Hey there! It’s time for the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah (thanks, ladies!) Last week I was nursing a grumpy hamstring, but I went into this week cautiously optimistic. I also joined Elisabeth for her Cool Bloggers Walking Club– everyone is encouraged to walk (or, insert movement of choice) every day in October. I’m counting running, walking, or Stairmaster towards this goal. Let’s see how the week played out!
Sunday
The day started with a 5 mile run…
… and then in the afternoon we went to a Marlins game!
My hamstring felt good during the run, and maybe even more importantly, sitting through a baseball game didn’t bother it either. The game was fun and the Marlins won- but our friends were rooting for the Mets (along with at least 50% of the stadium). The Mets loss meant they lost out on the wild card, but… c’est la vie! The real winner that day was my hamstring.
Monday
I started the morning with Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, followed by hip stability exercises and then squats at the gym.
Tuesday
I started the Cool Bloggers Walking Club a day early with a 3 mile walk.
In the afternoon a did a short upper body workout, which is now code for overhead dumbbell press. I do a quick warm up, two light sets and three working sets with the dumbbells I have at home. It leaves a little to be desired, but it’s better than no upper body strength at all.
Wednesday
Long run on my old favorite trail! I ran 11 miles, and tried out the Ucan gels again. The fruity flavors are okay, but the vanilla was horrible. It seriously tasted like something you shouldn’t be eating- some kind of cleanser, maybe?- with a slight vanilla-ish aftertaste. I still have one more flavor to try- mocha- and I’m not looking forward to it. But I was happy to be back on the trail!
Thursday
No school because of Yom Kippur, which meant I got to sleep in a little before heading to the gym. 3o minutes on the Stairmaster, followed by core.
The gym was noticeably less crowded, as was Starbucks on my way to work. I sent moral support vibes to everyone fasting today!
Friday
2 mile walk to start the morning… then hip stability exercises and back to the gym for squats. My daughter is now giving me gym advice- she told me to set the safety bar so that I can go into a deep squat and if I can’t get back up, just set the barbell down on the bar. It definitely removes some of the fear factor for me.
At night it was a high school football game. Storms were forecast the entire time, but we made it all the way until the 4th quarter before the rain came.
The band left when the rain started, but the team played on and won 35-0.
Saturday
4 mile run! I threw in some strides (30 second intervals of faster running) in the last couple miles. My legs were definitely feeling the fatigue from the last several days. Later in the day I did my mini upper body strength workout.
Sunday
On tap for today- walking (of course!) and yoga. My low back has been talking to me- I felt it on those squats- and I should have been doing yoga every day this week. Adriene’s yoga for lower back pain to the rescue!
How was your week? Do you have any streaks or challenges for October?
25 Responses
Nice week! Your hamstring gets an A+, and now we just have to keep your lower back off of academic probation.
Doggo and I are all in on CBWC, but other than that I’m kind of between challenges. We’ll see what comes along.
Ha ha… okay, the yoga today will hopefully keep that back from flunking out.
Nice work this week! I also struggle with fear of deep squats, so I know of what you speak. We practice ‘bailing’ ie unloading the bar off the back when we feel stuck at the bottom. It’s still scary, even knowing I can do that! I’m taking the heavy squats slow.
I know what you mean about feeling that you need yoga every day–I’ve been doing some of Adriene’s shorter stretch workouts before I go to the gym!
My daughter told me that she regularly “bails”- just dropping the weight back on the safety bar. I need to start doing that so I can get over my fears. And- seriously. I need to make daily yoga a goal.
I am doing a coretober challenge with my Peloton group.
Yay on the improving hamstring. That’s quite a blow-out for the hs football team.
Nice that your daughter is giving you tips at the gym!
Yes, I saw your core challenge on Deborah’s blog post. Core challenges are always good!
Hooray on the hamstring and boo on the Mets.
You are so disciplined on working out or walking. Wow.
No challenges or streaks. Just running and racing. Staying healthy!!
Ha- staying healthy is challenge enough! I guess you could say that’s the underlying motivation for everything I do.
I am sure my body could benefit from more yoga and stretching than I currently do and that is one of my goals for the next few months. I do like the challenge of walking daily as well 🙂 Glad your hamstring is feeling better
Thanks Deborah! My body definitely needs more yoga- why is it SO HARD to fit that in???
It’s good to hear that your hamstring is doing better and that you were fine on your 11-mile run on Wednesday. Well, except for taking in cleaner fluid-tasting Ucan. LOL
I’m not involved in any challenges this month other than my own of trying to keep steady on the cycling so I can reach my 2025 mileage goal.
Well- a yearly mileage goal is an ongoing challenge!
That’s great news on the hammy! I know how bothersome the simple act of sitting can be when one (or both) hammy is having attitude. I walk daily, especially with my job downtown now. It’s such an easy fitness fix!
Yes, I’ve been noticing how much you walk and I think it’s great to flush out sore muscles and keep the blood circulating. I’m hoping it’ll help any cranky areas that crop up this month!
Yay for walking and that squat form. Jenny! It looks amazing. You’re so nice and low. It is hilarious to me that your daughter is giving you squat advice. Also, that’s kinda cool?? And a new topic over which you can bond?
I am walking daily in October and that is it for challenges for me right now! I used to be very “into” streaks and challenges and wore myself out. So a short, intentional walk each day is more than enough for me 🙂
I’m enjoying my walks so far! And- my daughter gets down lower than that on her squats, grr! But- it’s good motivation for me.
Yay for the 11 mile trail run but boo on the weird gel flavor! I find coffee/mocha things to be hit or miss but I do love the Hüma mocha gel!
Yesterday was my first run back after taking a week off post-50K and I’m planning to just run for fun this month before starting to ramp up again in November for my next race, a 60K in January. We’re finally starting to have cooler temps here in the mornings so I’m hoping my runs will feel nice and maybe I’ll have to start wearing long sleeves again in a few weeks!
Long sleeves- how exciting! We would need a big change in our weather to get me into long sleeves- even in the winter I’m often wearing tank tops.
Now I’m wishing I had a Huma gel for my next run. I really wanted these Ucans to work, but so far I’m not a fan.
Great week! Good work with the squats, and your daughter’s advice is excellent. I’m so glad that your hamstring has been good to you! I thought of you today, and races – you have something coming up, don’t you?
My big event isn’t till March, but I’m contemplating a couple other ideas before then!
What a great week – glad the hamstring is feeling better!!! Love your dedication to finding photos for each day of the week. I feel like most of my mornings I’m just outside in the dark so my photos would all just be all black ha!
It’s pretty hard with all these dark runs. Well- in a month we’ll turn the clocks back, yay!
We don’t get off for the high holidays. I really wish we did.
Our football team has only won one game. I’m there for the band all the way. We had our first comp on Saturday… we got 1st in our division, plus all the captions awards. It was a beautiful show and I can’t wait for next week. It did rain a little bit during the dinner break, but it remained clear. The Oviedo comp got totally rained out and I felt so bad for them.
I’m glad your hamstring is doing ok!
Ha, we’re kind of the opposite- our football team is really good, and the band is… just fine, but nothing exceptional. We don’t do marching competitions, so our shows are pretty simple. But the band really adds a lot to the whole game experience, so it’s always fun.
The one streak I have maintained since early this year is my “daily activity” for Strava. It can be running, biking, walking or even strength, but my goal is to get something every day. At the end of the year you get a report of how many active days you’ve had, so I’m hoping mine is pretty darn close to 365 (I might have started in January).
I had a Ucan sample pack. I guess they were gels, but the packs were bigger than my regular gels and they were quite liquid vs gel. The flavors were OK, but I’m fine with GU so I stayed with that. The liquid texture was a bit odd though.