After our “Florida cold spell” last week, we had more seasonal weather this week. It was still cool enough later in the day to run, so I took the opportunity to sleep a little later in the mornings. I was glad of the mild temps because there was not one, but TWO bloggers visiting our area this week! They got some nice weather (and we’ll see who they are in just a moment…)
As usual, I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Here we go…
Monday
In the morning I did my hip stability exercises and a short lower body strength workout at home. In the afternoon I got out for a 4 mile run.
Tuesday
Again I split my workout- in the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, and later in the day I did upper body strength.
Wednesday
It was a “long cardio” day at the gym! At this stage, I’m only doing a long run every other week and next week is a 50k. So I mixed it up today- 30 minutes on the bike, 30 minutes on the elliptical, and an hour of running on the treadmill.
Funny thing- when I started running, my legs felt so heavy (after the bike and elliptical) I was convinced the treadmill was at an incline even though I had it set to zero. I was so positive the treadmill must be broken, I switched to a different one. Ha- nope, it’s my legs! They felt better after about a mile or so.
Thursday
In the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s Stellar Abs workout and my hip stability exercises. Then, after work, I met Debbie and Darlene! We went for a walk at Wakodahatchee Wetlands.
Debbie’s husband was also there with his camera. Later Debbie told me he took 4000 pictures of the birds and other wildlife!!! I took this one:
Friday
In the morning I did Carline Girvan’s deadbug workout again, and then later in the day I ran 4 miles. I’m embracing these late afternoon runs! Soon it will be too hot and I’ll be back to early mornings.
Saturday
I had a run planned for the afternoon, but I felt a tiny twinge in my foot. Nothing really worrisome, but at this point I’m not taking any chances. I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical instead, and then, since I was there, I did a lower body strength workout. THEN, I got out a mat and had a nice stretch session. Overall I felt like it was more effective than just running would have been.
Sunday
On tap for today… sleeping in and rest! And yoga- I can feel my low back from those squats at the gym. Also, I kind of blew off Valentine’s Day so I’m planning to bake a heart-shaped cake today.
How was your week? Did you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
40 Responses
Happy Post-Valentine’s Day! I hope your cake turns out beautifully!
(I made gift baskets for the fam.)
Thank you Maya! Let’s call it “Valentine’s Boxing Day.” The cake is in progress!
That was smart to change plans when you felt that twinge! You had a great week of workouts! I was in NYC this week but I did one hotel workout on the treadmill and went to an OTF class!
We didn’t do anything for Valentine’s Day. The boys celebrated at school and got gifts from their grandparents so they had a good holiday overall!
Yes, when the kids are little they have fun school celebrations, and that’s really all they need.
Nice job getting two workouts in a busy week. Was the OTF in NY or at home? Is it the type of thing where you can go anywhere if you have a membership?
I went to an OTF class in Manhattan! Some studios charge you extra even if you have an unlimited membership and that was the case in NYC. But it was worth it to get a really good workout in!
Yay for a blogger walk and being able to run in the afternoons. It’s a good life!
Yes, I really can’t complain!
How great to see Debbie and Darlene! Your bird photo is striking.
My husband got me a card and nice (small) gifts but I could NOT find the special card I got for him. I bought it in Boston and am hoping it is somehow on my desk with other papers I took with me — since I put it in my work bag “to keep it safe”. Argh!
Good luck with your 50k this week!
Thanks Coco! Well- hopefully it’s the thought that counts, and your husband won’t mind getting a belated Valentine. : )
So happy to make your blog.
That’s a cool pic.
Keep it up. You’ll be ready.
Thank you Darlene! You made Debbie’s blog as well!
How much fun to have both Debbie and Darlene visiting together. Funny, when I ran the Maine half a few years ago, they were both there as well.Wondering what the reasoning is to do your elliptical and bike before the tread run? When I was doing the Matt Wilpers coaching a few years ago he always preached to us to make the main thing the main thing and the rest was just icing on the cake. It definitely stuck with me.So just wondering!
I do it that way so I get used to running on tired legs, which is definitely what I’ll be doing in my race! And- Debbie and Darlene were talkinga bout how you were all in Maine together- very briefly, it sounds like!
I love how you balanced all the workouts with meetups and even some rest.
Late-afternoon runs in mild weather sound perfect.
As for Valentine’s Day…Valentine-Free Zone over here!
I absolutely do not like all those commercial holidays, so I’m cheering your heart-shaped cake purely for the fun of baking!
Yeah, I’m not into the holiday. But my daughter is, and everyone likes cake so I’m baking it!
I’m glad the two bloggers from the big freeze got some nice weather in Florida!
You’re really kicking ass if your long run is… 50k!!?? Just wow! I hope your foot settles down until then.
We don’t really care about Valentine’s day. But we had a nice weekend getting things done at home and tasting what my husband gave me for my birthday.
Well, the 50k isn’t done yet! Wait till next week and we’ll see if I kicked ass or not.
Nice bird! I don’t know how to tell them apart, but I do know that both cormorants and anhingas will spread their wings out like that, because their feathers aren’t coated the way other birds’ are, so they have to air the feathers to dry them.
You know more about birds than I do- but that’s not saying a lot. When we were on our walk, EVERYONE around us seemed to know a lot, including small children. Ha- I was definitely the odd one out.
We did buy Valentine’s chocolates (well technically my husband bought one for each family member, so he bought his own…) but other than that we didn’t do anything special [do BOGO Whoppers count?]. What fun having TWO bloggers in your area! I did drive right past where Kim lives in Iowa but we were on a mission, no time to stop by. That’s a really cool bird pic. I think “enjoying a late afternoon run” would be something I would never say. My body (stomach mostly) doesn’t do great with that time slot! That’s so funny how you thought the treadmill was stuck on an incline. I would have thought the same thing and jumped over to another one! Great workouts this week, good idea to pivot when the niggles are around.
It’s funny sometimes I HATE afternoon runs. Lately I’ve been in a phase where I like them, but as I said- soon it will be way too hot. SIGH.
ahh what a fun meetup! I did a double take at first when I was scrolling – I was like, hey, they look familiar I bought Valentine’s chocolates for my husband and my kids. We also made chocolate covered fruit and pretzels as a family with my new double boiler I got for Christmas – it was so fun. Nic ejob this week and nice job mixing it up as you need.
Okay, that does sound fun and now I’m imagining fondue. You should have a fondue party!
Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! I had a few nice messages, a fun phone call, and a fabulous FaceTime with a dear friend. And plenty of cuddles with Mr. Max. I got a few groceries after church this morning……and scored a package of white chocolate Reeses hearts 😉 Nice workouts, especially those two hours of cardio at the gym!
As, sounds like you had a nice day- but especially those Max cuddles!!! Those are the best.
Hope that twinge in your foot is nothing and you don’t even notice it on your next run!
It was so nice meeting you on Thursday! Bill has been working hard editing photos (between bike rides) and I’ll send you some of his best! He really focused on zooming in on the parents feeding the babies – so cute!
Oh yes I definitely want to see those!!! Yes, that meetup was really fun.
This time of year is great being able to get in runs later in the day! Though I usually struggle with feeling good trying to run after work so I stick with mornings mostly but I’m trying to get in some evening runs just to get in some extra mileage.
I celebrated Valentine’s Day by going for a 13.5 mile trail run! It’s actually Arizona’s birthday on Valentine’s Day so I get more excited about that haha. But I’m staying with my parents this weekend and my mom made me a mushroom Wellington for dinner last night that was really tasty. And I’ve gotten to catch up on some of the Olympics coverage which has been fun!
Excited to hear how your 50K long run goes!
That’s a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Hmm, next year it should be on a Sunday so maybe I’ll celebrate with a long run as well.
Have fun with your parents- unfortunately I hate mushrooms (I know- SO inconvenient for a vegan!) so I wouldn’t like the mushroom Wellington. But I’m sure it was tasty for non-mushroom haters.
How fun to see both Debbie and Darlene! That preserve sounds cool! All those birds! Hopefully, some of them are ‘our’ birds, and they will be heading north soon. Bringing your warm weather with them!
Fingers crossed your foot pain was just a niggle, nothing to worry about. So the 50k you have coming up isn’t your goal race?
No, it’s just a training run. Not even a real race, I’m just doing it on my own. My goal race is in March.
Yes- I’m sure some of these birds will be returning north soon!
How fun! Another meet up! I think that photo of the bird that you took is a cormorant, right? My understanding is that they have to dry their wings sometimes which is why they sit there with their wings spread. There are tons of birds where you went and the photo of the heron is good too!
Ha! Again, you know way more about birds than I do : ) But that’s not hard.
I’m laughing at cold spell and then seeing you in a tank top running! I just cannot even imagine! Most days in the summer I get cold at least once in the day – ha.
I run in a tank top unless it gets down into the 50s- then I”ll put on a long sleeve. I almost always get too hot while running.
That bird photo is STUNNING. I don’t know much about birds but I know when photos look really cool. I’m glad you only had to accommodate a little twinge this week. I hope next week everything feels great!
We made our yearly Valentine’s Day cards! And we went to see my nephew play a high school basketball game Saturday night. He played all of two minutes, the team lost by 30 points, and they only played Christian music during the intermission parts and I am not going to lie, it was the most thrilling anthropological two and a half hours of my life. I cannot imagine people doing this MULTIPLE TIMES a week for MONTHS. Anyway, maybe not the most romantic Valentine’s Day, but at least I was with my dude.
We are unseasonably warm andf or me it is perfect running weather. No coat! No gloves! But still not oppressively hot– love it!
I love the bird photos! The one at the top of your post, and then the one with the spread wings…gorgeous shots.
Yay for a good week of workouts, weather cool enough to run in the afternoon, and blogger meet ups!
We had a nice Valentine’s Day. Very low key. I bought cards for my husband and daughter, my daughter bought a bottle of champagne, and my husband made a snacky dinner of cheese, bread, and fruit. And chicken, but only he ate the chicken.
Oh what a fun week! And I’m sure your cake turned out great!
way to go, pivoting when you felt that twinge! Protect yourself!
And I hope you had a wonderful time with Darlene and Debbie!