are my triceps weak. And then… PROM! My daughter and her boyfriend went to prom! They left early to go take photos with some friends, but I insisted on getting some pictures in our yard first. Later, I was their chauffeur to and from an after party. Luckily (for me) the party got shut down at 1:30. They had fun- but not TOO MUCH fun if you know what I mean- and it could have been a much later night. I was lucky. Saturday Oof. Not surprisingly, I was tired but I had to go to work. After work, and a hefty nap, I got out for a 4 mile run. I’m starting to miss running longer distances! I listened to the latest episode of Sally McRae’s podcast and remembered how much fun it is to be training for a race. Hmmm…. Sunday On tap for today- Iron Series Day #8. I’m on a roll! Are you training for a race right now? If you went to your prom, was your color scheme black and purple? (Ha- probably not!)
Five Things
Happy Friday! I’m sharing five random things today. First up… Inspired by Stephany’s reading crawl, I decided to make Wednesday, my day off, a Reading Day. My plan was to read an entire book and I picked this one: Every Agatha Christie is a reread for me, but luckily I didn’t remember this one at all. It’s a good one! Miss Marple at her finest. Agatha Christies are great to read in one day, because they’re usually less than 200 pages. I enjoyed having a day to whip through this one. In not quite as happy news, Muffin is in BIG TROUBLE. She got ahold of my new Garmin and CHEWED THE END off the band!!! I have a super small wrist, so I can still wear it. But I don’t want my watch chewed on! I usually have it on my bedside table at night and use it as my alarm and now I can’t do that, for fear she’ll chew it to shreds. Let’s talk about something good. Yesterday- tax day- my husband had our return all done and asked me to sign it before he went to the post office. No problem! Except… I signed in the wrong place. I signed on his line instead of mine. My husband was really upset, as time was ticking down to get it in the mail. We couldn’t re-print that page because our printer is broken (he printed the pages at work). He wasn’t willing to trust “Jerzeyguy” on reddit who said it wouldn’t matter. We were stymied, until… I realized I had used an erasable pen. Months ago, I think it was in the comment section of Elisabeth’s blog where someone recommended these gel pens. I ordered some, but rarely use the eraser- it’s easier to just cross things out. But in this case, I was able to erase my signature and put it on the correct line! CRISIS AVERTED. Elsewhere in the blogosphere, SHU mentioned this post on parenting. It describes the stage we’re in beautifully: In the last few years my parenting has shifted from “don’t do X,Y,Z” to “look, don’t do X,Y,Z, but when you do, I’m you’re first phone call. There is nothing you can’t make worse by going it alone after a bad decision and nothing we can’t make better. Bring us in. We love you always.” Which brings us to… prom! Tonight is prom!!! My daughter is going with her boyfriend and I’m so excited! There’s also an after party, Her boyfriend will drive them to prom, but I’ve been recruited to drive them to the after party and pick them up. Ahem. This definitely falls into the category of “don’t do X,Y, and Z, but when you do…” Did you go to your high school prom? -I didn’t. I was too much of a nerd. Do you have small wrists? – Supposedly it’s not a good thing- it shows a higher risk of osteoporosis. Sigh. Top photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Tuesday Topics (and More Wedding Talk!)
It’s Tuesday, and this week’s prompt is How do you stay consistent when life gets chaotic? I gave this some thought, and finally decided… my life just doesn’t get that chaotic. I don’t have small kids; I don’t travel for work; my daughter is increasingly self-sufficient (or, now that she has a boyfriend with a car, she no longer needs me for rides). The only thing that makes my life unsettled, occasionally, are my own thoughts. Last December, things felt very chaotic- my cat had a stroke and died, my son was getting engaged (he told us about it over Thanksgiving but it wasn’t official until New Year’s Eve) and Christmas was absolutely kicking my butt. I kept up my running schedule- more or less- purely out of fear. I knew I had a big race coming up in March and I couldn’t afford to stop training. Having a race on the schedule always keeps me in line. Another way to keep those chaotic thoughts from spiraling out of control is to take a break from the news. I have the perfect thing to distract us- more wedding talk! I have done nothing further since buying my dress, other than mulling over the amazing comments people left on that post. Here’s where I’m at right now: Shoes I have several specifications for my difficult feet. I need a very low heel, or flats. I need a wide toe box. The shoes apparently have to be gold. A couple people mentioned, casually and tactfully, that I should get a pedicure. Not as in, “we know your feet must be a mess from all that running” but more like “wouldn’t a pedicure be fun?” Okay, okay… I get it. Makeup You guys, I am a huge crybaby. I will be crying copious tears at this wedding, and I’m not sure there’s a mascara that can hold up to it. But I’m open to suggestions. Jewelry A couple people suggested, because of the neckline of the dress, to go without a necklace. Sure! I have no problem with that. I like bracelets. Here’s the thing- I don’t have pierced ears. So no earrings- does that change the “no necklace” rule? Hair Nicole suggested a French twist. After googling to see what that is, I think it’s a brilliant idea. It’s like a much, much nicer way of doing what I do all the time for work, which is pull my hair back in a clip. Whether or not I can do this myself remains to be seen. Basically, I want to be able to feel like myself- but not TOO MUCH like myself, because then I would be wearing pajamas or running clothes. I definitely need to get out of my comfort zone, but not so much that I can’t enjoy myself. Feel free to keep the suggestions coming! I’m really appreciating all the help. Next week’s topic: It’s Earth Week. How do you stay active outdoors responsibly? Link Up With Tuesday Topics Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter
Weekly Rundown- A Week of Ouch
Oh hi! Don’t worry, I’m not injured- just sore all over because I started strength training in earnest. As always, I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown. Here are all the gory details! Monday The week started off nice and easy, with a 3 mile run. I’ve been sleeping a little later and doing my runs before dinner- hence all the daylight! Tuesday Okay, here we go. I started the Caroline Girvan Iron Series! Day 1 is legs, but I was still a little sore from some lunges I did on Sunday. I decided to start with Day 2, Shoulders, Back and Chest. YOU GUYS. About five minutes into this workout, I realized I’ve been waaaay easy on myself with strength training lately. I mean- I was training for an ultra marathon. I had my reasons, but now it’s time to work hard again. This workout was a killer. Wednesday Uh huh. Just as I suspected, every muscle in my arms and torso was screaming at me. Perfect day to go back and tackle Day 1, Legs. Once again, I haven’t worked this hard in a long, long time. The second I finished this workout, I knew I was going to be insanely sore. Thursday Yep! Now my entire body hurts. In the morning I did a yoga with Adriene video, and after work I got out for a 3 mile run. It felt like I was wearing 20 pound ankle weights. Friday Lower body is still sore. Day 3 of the Iron Series is a full body workout. No, that won’t work. Day 4 is GLUTES. Hahahahahaha! That’s funny. No. I skipped ahead to Day 5, which was Arms and Abs. I can do that! I like how she combines arms and core, because if the whole time was spent on biceps and triceps, that would be… terrible. As it was, it was hard enough. Saturday Now I can hardly lift my arms, ARG!!! Is my whole life going to be like this from now on??? The good news is, my legs were almost feeling back to normal. After work I went to the gym and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. I even cautiously threw in some strides! Sunday On tap- I think I’ll be able to tackle the glutes workout today. I’m determined to work my way through this whole series, and I’m regretting that I’ve already mixed up the days. Hopefully I can get back on track and continue on in the correct order this week. Have you ever done CG’s Iron Series? – The crazy thing is, I’ve done this series before! Am I really that out of shape? Did I just forget how hard it is??? Top photo by VD Photography on Unsplash