Weekly Rundown- Tampa Mini-Break
Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah. This was an extra-fun week, with a short trip to Tampa. I’ll have more (much more!) about Tampa on Tuesday, but for now, here’s how the week of fitness played out. Sunday Leg day at the gym! I pushed and pulled the sled… …and did squats, deadlifts, the Knees Over Toes exercises, and a little bit of abs. Monday Uneventful 4 mile run. Tuesday Off! I did my mobility routine in the morning, thought I would have time later on for some core work, but had a lot of prep for our trip (getting food ready, meeting with the pet sitter) and the day got away from me. Wednesday Long run! It was what I now consider to be a “short” long run- 20 miles. Of course, the notion that it was short was more psychological than physical. My back was hurting, AND I got stung by a bee! I didn’t actually see the perpetrator- I just felt something on the top of my head, heard a buzzing sound, reached up and felt an insect, and then felt the pain. I assume it was a bee sting because of how much it hurt- wow, I forgot how much bee stings hurt! i feel like I’ve gone past the “normal” long run woes- fatigue, heat, thirst- and have moved on to new and different problems, like hurting my arm (?) and getting stung by a bee on top of my head. But, overall it was fine and I finished strong. In the afternoon we left for Tampa! Thursday Guess what doesn’t feel great? Running 20 miles and then sitting in the car for four hours. My low back and right hip were so sore this morning. I went to the hotel gym, got on the treadmill, and did the workout Elisabeth and Birchwood Pie have been talking about- 3 mph, 12% incline, for 30 minutes. This felt GREAT for my sore areas. and I finished up with some core. Friday It came to my attention that our hotel was right on the river, and there’s a riverwalk path! I got out for a 3 mile run… …and then hit the hotel gym for a brief strength session. I did my Knees Over Toes exercises, squats, some light chest presses (this was the first time doing upper body since I hurt my arm) and then finished with core. Saturday Time for the annual FMEA 3K race! It’s an odd little event (3K?) but my husband and I had fun doing it last year. Unfortunately he couldn’t run it this year because of an ankle injury, so I did it by myself. It started at 6 am and was extremely informal- no official start or finish line. We all just started running, turned at the turnaround (marked by a cone) and then when we got back where we started there was someone standing there saying “Great job!” I enjoyed it, and we ran on Bayshore Boulevard, which I just learned is the longest continuous sidewalk in the world. I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t plan a longer run on Bayshore- but I’ll do it next year. I walked a mile and then ran a mile before the “race”, and then afterwards I hit up the hotel gym for some core and stretching. The truth is, my family was still sleeping and I wanted to give them a little more time before barging back into the hotel room. My daughter’s concert was in the afternoon, and then we headed home… and got back in time to see the Dolphins lose. Noooo! Sunday On tap for the day: SLEEPING IN. Brunch. Laundry. Football! My team may be out of it, but there’s still lots of good football to watch. It’s the last day of my son’s vacation before heading back to school, so we’ll be making the most of it. How was your week? Have you ever been to Tampa? Ever been stung by a bee (during a run???) Header photo by Chalo Garcia on Unsplash
January Goals
Wait- are we already a third of the way through January? The beginning of this month has been a whirlwind, and with my son still here and my daughter still off of school (she started back yesterday) it feels like the holidays aren’t quite over. We have one more fun event, which is a short trip to Tampa, and then my son leaves and we settle into the normal January routine (sigh.) I just can’t wrap my head around yearly goals, so I’m setting monthly goals instead. I’m a little late sharing my January goals, but here they are! Sleep HOW many times have you heard me say I need to get more sleep??? Well, I just heard something very alarming on a running podcast. A study shows if you get seven hours of sleep a night as opposed to eight, your risk of injury increases by thirty percent. ACK!!! I almost NEVER get eight hours of sleep. And, if you sleep six hours instead of seven, your injury risk increases another eighteen percent (interesting that the difference between six-seven is less than the difference between seven-eight.) Well. This was FINALLY enough to scare me. I actually struggle to get even seven hours of sleep a night, never mind eight. So my goal for January is to get seven hours of sleep on a consistent basis, and eight hours one or two nights a week. Sometimes if I have a weekend day where I’m able to sleep until 7:00, I’ll think “Oh good, I can stay up till midnight!” WRONG! If I have a day to sleep in, I’ll aim to get eight hours of sleep that night. I can report that I’ve been doing this for the past week, and while I haven’t been completely successful, I’ve been getting more sleep than I normally would. Baby steps! Exercise I’m adding Ben Patrick’s (“Knees Over Toes” guy) exercises to my routine. The level I’m at right now isn’t very hard, but it’s just a matter of making some extra time for it. For the month of January I’m aiming to do the exercises three times a week. So far, so good. Reading Every year I set a goal to read 50 books, and I consistently come up short. Everything goes along great until November, when NaBloPoMo really eats into my reading time, and then December is so busy, I can’t seem to get back on track. SO, this year I’m front-loading my reading a bit in the early months of the year. My plan is also (this isn’t a January goal- I’m looking ahead) to have a book of essays or short stories, or SOMETHING I can read in November that won’t feel too overwhelming. And some sort of seasonal book to read in December- something fun that takes place during the holidays. But for now- the goal for January is to read six books. So far so good- I’ve read two and have another one started. And that’s it! You can see my goals aren’t too grandiose- just three reasonable and manageable things. Next month I’ll reassess the situation and build on from here. Do you have any specific goals or plans for January? Header photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- The Longest Week
Somehow, this week seems like it was 100 years long. The highlight was my back-to-back long run adventure- but that seems so long ago. Was it only a week? Yes… yes, it was. I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown (thanks for hosting, ladies!) Let’s go waaaaay back to New Year’s Eve, when it all started. Sunday Long Run #1!! The weather was absolutely beautiful- 50s and sunny- and I had no other obligations this day, so I opted to drive about 30 minutes away, to the edge of the Everglades. From there, I had multiple trail choices, and I did parts of all of them! This run would have been perfect… except for my left arm. Remember how I hurt it last week (presumably doing pull up negatives?) Well, about four miles into this run it was hurting, and it got worse and worse as I went on. I tried all sorts of things, like holding it very close to my body and swinging it minimally. That helped, but it still hurt… a lot. I was pretty bummed that this sore arm was “ruining” my run, but I tried to look at the big picture. Everything else felt good, I had plenty of energy, and, well, sometimes things hurt and you have to deal with it. I had planned to go 22 miles on this run, but opted to cut it short at 20. I wanted to figure out a better way of managing my arm before Long Run #2. I walked a mile just to flush out the legs, and then was done for the day. Monday Okay. I taped my arm with KT tape and was ready to go! It was another beautiful day. I walked a mile to warm up, and then, this time I ran to a nearby park with a large grassy field and cross country trail- my race in February apparently has a lot of grassy areas and I want to be ready. My arm felt okay! It still hurt, but was more manageable than the day before. Again, I felt good. As the run went on, I felt normal “long run fatigue,” but I couldn’t really tell I had run 20 miles the day before. This run was 16 miles. My original plan was to run 22 the first day and 14 the second… instead I ran 20 and 16. Overall I was REALLY happy with the way it all played out. And as you can imagine, the rest of the day was spent relaxing on my couch (with books, football, and my cat.) Yay! Tuesday Leg day at the gym- JUST KIDDING. Ha- I was pretty sore when I woke up. I did my daily mobility routine, but other than that it was a day off. Wednesday Still sore, but I ran 4 miles. Thursday Not as sore… I contemplated going to the gym but instead did strength at home. It turned out to be a great decision, because I discovered that my legs were still deeply fatigued. I did squats (with dumbbells- not as heavy as what I do at the gym) dead bugs, and Runners Touch. Runners Touch involves only bodyweight, and even that felt challenging in my hips. Well… I’ve never done back-to-back long runs and didn’t know what to expect. But I’m learning! Friday Another 4 mile run, and starting to feel back to normal… almost. Followed this run with planks and dead bugs. Saturday Day off- I know, I just had a day off on Tuesday, but that’s just the way the week worked out. At night I did start Ben Patrick’s “Knee Ability Zero” program, which I’m going to do for the month of January (at least- I’ll continue if I feel that it’s helping.) It’s all bodyweight (hence the “zero”, as in, you need zero equipment) and I could do the first three exercises without pain. The next one hurt, so that’s where I stopped. I’ll do a full post on the program sometime this month! Sunday Okay seriously- today really IS leg day at the gym. I think I’m all recovered, and I need to get to the gym, because next week I won’t be able to go. I have another long run planned for Wednesday morning, and then we leave for Tampa! There is a gym in our hotel, ahem, but as we all know, hotel gyms are hit-or-miss. How was your week? Did it seem unusually long or short?
New Year, New Coffee Date
Well, the Christmas tree is gone. The rest of the decorations are coming down gradually, and I’m still drinking out of my holiday mugs (that’s allowed until January 6th, right???) But it’s a new year, and time for the first Ultimate Coffee Date, hosted by Coco and Deborah. Get out your holiday mugs one last time, grab a delicious beverage (always Earl Grey tea for me!) and let’s get started. If we were having coffee (tea) together, I would share one last “fantastic” photo my daughter sent from Rome. I would love to put them all together in a collage, “Angie’s Trip to Rome.” It would be special! She had a good time, although traveling to a different country can be eye-opening. You appreciate first-hand the hardships people go through- like, did you know people in Italy are actually forced to drink room temperature water??? Yes! There’s NO ICE. No ice in the hotel! No ice in the restaurants! If you order a soda, it comes in a can, and it’s kind of cold but not really, and there’s no glass full of ice to pour it in! You can’t imagine how much I’ve heard about the lack of ice in Rome. Well, hopefully this harrowing experience will make her appreciate life in the US more. My daughter has a few days to recover from her jet lag, and then it’s back to school… for two days. On Wednesday of next week we’ll be off to Tampa! Angie is playing in the high school All-State band; my husband will be attending various band director conferences for professional development, and my son and I will be enjoying some rest and relaxation. Last year when we went to Tampa I sought out a trail for an adventurous run… but this year, I’ll be doing a long run on Wednesday morning before we leave, so my time in Tampa can be more chill. I plan to stay close to the hotel, read my books, visit the Starbucks… and POSSIBLY have a blogger meetup (ooh! Exciting and mysterious… who lives in Tampa???) The last thing I would share over coffee is my new wall calendar, which I found while randomly browsing at Barnes and Noble: Seriously? CATS AND BOOKS??? It’s like someone made this specifically with me in mind. Here’s the January picture: I love it so much! 2024 is going to be a great year!!! Do you use a wall calendar? Room temperature or ice water?- Room temperature is actually better for your digestion, but I know it’s hard to drink if you’re used to icy cold. Header photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash