Hello and welcome to the weekly rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah. It was a week of runs, workouts, a little bit of tapering, and a fire in the Everglades. And oh yeah… we won something. Read on to find out what it is!
Sunday
Ah, what a great day. I ran nine miles on the trails and absolutely loved it. My foot felt fine during the run, and okay for the rest of the day. In order to not keep talking about my foot over and over again, just assume that it still hurts, maybe a little less, and usually not while I’m running. I’m just forging ahead with my running life and will see what happens.
Monday
Easy day- I did a yoga class, as always on the Peloton app (all classes this week were on Peloton) with my yoga bff, Denis Morton.
Tuesday
I decided to switch things up a bit since I have a race on Mother’s Day. Instead of a run, I did a heavier lower body strength class. It was Matty Maggiacomo’s 30 minute class, and I used 15 pound dumbbells. I know squats, lunges and deadlifts with 30 pounds isn’t heavy strength, but it’s heavy for me right now. I want to get back into doing this kind of strength work, as opposed to body weight and lighter weights. This is a good, hard class. Followed it up with a Rebecca Kennedy core class- her classes are also hard!
Wednesday
I did a 3 mile run on slightly sore, very heavy legs- exactly how I wouldn’t want to feel while running a race. That’s why I made sure to do lower body strength early in the week!
Followed this run with pull-up work. I did 15 negatives- where I pull myself up using the band, then slip my leg out of the band and lower my whole bodyweight down very, very slowly. So now my lower AND upper body are sore- perfect!
Thursday
Another yoga flow with Denis and core class with Rebecca.
As I was taking my daughter to school I noticed a burning smell, and realized that it was very smoky out west. I figured there must be a fire in the Everglades, and then heard on the radio that lightning struck in the natural area just west of us, WHERE I DO MY TRAIL RUNS, and started a fire. They warned people, especially those with respiratory problems, to stay indoors. Eek.
Friday
Another 3 mile run, and this one felt much better. The fire was still burning to the west, but luckily the air quality was fine while I ran. We could smell smoke on and off throughout the day and into Saturday, sometimes stronger than others. It must depend on how the wind is blowing.
Since I’m liking Matty these days, I decided to do his core class. It was good! I especially liked his description of how to do the bear plank- make sure your back is flat “like you’re balancing three perfect martinis. Don’t spill a drop!” Good cue, Matty!
Saturday
Another yoga class (yay! I did yoga three times this week) and Matty’s martini core class again.
So, today my husband announced that the gym at the school where he works is being redone and they’re getting rid of the old equipment. Unbeknownst to me, he put his name in a drawing and won… a stair stepper.
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. First of all, I’m wondering how big it is, but those gym machines are pretty big, right? The second thing I’m wondering is where in the world we’re going to put it. Right now I use my son’s room as my “gym” but I don’t think he’ll be happy if he gets home next week and there’s a huge stair stepper in his room.
So, it will have to go in the garage, which obviously is not air conditioned and furthermore is where we keep the cats’ litter boxes. I’m really not sure how this is going to fit into my exercise routine, but I’m slightly excited about it anyway. It’s always good to have options, right?
Sunday
On tap… a 5 mile race! Although my foot has prevented me from doing any real speedwork for a long time, I’m really going to push myself in this race. I tried to give my legs a break for the later part of this week to set myself up for a good run.
It’s not going to be fast, but I want to run as fast as I can right now. Then I’ll take that time and figure out some paces for speedwork moving forward. Race recap coming up on Tuesday!
For the rest of the day I’ll be relaxing, reading my book, and drinking tea out of my “Baylor Mom” mug. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who is celebrating!!!
Did you do a Mother’s Day race?
Do you have a home gym? Would you have room for a large stair stepper?
38 Responses
Good luck today. I hope your foot does not cause you pain and you have fun.
I used to run a race today. There are many. But I decided to do a fun one yesterday which was mostly walking. The view was worth it.
We will both dealing with hot weather this week.
Thanks Darlene! The race was hard (because it was super hot and sunny with no shade) but my foot didn’t hurt! So it was good.
How exciting–a race! Good luck today!!! Enjoy your Mother’s Day!
Your story about the fire in your trails reminded me that a few weeks ago while I was running the trails, I came upon a huge tree that had fallen across the trail. It wasn’t there the week before. So many trees have fallen in the woods over the winter and it occurred to me that I could have been running when that tree fell on the trail. EEEK
Wow, that’s a good point. i would imagine you’d have some warning if the tree were about to fall- but how does that happen anyway? Were there storms? As long as you were a safe distance away it would probably be fascinating to see.
Good luck on your race today!
Having a stair stepper would be great, but the only place that we have for fitness equipment is the basement, so it would depend on whether it could fit down the stairs.
Yes, I’ll be reporting back when we get this thing and I can actually see how big it is. Luckily we won’t have to get it down any stairs!
I hope you have so much fun today! Good luck and happy mother’s day to you. I also did that Matty class and loved it. Rebecca does have some great core classes.
Thanks Deborah! I did have a fun race and am having a nice Mother’s Day.I hope you are too!
Happy Mother’s Day! I hope your race went well. Glad to hear your foot pain is manageable, but I hope it continues to improve.
I have a nice space for my home gym, but with a treadmill, elliptical, bike, Bowflex, and empty space on the floor for strength workouts, it would be hard to squeeze in another piece of equipment!
15 lbs is my go to for lower body classes. I can use 20s for some moves, but not for a whole class.
Yes, the 15 pounds are perfect right now- I’m very fatigued by the end of the class, but it’s manageable.
Happy Mother’s Day to you too Coco!
Hope you had a great race today.
And, for the record, talk as much as you want about your foot! We can likely all relate to some chronic injury or life nuisance. That said, I hope it continues to be manageable and I’m so glad it’s not bothering you too much while running and that you fit in such a great long run!
Happy Mother’s Day, Jenny!
Thank you Elisabeth! Happy Mother’s Day to you too. My race was fun : )
Good luck on your race! Hope it goes well. Happy Mother’s Day!
I do have a home gym but I sure can’t fit one more thing in there – I already have my Peloton and an elliptical, and my husband has an enormous weight set and cable machine. A stair stepper wouldn’t fit for sure – but I bet you’ll enjoy it!
I would probably enjoy it more if it weren’t in the hot, smelly garage… but we’ll see! I can make it work.
I hope your race went well today and that your foot cooperated! I’m looking forward to reading the recap. I guess it depends on what kind of stair stepper it is as they range in size depending on the type and how much they adjust. We do have a home gym in the basement, but my three pieces of cardio (treadmill, spin bike, and elliptical) don’t fit in the workout room and are situated in their own little nook facing the TV area.
Wow, I’m envious of your options! Those would be three great machines to have at home (although I’m not wild about the elliptical.) You definitely have a nice setup.
I hope all went well for your race! My race was a windy and somewhat rainy (at times) mess. It worked out well, though, and my post-Climb legs came through for me in a great way 😉 I think I took that martini class, LOL!
Ooh, I can’t wait to read both of your race recaps!
I hope you had fun at your race today! So glad to hear your foot feels mostly good. It will be nice to have the stepper…as you said, options are always good!
The race was fun! The only time my foot bothered me was getting out of the car after the 30 minute drive back home. I wonder how my foot will like the stair stepper?
My home gym is a corner of the living room and I would absolutely not have room for a stair stepper, but I agree with you, I’d be kinda excited about getting one for free (and I am sure you’ll figure out a place for it LOL).
Glad you were able to get some miles in this week and I hope your race today was fun! I am sure you’ll share more about it. I didn’t have a race today, but I finally got out for a 4-mile loop again today – hadn’t run since I got back from Germany 2,5 weeks ago because of Peloton-Challenges I participated in.
Hope you also had a good rest of Mother’s Day!
Thank you San! My day was nice. And the race was fun. And yes, I’m excited to get pretty much anything for free!
I have a spinning bike in a corner of my living room where I also have some weights and my pilates mat. But would absolutely love to have a separate home gym. Maybe one day! I always find the smell of fire so unnerving – hopefully it has subsided now. Can’t wait to hear how your 5 miler went so I will definitely tune in on Tuesday!
Yep, race report coming up tomorrow!
I kind of wish we had won a spin bike… seems like it would be more useful. But I”ll take what I can get!
I hope your race was fantastic! You’ve persevered through so much! OMG I was just thinking the other day that if I could have ONE (more) piece of gym equipment, I’d want a stair stepper! Seriously. You’d probably need kind of a high ceiling for it, which I do not have in the pain cave but still, I think it’s a WIN! I’m sad about the fire.
That’s a great point that I didn’t even think of- it probably does require a high ceiling. Well, the garage should work. I do have to say that of all the cardio machines at the gym, the stair stepper is my favorite!
The only fitness equipment we have is a rowing machine. We have managed to move it all over our house, so I guess it’s not too heavy or too cumbersome, but I feel like my mom had an elliptical that eventually just became a piece of furniture because it was too unwieldy to move it!! Good luck – can’t wait to hear about reports on the stair stepper and if it gets use.
Oh yes- I’ll be posting stair stepper updates!
I hope you had a fabulous race & everything feels at least normal (for you) today.
Congrats on the stair stepper! I’d love to have more equipment, but I also wouldn’t have a place for it. But so fun that your husband won it!
I remember once I arrived at where I was trail running & they were doing a controlled burn. Then I had to figure out another trail to run on since I was training for a trail half at the time!
Yes, I had a good race and everything felt “normal for me.” Great way of putting it.
It’s always fun to win something. I’ll definitely be posting updates when we get it into our house.
Totally understand how you feel about the stair stepper, but maybe it won’t be as big as you imagine? Hopefully wherever you decide to put it will work out well.
I hope that you had a great Mother’s Day and that the race went well too!
Thank you Kim! I hope you had a nice day with your mom 🙂
I hope you had a great race! I did not run yesterday, but I ran about 6 miles the day before. I took our youngest to swimming lessons in the morning and then we were cooped up inside while it was raining. But it cleared up in the afternoon so we were able to go to a park after nap/quiet time.
I for sure do not have room for a stair stepper in our house! I was trying to convince my husband that we should get a treadmill, but we really do not have room. We have a basement area, but that is the kids’ play area since we don’t have a good play area on the main level. I think the previous owners had a treadmill in the area where I have my home office, but there wouldn’t be room for something in this room between the guest bedroom furniture and my office set up. But I’ve gotten over not having a treadmill. I have access to a gym at work now and I have been reminded how much I LOATHE running on a treadmill!
Ha ha… I was actually sort of wishing that we won a treadmill. Not that we really need it, living in Florida. But it could come in handy during a thunderstorm, or on those rare occasions where the only time I have to run is noon on a summer day. On the other hand… the stair stepper could be more handy as a cross trainer if one of us is injured. So I’ll take it!
Our basement is our gym and we would have room for a stair stepper, but would have to expand the “gym” part of the floor to the “entertainment” part! We bought an elliptical which is pretty big and it took up the last space of the “gym” part. A stair stepper will give you a good workout! Congrats 😉
Yes, I do have to say that of all the cardio machines at the gym, the stair stepper is my favorite. We’ll see how it works out!
Ooh, a stair stepper! How fun. I always enjoyed doing the stair stepper at the gym. There are so many fun ways to make that workout different!
I don’t have a home gym, though I wish I did! My spin bike is tucked into a corner of my bedroom and I keep my yoga mat + dumbbells in my walk-in closet. I dream of having a second bedroom someday that I can use as an office/home gym!
Yes, I always liked the stair stepper. I’m really wishing I had an extra room right now- it’s especially hard to do yoga when there are people (and cats) walking in and out.