Oof! While this was a great week of workouts, other life events made it seem extra long. But it’s over! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting this weekly rundown. Let’s get right into it!
Sunday
A shorter “long” run. The last few Sundays I’ve done ten miles, but this was a planned cutback week so I did six. I got out earlier so the heat was much more manageable.
I’m baffled as to why I don’t have a picture from this run. I always take a picture! Did I just forget? Weird.
Monday
I did a lot of Peloton classes this week! I like to do a yoga class on Mondays, so I did Denis Morton’s Pride yoga flow.
Tuesday
A “run sandwich!” I started with a 20 minute glutes and legs strength class, then went out for a two mile run, then did a 20 minute chest and back strength class, and finished with a five minute core class.
The upper body strength class came back to haunt me. I’ve been doing pull-ups but no other upper body work, and my chest muscles were SO SORE from this class. I felt it all the way to Friday- guess I need to be a little more well-rounded with my upper body strength.
Wednesday
Speed work! I did my usual routine of a warm up run, and then 400 repeats- but this time I threw in a couple 800s as well, which kicked my butt. Oh, and this was annoying- I’ve mentioned that I do my speed work on a stretch of sidewalk, which has been perfect… UNTIL NOW. Apparently the nearby school has a summer session which started this week, and there was a crossing guard on the corner where I usually stop. This meant that every time I stopped or started an interval on that side, I had to have a short chat: “Gettin’ in a good one today!” “Yep! (huff, puff.)” I may have to rethink this routine.
After the run I did Rebecca Kennedy’s standing core class- I like it, but I would say it was more balance work than core work. Well, I guess you have to engage your core when you work on balance. It just didn’t make my core burn like the other classes do.
This was also the day we had the $500 trip to Trader Joe’s (where we dented someone’s brand-new Porsche in the parking lot) and dropped my car off at the Toyota dealer for an extended stay, ahem. We had to manage with one car for the rest of the week, which made life difficult. You never fully appreciate having a working car until you don’t have it anymore!
Thursday
I did a five minute core class, a 20 minute glutes and legs class, and then a 30 minute yoga flow. I definitely got my money’s worth from Peloton this week!
Friday
I started the day with a nice three mile run…
…and then did a ten minute core class with Matty Maggiacomo. So, you may remember last week where I did a core class with a ton of moves where my head and shoulders were off the floor and ended up with an alarmingly sore neck. Well, this class had a lot of V-ups, and I really wanted to get the most out of the class, so I did them- but since I learned my lesson, I supported my head every now and then if I felt like my neck was straining too much. WELL. My neck was fine, but somehow all the V-ups rubbed the skin around my tailbone raw, and made sitting down extremely uncomfortable for the next couple days.
This is really exasperating!!! I’m just trying to strengthen my core, and keep having strange issues with random body parts. I’ve been choosing my core classes at random to get a variety, but I think I’m going back to Ben Alldis- I don’t recall having these problems when I just took his classes. Hrumph.
Saturday
I did my favorite glutes and legs strength class:
I’ve now taken a variety, and this one is the winner. I use 15 pound weights and it’s super hard (for me, that is.) It has all the basics- squats, deadlifts, and lunges. There’s some heel raises, which I love, and there’s a little bit of plyometrics which I sometimes do and sometimes not- it depends on how my foot is feeling. When I don’t do the plyos I replace them with something else, and my legs are always trembling after this class. I rounded out the workout with some pull-ups.
Sunday
On tap for today… a ten mile run. Must get out early to beat the heat!
I’m starting to feel like a broken record… have you ever had THIS issue from core work?
39 Responses
I do think some of the core work moves take some getting used to and finding some modifications that work for your body. I love it when my upper body is sore from weights! So great to see you doing weekly long runs again. Bummer on the car though. Have a great week ahead!
Thank you Deborah! Ha, I actually don’t love when my upper body is sore from weights, because it’s really annoying doing my job. But it always goes away, and then it’s not as bad the next time.
I really struggle with v-ups. I don’t think my core is quite strong enough for them yet. I have trouble getting my lower back to stay on the floor. SJ tries to sub in other core work that I can do (like those bench knee-ins that I did this week).
Off to check out your story about the car. It’s the worst when you have to take a car in for repairs. Luckily, we still have my oldest son’s car here, so we have ‘a spare’. Not that I want to drive it, lol, it’s not in very good shape.
Ah, that’s what we need- a spare car. Our son doesn’t have a car yet, and we’ve been trying to find one for him- so this week we had one car for three drivers. It did not go well.
Yes… maybe I should accept the fact that my core isn’t strong enough yet. There are plenty of easier core workouts I can be doing, and I’ll focus on those this week.
No workouts for me. Just a run here and there.
Not even a long run. 3 last weekend and 7 this. A lot of walking yesterday because I was with other runners who do intervals.
But just happy to not be in any pain. You get it.
Happy to read that your foot is behaving.
Yes! No pain is good. You’ve been running so much (and so many races) it’s good you had an easier week.
My guess is the explicit warning was due to the music lyrics…I’ve seen that on several classes, but I never notice the “naughty words” while doing the workouts. Maybe I’m just immune to them, or SOOO focused on the task at hand that they don’t register, LOL. My tailbone takes a beating, often times, on some core moves, even with a mat under my bum. Maybe I should wear my padded biking shorts???
Yes, I didn’t even think of that- it’s probably the song lyrics. I definitely don’t listen to them.
I do have biking shorts- I could try wearing them- OR I could just avoid those moves for now.
Oh no on the car incident! Been there, done that at TJs (the parking lot at ours is tiny) — but luckily not a Porsche & the lady didn’t even want to exchange insurance cards.
Nope, never had the happen with core work, but I have plenty of padding. I had my own random chafing incident, though (but by the next day it was fine).
Hope you mostly beat the heat today!
Yeah, that TJs parking lot is not fun, even when you don’t dent a Porsche. You are lucky you encountered a nice woman!
Yikes I would not be able to handle the chatty crossing guard. There’s a chatty walker at the park where I do speed work but since we’re both moving and coming from opposite directions the conversations are brief;-)
My non-professional, non-qualified two cents on the core work: I feel like a lot of the “fancy” moves put strain on the neck and the back and don’t give me anything that I would get from regular crunches and planks. So I avoid doing anything exotic with core.
Yep, I’m going to avoid it as well. Back to the basics, will be my motto from now on.
Oh, I think I took that Matty core class this morning, if it’s a recent one. Matty’s longer classes intimidate me. I will try that one once my quads recover from my 5K.
LOL on having to chat with the crossing guard. That would annoy me, especially since I usually run before I’ve had coffee and don’t want to talk to anyone yet!
Bummer on the fender bender. I guess that was a pricey fender. 🙁
Grr. Apparently it costs a lot to fix a Porsche.
I know- 30 minute classes seem much more daunting than 20s. But it’s still my favorite. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
Again, I think I would recommend that you skip floorwork for core and focus on standing moves. Then, as you start to feel comfortable with those, maaaaybe move down to mat work. I will occasionally do planks and yoga sit-ups, but I try not to do too much floorwork because it’s easy to have bad form and get injured!
True- and some of these moves are kind of advanced. It’s not like easy crunches where you’re supporting your head. I should probably be more careful with it.
My week also seemed super long so I can totally relate! Ugh – that’s a bummer about the fender bender 🙁 I don’t know if it’s the same where you are, but our Trader Joe’s parking lot is SO tight! I’m always worried about fender benders there.
For the core moves – I’ve noticed that the more “complex” moves do a number on my lower back, so I always modify and just try to keep it simple.
Yes, it’s funny we had similar blog post titles this week.
I KNOW. Maybe, just maybe if you have a brand-new Porsche you might want to think twice about the Trader Joe’s parking lot. Just saying…
Oh my gosh I got this image of you having to chat with the crossing guard after every interval – that would drive me crazy!
Sorry to hear about the fender bender 🙁
I wish I had some new advice on the core classes – I think your plan to return to Ben’s classes makes sense. His classes are pretty straightforward and get the job done.
That is hilarious about the crossing guard. Funny…yet also understandably frustrating. We have a bus driver that parks on a route we walk and always likes to chat. It is lovely, but I also sometimes would take a different route just so I could keep walking in peace.
How true about how easy it is to take something for “granted” – like a second car (in my case, recently, a working kitchen sink!) until it’s missing. Hope everything resolves quickly and I’m so glad that you were able to bypass dealing with the woman directly and work things out via insurance.
I don’t envy you all those hot runs. I haven’t run in TWO WEEKS. The shame. Sigh. Now it feels like long enough that I’m dragging my feet because I know those few weeks off will make the first few runs back more challenging. It’s so easy to let it slide. At least I’m still walking daily, but I do wish I had just stuck to the 3-4/week running schedule. I hurt my foot about a month ago and it doesn’t hurt once I start running, but the lead up to running is painful. I think it’s extensor tendonitis; a first for me, but a very frustrating injury that apparently can take months to heal?!
Oh no… don’t even mention foot injuries! So is that on the top of your foot? And it doesn’t hurt while you’re running, but I’m guessing it hurts while walking. How annoying. Did you get new shoes recently? What do you think caused it? Anyway- I hope it heals up quickly.
I’ve never had that issue from core work, but then, I mostly just do planks and some core-based yoga asana, so the neck isn’t really involved. That sounds like a pain though!
I used to just do planks, and felt like it worked my core really well. Hmm. Maybe I should go back to that.
I haven’t done core work in a good month+. I finished the beach body program I was doing and then covid and the never-ending quarantines hit and I didn’t find a new program… but I need to now that the kids are both back in school. Most of my workouts last week were pushing Paul in the stroller. I ran by myself on Saturday and that felt wonderful!
The crossing guard thing is funny but would be annoying to experience. I’ve been getting speed work in on family walks. My husband pushes the stroller and I managed Paul on his scooter. On the way home, he likes to race me for a block at a time. I haven’t tried running as fast as I can in ages so it’s a good little burst of activity and he thinks it is SOOO fun to race me.
Ha, you’re doing a really unstructured fartlek workout! I actually sounds really fun.
I will have to tell Paul about Fartleks. He is very into bathroom/bodily humor so he will get a kick out of that work. But you are right – that is what I am doing!!
HA HA! Yes, tell Paul it’s time for your fartleks and see how he likes that.
Yowza! Sorry about the TJs mishap. That sucks. At least nobody was hurt. Wow those V-up must HURT to rub your skin raw. I use a coupole of yoga mats so it’s pretty cushy. I do love Matty’s workouts.
Yes, I love Matty too! But I’m not doing his v-up workout again.
Great job! I can’t wait to get back up to 10 miles again even though it’s hot.
I need to try some standing core. I haven’t done a monthly challenge, and I’m spending some time “defunking” my hips, which is taking up some time and energy. I need to add to that.
Yes, ten miles is a nice distance! It feels long, but not too long. As long as I get started early, it feels great.
Too funny about the crossing guard. I would modify the run for sure! Ugh on the car issues. That stinks. My kids have to share a car now that my daughter is home from college. My husband solved any arguments by telling them we would pay for the gas if they didn’t argue over using it. I’m not sure we are really winning on that one (but hey, less stress, so that is something!).
Oh, I think you definitely win- unless they start joyriding all over the place. That could get expensive.
I’ve not had anything similar happen to me during core/ab classes except ab DOMS. I like Kim’s idea above of wearing padded bike shorts. If you have some, it might be worth a try.
The padded shorts would definitely help. OR, I could just avoid v-ups from now on!
I’ve not had anything similar happen to me during core/ab classes except abdominal DOMS. I like Kim’s idea above of wearing padded bike shorts. If you have some, it might be worth a try.
Core work definitely takes some getting used to and yes I’ve had chafing on my tail bone before it’s really not fun! Especially when you don’t realize until you shower…ugh. I found that trying to stay steady on the mat and not scoot my bum around so much during situps helped- it was the constant back and forth that caused the chafing. I love Mattys classes though he’s one of my favorite instructors.
And ugh that car incident. Glad it wasn’t more than $500 even though that is a lot, but Porsche’s are expensive cars! Working in insurance I’m always so surprised when people call in with their pricey cars and get shocked at how much it costs to insure and repair them. Like…do you know what kind of car you bought? Haha. But yeah I totally agree that it’s difficult to go without a vehicle and you don’t truly appreciate yours until something happens!
Okay, that’s good advice! I’m glad it’s not just me. And oh yes- I didn’t notice it until the shower, ha ha. Ouch.