Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by that dynamic duo, Kim and Deborah. It was a good week! There were runs, lots of squats, and oh yes… I signed up for a race! Read on for details.
Monday
The week started off with a 4 mile run, followed by Caroline Girvan’s abs workout.
Tuesday
Leg day at the gym! It’s come to my attention that perhaps I’m not going low enough in my squats, so I scaled back the weight a little in order to get lower. Why is it ten times harder to go down two extra inches???
I also did my usual deadlifts, calf raises, and Bulgarian split squats. And a little upper body- biceps and rows.
Wednesday
It’s Global Running Day! You know what would be a perfect way to celebrate? A long run on my favorite trail. Ahem. Unfortunately, we had to be at the orthodontist at 9 am- my daughter got her braces off! I did run, but on the treadmill at the gym. That’s okay- any running is good running.
After a 1.5 mile warmup, I did 10 x 400 at 5K pace… and it felt WAY better than last week. Last week I just couldn’t get my legs to move fast- this time I was actually able to increase the pace as the intervals went on. Good workout!
I came home and had time for planks and a few deadbugs. Strangely, my daughter was very impatient to get to this appointment! I don’t think we’ve ever been on time for the orthodontist, but on this day she was dressed and waiting by the door early. Huh, I guess getting the braces off is more fun than having them tightened. Go figure.
Thursday
Another 4 mile run, followed by Caroline Girvan’s deadbug ab workout.
Friday
Back to the gym for more squats. Every time I do squats, I’m slightly scared beforehand. Then while I’m doing them I’m uncomfortable, and afterwards I’m sore. All this has made me realize that squats are the one thing that I MUST DO. Nothing else scares me like squats- so they’re obviously the most important thing for me right now.
I did my other leg things as well, plus bench press. Then afterwards when I was washing my hands in the bathroom, I could see my upper arms jiggling back and forth in the mirror. Note to self: next time do triceps.
Saturday
Day off!!!! It felt great to sleep in a little before going to work, but I didn’t feel like I needed a day off as desperately as I did last week. So I think… maybe… my legs are adjusting to the strength work and speed work. Hooray! I knew they would if I just stuck with it.
Sunday
On tap for today- a trail run! It’s going to be a longer run, but not too long. Next week is a busy week (my daughter has camp) so I’m going to shift things around, and go to the gym on Monday for- you guessed it- more squats.
So what about this race, you ask? I shared it on Friday, but in case you missed it, I officially registered for the Forgotten Florida 50 mile race in February! Don’t ask me why I think I can run 50 miles… I’ll get there, somehow. I’ve excited about it!
Do you love squats or hate squats? Or avoid them entirely?
Do you have any big races coming up that you’re excited about?
41 Responses
Team Squat here! And yes, getting low is always an issue. Congrats on a strong week!
Yes, I know you do a lot of squats with Caroline. I didn’t realize I wasn’t getting low enough until I started taking videos of myself.
Well. I don’t know. Never done a squat. And when I go to the gym. I do the arm machines mostly.
But good for you.
My big race is in November.
Yes, I know what race that is! I’m super excited for you.
Congrats on choosing your race! We’ll be cheering you virtually. At this rate I doubt I’ll be racing, too much going on unfortunately. But . . . the year is only half over. 🙂
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of Pilates, although one was a Barre class this week, so plies. Not so much squatting. Squats are good though!
Pilates is great. I haven’t done it in a long time, but I used to. It can be very challenging!
I’m no trainer, but your squat looks great to me! I probably go lighter on squats than I could/should, but I try to focus on my form.
Form is important! I was going heavier but I couldn’t go down as far so I took off a little bit of weight.
I agree -squats are just a fabulous exercise. Your form looks pretty good to me. The only thing would watch is your neck and try to keep it in line w your back/torso. My trainer used to say “nothing to look at up here”. Looks like a pretty strong week!
Okay, that is great advice. I’ll work on it tomorrow- I’m that person always taking videos of myself at the gym (eyeroll) but it really is for educational purposes (and of course, a screenshot for the blog, ha ha..)
I much prefer squats to lunges…which is why I need to do more lunges, right? I think my balance is decent, but when I’m doing lunges, UGH. Major wobbles. Wow, a 50-miler!!!! GO big or go home 😉
Yes, I guess that’s what I was thinking when I registered for that race (although, if they had a 50K option I would have chosen it.). I usually prefer lunges to squats, but since I haven’t been doing lunges lately I probably suck at them now. I’ll get back to them someday!
I’m so impressed with the depth on those squats! And yes, those extra couple of inches are really hard, but isn’t that when the magic happens? I am definitely a fan of squats. You will reap the benefits on that 50! miler. Eeek!!!
Okay- if you think the depth is good, I’m doing it right. I figured I might as well cut back on the weight and get my form right. And yes- squats will definitely help me for that race.
I LOVE dead bug, so will do that workout for sure this week. Trying to get my ass back in gear with strength and always good to start with a favorite. Like Kim, I prefer squats to lunges. Coordination is not my strength, no pun intended.
I don’t know… I think I prefer lunges! But if you made me do lunges with a barbell, I would probably be a mess.
Okay, for real doing the dead bug workout right now 🙂
Your squat form looks pretty good to me!
50 miles! Exciting. And at least February shouldn’t be crazy hot, right?
Yes, there’s a CHANCE we could have beautiful weather in February- fingers crossed.
And I hope you like that workout!
Nice work with the squats! I agree that it’s a must-have exercise especially for runners. And then deadbugs and planks! Lovely!
I love squats. I worked a lot on my form during the winter, and was quite happy with it before the injury. Now of course I can’t wait to get back to them.
Congrats again on the race sign-up!
Thank you Susanne! I hope that I can eventually say “I love squats!” When do you think you’ll be able to do them again?
I have no idea, Jenny. I’m very negative at the moment and right now I can’t even guess when I’ll be walking again! Everything is very unclear but I’m finally seeing a physiotherapist on Tuesday. I gave up waiting for an appointment with the clinic I was supposed to be referred to and decided to go private. This is probably a good idea because these people are sports focused, my husband goes there for his knee. I hope I’ll have some idea of a potential timeframe after Tuesday but I don’t expect to do anything decent until August at the very earliest. This injury has been very slow going since I had to start walking on the foot when it became pain free, because of my shoulder problem caused by crutches, and this probably put me back on square one.
Ugh. I wonder if you could start doing the leg press machine? Not right now, but it seems like you could do that earlier than squats. It would be pressure on your foot but not as much as doing actual squats. You could build up some strength that way. Of course I’m not a doctor, so this would all depend on what depend on what your physio says.
I love squats – my weakness is my upper body LOL (maybe I should do something about that).
So awesome that you got to run for Global Running Day (even if on the treadmill)… it was my office day and I didn’t get a run in, but ran on Monday and Thursday. Does that count? 🙂
Yes, that counts! And, when I was at the gym today I had to face the fact that I really neglect upper body. I have to either go another day specifically for upper body (sigh, don’t want to) or plan to go a little longer on the days I’m there, to get more upper body in.
The first thing I thought when I saw the first picture was “LOOK HOW FLAT HER BACK IS” – seriously, I’m so, SO impressed by your form in these pictures and those squats are low. Amazing!!
I’m doing an exercise challenge right now and there are jumping squats every few days I’m finding it harder to make sure my form is good on the landing (start in squat, jump, and land in a squat). I’d never even heard of dead bugs but I scanned through the CG video and I cannot IMAGINE doing those for an entire workout.
And running. I have only run ONCE all of June (and only a couple of times in May). I’m so discouraged by this because I was building up nicely to my goal of 10K back in April (was to 7+ km) and then had eye surgery, had to take time off, and…haven’t gotten restarted. I need to just hop on the treadmill (it basically rained for a solid week here in Canada – great news for the wildfires!) and crank out a few miles and get back into the swing of things. But instead, I’ve been eating junk food. DOUBLE SIGH. I need you to move to Canada to get my butt outside and running again, Jenny!!!
Yay for your daughter’s braces coming off and yay for camp next week (I think you mentioned she’d really excited about this?)
Oh, jumping squats are GREAT! I really want to do them again, but last time I tried them it aggravated my difficult foot. I think I’ll try again, just adding a little bit into my routine.
I’ll try to encourage your running remotely. I would love the summers in Canada, but I think I would shrivel up and die in the winter- so I better just stay in Florida.
Wow! What a week! Love that you are already prepping for the 50 miler. So excited for you that you chose a run.
This has me wondering if I am doing squats correctly or not! I love squats because they are “easy” — give me a squat any day over a lunge.
Well, my issue was I wasn’t getting low enough. I try to get my thighs parallel to the ground, which is hard. I can’t say I’m prepping for the 50 miler yet- more like laying the groundwork to start doing long runs in the fall.
I don’t mind squats but I do not get as low as you do! I feel like I’d have to compromise my form to get lower so I do my best. I finally did a strength training workout yesterday – a Becs Gentry strength training for runners workout. I liked it! And I really need to try this deadbug workout! The Becs workout started out with deadbugs – which I had never heard of until you started talking about the Caroline workout!
I have no races on the calendar right now. I looked around for a 10k but nothing stands out. I liked doing the 10k over the Twin Cities marathon weekend last week but it was kind of a hassle logistically. So I am hoping to find something closer to where I live. I’ll handle parking stress for a bigger race but it seems like a lot of effort/stress for a little 10k if that makes sense!
Yes, I remember Becs! The Peloton SFR workouts are great.
I know what you mean about the races- if I’m going to travel and go to a lot of work to get there, it should be a BIG race. Well, I hope you find a good 10k that works.
I have really low range of movement in my left ankle because of an old injury and getting low in squats is a recipe for disaster for me. I end up putting too much pressure on my knees and it’s a nightmare. LOL. I do my best and muddle along and think to myself that doing SOMETHING is better than nothing. I’m using the range of motion that’s appropriate for my body and won’t cause me injury. I have no such excuse for my lazy form on lunges and Bulgarian split squats, but maybe it’s just that I dislike leg day?
Your ankle is kind of like my right wrist. I absolutely can’t put my hand flat on the floor and put pressure on it, which means I can’t do high planks or pushups. I HATE workouts that call for those things because like you said, I’m kind of muddling along, not able to do it correctly.
You’re like my son- he doesn’t like leg day either. Right now he works out five days a week and only does one day of legs. To each his own!
Another fantastic week for you, and I love to see all of the strength training. I’m not a huge fan of weighted squats, but I love normal squats. However, I do enjoy deadlifts – I’m so odd, lol.
You’re not odd! I like deadlifts. As a matter of fact I like them better than squats. I’m focusing on squats so I can face my worst fears, ha ha.
That’s a lot of squats! I love them, and I used to be so good at them, but my ankle doesn’t flex as easily after my surgery, so they are a little more painful.
Yay for no more braces! A was so happy to have his removed, too!
Yes, you definitely need decent ankle mobility to do squats. Do you think yours will slowly improve?
It’s SO nice not to worry about braces, and eating the right foods, etc! Phew.
your squats look great! not sure you want to go too low but what do I know ha! the last photo looks perfect. so glad you had some good runs, especially your intervals! great stuff! I love squats and find them so important for runners!
I’m trying to get my thighs parallel to the floor- I don’t think I want to go any lower than that (I’m not sure I CAN go any lower than that!)
How exciting that you registered for the Forgotten Florida 50 Mile Race!
Squats are such a great exercise, especially for us runners. I mix up my exercises, but do some form of squats each time I lift.
I’m sure you daughter is thrilled to have gotten her braces off. That’s a big day in a kid’s life! 🙂
Yes, I agree- squats are so important! I wish I had embraced this concept earlier, but I’m glad I’m doing them now.
Your form looks fantastic to me! And so glad that your legs seem to be adapting.
My cousin just finished a (team) bike race across the US. So my parents and I got into the ultra-sports discussion (Who would DO that kind of thing, they say…) and I kind of used you and your 50 mile race as an example, pointing out that if you put in the training… 🙂 Good luck!