Week in review Dec. 23-29: When I don't have to work, I train a lot! Amazing!

A great week for me!

I had an enjoyable week of Christmas vacation last week. I cooked and baked, I slept in, I had (mostly) a good time with family, and I trained a lot. I took the actual day of Christmas off, but I did at least one thing every other day. Bonus: The weather cooperated enough that I got to do all my three runs outside. Yay!

I also felt good enough on my long run, and have been doing my PT religiously enough, that I could knock out 9.5 miles running. It's been almost a year since I've been able to do that with all the weirdness in my hamstrings, IT band, knee, etc. and I have been very careful to build my running mileage back up slowly.

I am hopeful I can continue to build to 2 solid hours of running once a week, before I try to bring my pace down a bit. Ideally I would like to take on a spring half marathon, but I'm not making any plans quite yet.

I had great numbers last week:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 62.5 fake trainer miles in about 4:07. I thought about doing slightly longer rides during my time off, but in the end I spent the extra time lifting or doing PT, or rushing off to a family event. I'm satisfied with this.

Also, I was planning on doing another FTP test sooner rather than later but ... my usual workouts are still feeling pretty hard, so I am going to put that off for another few weeks

Run: Three times, all on the ROAD, for 22.75 miles in about 3:43. I love running during the day! This worked out to be an easy Christmas Eve run (for which I dressed all in red and green, haha), a nice speed run with actual half-mile pickups (not my fastest but still decent), and the long run of 9.5 miles. These were all chilly but not so cold I was uncomfortable, so this is a big win for me. Yay!

Weights: Twice, one of my heavy/body weight sessions and one video, for about 2:20 total. I skipped my pullup/chinup practice after my video since I wasn't feeling well, but lifting twice a week is a huge win for me, so hooray!

PT: Three times of my latest homework, plus rolling out my quads and calves afterward, for about 1:45 total. My calves have been KILLING me and I'm not sure why — I'm not running hillier routes than normal or anything. I will continue to roll and stretch.

Yoga: One solo, 15-minute session to try to unlock my tight hips.

Total: 12 (!!!) sessions in about 12:10. A great week for me!

I got this week off to a good start with one last trainer ride and one last weight lifting session for the year, and I'm signed up for a last-minute 5K tomorrow to send off 2019. I'm not going to hit any huge goals or amazing numbers to wrap up the year, but that's OK.

Sadly, I go back to work Thursday and it'll be back to my usual routine. BUT, I definitely did enjoy the time off, and the rest and extra training it allowed me. I hope you are also having a good holiday season!

I hope you had yourself a merry little Christmas

I hope your Christmas or holiday of choice was a great one! If you hit all your workouts, great. If you hit rest day hard, great. If you ate your weight in pumpkin bread (ahem), great. I hope you celebrated, or didn't, however you wanted.

I am halfway through my holiday break from work and it's going well. I haven't accomplished my long list of to-dos yet, but I have slept in, done a bunch of baking, and ran or rode the trainer almost every day (I took Christmas off).

It's also been unseasonably warm here in southeast Michigan. It's been nice not having to bundle up for every run. And, I busted out some fun Christmas socks on Christmas Eve.

It was a nice day for an easy run.

The mutts let me take one good picture of them. Merry Christmas to me.

I had to bribe them with many treats.

Here's hoping to rest, relaxation, and peace for all of you!

December 16-22: The beginning of holiday hullabaloo

Not a shabby week, considering.

I'm really trying to get over to this little corner of the internet more often than once per week, but last week was when the holiday overscheduling and stress really started to take hold. It was an accomplishment to do an average of one workout per day, and I'm counting that as a success.

I ended up running errands after work both Tuesday and Thursday, and fit in writing out Christmas cards whenever I could find the time. I took Wednesday off work for personal and holiday-related tasks, and had high hopes that I could get in some extra training. Alas, nothing went according to plan and I had to be happy with one regular weekday trainer ride.

My last day of work for the year was Friday and my boss sent me home early. I had rearranged my whole week for a party that evening, but we ended up staying in. No problem! I used the extra time to dye my hair and we even ran a last-minute errand that night. We definitely put the extra time to good use.

Training-wise, last week was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 63 fake miles in about 4:04. I feel like it took me a few weeks to settle into my latest FTP, and recently I am happy to complete a tough ride without needing a break. I have 4-5 tough, hour-long workouts I do on repeat pretty much, and I'll keep doing them until they get less hard.

Run: Three times, two on the treadmill and one on the road, for 21 miles in about 3:32. Whatever is going on with my hip/IT band/glute is feeling better enough that I tested out a real speed run on Friday, slowly building speed every mile, and ran for 9 miles on Sunday. Hooray!

PT: One session of my latest exercises followed by quad and calf rolling for about 35 minutes. My hip KILLED when I did these which was positive (negative?) reinforcement to keep doing it.

Total: Seven sessions in about 8:11. Considering how many holiday-related shenanigans were packed into the week, I am perfectly fine with this.

Like I said, I'm done with work for the year and couldn't be happier. I plan on taking Christmas Day off training, but hope to get in a few extra workouts and minutes here and there. I also plan on sleeping in, drinking lots of wine, taking my dogs on walks, and otherwise relaxing and enjoying myself.

I hope your holidays are off to a good start and you are staying sane!

Week in review Dec. 9-15: Winter riding and winter running

Not a bad week!

I meant to come over here sometime mid-last week to check in, but with the holidays and associated stress levels and to-do lists, something had to give. Sorry! Everything is mostly fine, just busy.

I made one daily workout and cooking a healthy dinner my priorities, and therefore managed a pretty darn good week of workouts. Yesterday, Sunday, marked my ninth day of workouts in a row. Woo! I was out of town a bit during November, so I’m happy to get a good base for December going. And, a wedding Saturday was the only time I didn’t cook a (mostly) healthy dinner last week. Double woo!

Of course, it meant my week was pretty boring. I did a mini mid-week food prep session. We stayed in and watched TV Friday. The victory/accomplishment of the week was getting new passport photos taken, and I am just fine with that being the height of excitement this time of year. It’s OK to be boring! (hahaha)

I did have some good workouts last week. Even though I was more tired than usual (damn short sunlight hours) I did two shorter trainer rides during the week and one long trainer ride Saturday. My hip/psoas/glute/IT band/whatever is going on there felt well enough that I could do a bit of speed on the treadmill Friday, and I happily did not regret it on Saturday. I also did 8.5 miles running Sunday, only the second time I’ve been able to do that since last February. I was a little sore last night trying to sleep but not to the point where I felt I should not have run.

I think what really helped this week was two weights sessions (one barre class and one of my regular videos) and a round of PT, so three days total of something that included glute and hamstring exercises. I KNOW I need to do this more often to continue to strengthen my glutes and hamstrings but I often just run out of time. I am working on it.

The week worked out to be:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 62 fake trainer miles in about 4 hours, 5 minutes. I try to mix up my weekday workouts with different interval sessions (progressively shorter with higher intensity, repeated builds, etc.) and do a longer slog on Saturdays for endurance. So far, so good.

Run: Three times, twice on the treadmill and once on the road, for 20 miles in about 3 hours, 25 minutes. My treadmill runs were one easy and one slight progression of 5 miles increasing from 6.2-6.6 mph on the treadmill (9:40 minute per mile pace to 9:05 pace). I haven’t been doing any speed work at all so I felt challenged, but not BAD.

So, I felt OK shooting for 8.5 running miles Sunday, and didn’t really notice my hip/IT band/glute/whatever until the last 2 miles or so. It was chilly for me, but I bundled up and tried to keep moving. My ears were pretty cold, but I survived; plus, I knew I had to take advantage of getting any midday sun I could. (One more week until the solstice — I can do this!) My splits ranged from 9:33 for my first to a 10:04 pace for my last half mile, which is about what I expected. I’m not terribly concerned with doing fast long runs right now.

Weights: Twice this week! Yay for me! This a Muscle Monday (haha) video at home, and a barre class later in the week. I followed both with chin-up and pullup practice. I can do three sets of TWO full, HANGING pullups (overhand grip) now, which might be the most pullups I’ve ever been able to do. I have no real reason for working on these other than I want to and it’s kind of badass. Haha!

PT: Not nearly enough, but I did do one round of hip/glute/etc. moves for about 35 minutes on a day I didn’t do weights.

Total: Nine sessions in about 10 hours, 15 minutes. Yay, I hit the 10-hour mark! It’s been a couple of months since I’ve done that.

I am hoping that this week is another quiet, uneventful week during which I can do my workouts, cook healthy dinners, do some prep for Christmas here and there, and otherwise stay off the radar. I’m taking Wednesday off for errands and other things and I have a fridge full of healthy food, so I am well on my way. I just need to make it to Friday, when I can rest, relax, and reset.

I hope you had a great week and if you are preparing to celebrate the holidays, you are full of cheer and not stress!

Week in review Dec. 2-8: Slow to get into a groove and the start of Christmas shenanigans

Not a great week, but not terrible, either.

It was A Week. I had a work event Wednesday night, and that derailed most of the rest of my week. Add in it getting dark at 5 p.m., difficulty sleeping, and beginnings of holiday stress, and I never really did get into a good groove last week.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. I still rode the trainer three times, and ran 8 miles for the first time in over a month. My hip is still being weird, but it’s not feeling any worse and I’m not in actual pain. We did our annual Christmas photo shoot with the dogs and got one usable pic. We had an amazingly hilarious time at a Christmas party with friends. It was still a good week, just not a great one as far as training.

I also got to sleep in Saturday morning and felt like a new woman afterward. It was short-lived, as we were out late for the party Saturday and watching the series finale of Silicon Valley Sunday. Oh, well.

Like I said, it wasn’t terrible:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 63.5 fake trainer “miles” in about 4:07. This was my one real victory last week! I am coming up on another scheduled FTP test, and I honestly don’t think I’m ready yet. There are still workouts I need to take short breaks to complete, so I will keep chugging away for a bit yet.

Run: Twice, once on the treadmill and once on the road, for 14 miles total in about 2:26. I just didn’t have any energy left by Friday evening, so took the night off to do our Christmas pics and make dinner instead. I was passed out in bed by 11 p.m. I obviously needed the rest more than I needed a third run.

Yoga: One 15-minute session to try to stretch out my hips and lower back.

Total: Six sessions in about 6:48.

They can’t all be rock star weeks, and I’m happy to have done what I did. And, I got some non-training, important other stuff done too. My goal is to regroup for the coming week so I have a strong base going into the holiday season. Making time to work out can be stressful but not working out at all makes me a short fuse, so it’s better for everyone in the long run!

November in review: Lots of time away but that’s OK

Hours last month: Decent biking and running, considering how busy November was.

It's the 8th already!!! It's been... a week. I don't get enough sleep on a good week, work has been stressful, I am letting Christmas stress get to me, the dark evenings are leaving me exhausted, and I had to work an evening last week, which threw off the whole rest of the week. But! I am here now and better late than never for a monthly recap.

I knew November wouldn’t be the best month for training as it’s usually a busy month. Both mine and my husband’s birthdays were last month, plus we usually semi-host Thanksgiving, and this year we went on a road trip for a few days. The last few months have seen at least 30 training sessions, but I only managed 26 for November. I ended up taking 9 days completely off training: five for our road trip, two for my husband's birthday, one for mine, and one Friday for a friend's holiday party. I mean, it's the holidays — there are going to be things scheduled, and I'm not going to feel guilty about them.

Even with the holiday hubbub I still had some training victories. I had a huge bump in my FTP. I ran a 9-miler, my longest run in months. I still managed some PT and weights. I managed to work out on the weeks we had events or were traveling, before or after we left. It wasn't all gloom and doom.

Overall, November worked out to be:

Bike: 9 times, all on the trainer, for 179 fake miles in about 11 hours, 53 minutes. It's still more than twice per week, and I am logging slightly more mileage in the same amount of time as my FTP goes up, so this is a slow and steady win.

Run: 10 times, 4 outside and 6 on the treadmill, for 61.5 miles in about 10 hours, 55 minutes. My hip was acting weird most of the month (I'm sure it's compensating for my weak glutes since I've been avoiding PT) so I had to cut back on mileage and speed work, but I was able to start building back by the end of the month.

Weights: Three times, two barre classes and one heavy/body session, for about 3:25. Not a great month for weights, but I was gone or off quite a bit, so I'm counting this as a victory.

PT: Three times for about 1:45. WAAAAAAAAY less than what I should have done. Most weeks, this was the first to go. And it's no coincidence that my hip starts acting up when I start neglecting the PT.

Yoga: Once for about 15 minutes. Again, WAAAAAAAAAY less than what I should have done. With everything else going on in my life, I just am not making this a priority.

Total: 26 sessions in about 27 hours, 43 minutes. I'll take it.

December is off to a slow start with a work event and a Friday off already throwing me for a loop, but I am confident I can rally and get into a better groove as the month goes on. Plus, I have some time off work coming up, which words cannot express about which how happy I am. If I can hang on until the 20th I know the extra rest and time for training will do me good.

I don't have any big goals for December since I have been slacking on adding up all my workouts for the year. I think I'm at 356 as of right now, so 400 is probably out, but maybe 375? (I did 453 total workouts last year, much of that PT.) I am not worried about the numbers as much as finishing strong — continuing to build my rides and runs; continuing my weights, yoga, and PT; and finally getting into the pool. And, while I'm at it, enjoying myself and the holiday season.

Hope your December is off to a holly jolly start!

Week in review Nov. 25-Dec. 1: Not bad for two days nearly completely off

Not a shabby week, considering the mid-week festivities.

(I forgot to publish this last night — eek! Happy Tuesday!)

I knew there would be downtime in in the middle of last week with my birthday and Thanksgiving, so I planned to hit Monday and Tuesday hard and rally on Friday for a strong weekend. What really happened was I poked Monday and Tuesday, rested and relaxed most of Wednesday and Thursday, and had a strong rally Friday through the weekend. I’ll take it.

I did my usual Monday trainer ride and Tuesday run after work, although I got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way home from the gym Tuesday and didn’t eat dinner until around 9:30 p.m. (I had to coach my husband over the phone how I wanted an onion chopped and ground beef seasoned, but he did it.) I took Wednesday off work to mourn/celebrate turning the big 4-0, and also took it off from training. I really wanted a day just to relax and do whatever I wanted, and it was great. We went out for breakfast, we got massages, I upgraded my phone, etc.

Thursday, American Thanksgiving, I hit the mimosas and family started coming over to our house late morning. We went out to an early dinner, but did desserts and coffee afterward for a few hours back at our place. By the time everyone was gone at 5:30 or so, I was so confused about what day and time it was. We watched TV for a bit and I got kind of bored with being a slug, so I did a bit of yoga, bought one thing online, and called it a day.

I did have Friday off work and I hate the whole concept of Black Friday shopping, so I did some training instead. I went to barre class, worked on chin-ups and pull-ups at home, went for an easy run after it warmed up a bit, and even did my PT. And I was done with plenty of time left for us to go see a movie — Zombieland: Double Tap, exactly the sort of brainless (haha) comedy we were hoping for.

Saturday I did my usual long ride and then my PT, and Sunday I did a long-ish run (I’m back up to 7.5 miles running) and more PT. Three days is the most PT I’ve done in a week in at least three months — shame on me. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the hip pain I’ve been experiencing lately is probably due to neglecting PT exercises.

Overall, the week worked out to be:

Run: Three times, once on the treadmill and twice outside, for 19 miles in about 3:13 total. This is almost exactly the same time I ran last week with an extra half-mile total mileage, which I attribute to doing my long run slightly faster. I’m not really trying to go faster, but my hip is feeling better enough that I don’t have to go quite as slowly, if that makes sense.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 46.5 fake trainer miles in about 3:05. I knew I would have to skip at least one regular workout with the holiday/birthday, and decided to skip the third bike session. Eh, whatever.

PT: Three times of my most recent prescribed moves and rolling out of the quads and calves for about 1:45 total.

Weights: One barre class followed by pull-up/chin-up practice for about 1:10.

Yoga: One solo session for about 15 minutes.

Total: 10 sessions in a hair under 9.5 hours. Not shabby at all. I could have gotten up super early on Thanksgiving and done one more, but… eh. I’m happy with how the week turned out.

Last week was fun but I am appreciating being back in my routine. I prepped healthy lunches for the week Sunday and made sure to eat the rest of the brownies before I went to bed — you know, to get them out of the house (haha). I’m not appreciating getting up early, leaving my dogs, and going to work, but adulthood and all that. I am hoping to knock out some consistent workouts so I can get this week and December going as healthfully as possible.

A week of celebration and Thanksgiving

My birthday usually falls during the week of Thanksgiving, so the past few days have been nothing but eating, celebrating, and other mild debauchery.

I really don't care about how many calories are in stuffing or pie, and I really don't care to punish myself with exercise to burn off calories. I eat my food, I enjoy my food. I choose to train (most days), I enjoy my training (most days). If I do a Turkey Trot, great. If I sit on the couch and watch The Godfather all day, also great.

I had to stop one Thanksgiving discussion from going too far into calories and points because... come on. It's Thanksgiving. Eat your turkey cupcakes.

I didn't do any activity on my birthday but I did do some stretching after everyone left on Thanksgiving day. I picked it back up Friday (I had the day off work) with a barre class, a run, and my PT. I continued today with a trainer ride and more PT. I wasn't "burning off my dinner." I was training because I like to train.

I found a few memes that perfectly sum up my feelings on the matter:

I plan on getting back into my normal eating routine for December, indulging at parties and gatherings when I want. I won't "burn off" those meals, either. I'll eat what I want, train when I want, and enjoy myself — and I hope you do, too.

Week in review Nov. 18-24: Finally, some heavy weights and PT

Finally, something resembling a good week.

I got back into something resembling a groove last week. I rode the trainer or ran after work Monday through Thursday, I did a long trainer ride Saturday, and I did a longer-than-usual-but-not-quite-long run on Sunday. It was pretty much a normal week.

I was also able to rally Saturday and Sunday for one more thing each day, my heavy/body weight routine on Saturday and, finally, some PT/pre-hab on Sunday. I went back through my logs and it had been three months, almost to the day, since I last lifted heavy. Ugh! Two days later and I am still feeling it. I really struggle in the evenings making time for PT after a workout but I didn’t let myself have any excuses Sunday and I got it done.

For a couple of weeks now, I have been having some pain in my outer hip area … on the left side, where almost all of my injuries have occured. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the hip pain started up a week or so after I really started neglecting my PT exercises and let my weights slide to once per week on a good week. During resistance band clamshells and hip extensions hurt SO badly Sunday. I know I am letting my glutes get weak, and my hips are probably compensating, painfully.

Logically, I know I cannot keep neglecting PT as I get older but it is SO hard for me in the evenings after a long day of work, a run or trainer ride, making dinner, and getting to bed at a decent hour. Now that it’s cold out, it’s probably time to dust off the slow cooker and throw a meal in there a couple of times per week to save me an hour in the evenings. I did make a big pot of chili and a lasagna this past weekend, so that’s a start!

Anyway, last week’s workouts were:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 62.5 fake trainer miles in about 4:05. This is two, hour-long rides during the week and a two-hour ride on Saturday, all while watching The Good Place.

Run: Twice on the treadmill and once on the road for 18.5 miles in about 3:13. The treadmill runs were nice and boring 5-milers to not aggravate my hip/glute situation, and Sunday’s run was a nice, long-ish easy run around the neighborhood while the temperatures weren’t quite as cold as they have been and the sun was still shining. I took this super easy and did 7 running miles, which isn’t too shabby for taking two weeks off long runs. All runs started and ended with a quarter-mile walk, for the extra 1.5 miles.

Weights: One round of my heavy/body routine (stuff like pushups, deadlifts, shoulder presses, etc.) for about 1:15. I tried a 10-minute ab/core workout at the end of a Bob Harper (of the Biggest Loser) video I’ve been neglecting, and eh. I don’t think I’ll do it again, but at least I tried something new.

PT: One round of my running form exercises plus some rolling of my quads/IT bands and calves afterward for about 35 minutes.

Total: 8 sessions in about 9:08, a pretty good week for me these days.

I had some other fun in there in addition to the chili and lasagna: We hung out with friends on Friday night, we went to a nice breakfast out Saturday, I had a long-overdue Skype call with my sister, and I made a couple of fun desserts yesterday (although it remains to be seen if any will still be around Thursday!). This week, I am hoping to get in nice workouts early in the week, take Wednesday off for something that rhymes with schmirthday, and eat too much for Thanksgiving on Thursday. I do have Friday off work so I’m hoping to get in a nice run and maybe a barre class, and then be in a good position to get some longer training done over the weekend. And do some relaxing, of course.

I am very much looking forward to a few days off, turkey, and Thanksgiving treats. Whether you celebrate or not, I hope you all have a great week.

Week in review Nov. 11-17: A birthday and a tight IT band means I’m still not back on schedule

Not a great week, but most of these were solid.

I’m a bit bummed because this last week was another training flop. I had high hopes that we’d get back from our Traverse City/Chicago getaway early enough Monday that I could fit in a trainer ride, but the weather was so bad we didn’t get home until almost 10 p.m. I knew I’d likely be taking Saturday completely off training to celebrate my husband’s birthday at the college football game, but I ended up inflaming my IT band during my speed run Friday badly enough that I could barely walk Saturday. I was still in a bit of pain on Sunday, so I decided to play it safe and not do anything.

As a result, I don’t have much to report. The workouts I DID do were pretty good, though: A nice and boring treadmill run; a good speed run of descending miles with the last at a 8:27 pace, which was challenging but doable for me at this point in my fitness; a hard trainer ride during which I didn’t need to take any breaks; and my first barre class in more than a month. So, four workouts Tuesday through Friday with quality over quantity, I guess? It’s something.

Anyway, last week was:

Run: Twice, both on the treadmill, for 11.5 miles in just shorter than two hours.

Bike: One trainer ride of 16 fake trainer miles just longer than one hour.

Weights: One hour-long barre class.

Total: Four sessions in just about four hours.

I am really, REALLY hoping I can get back into a routine this week. I want to have some solid habits back in place to offset some of the turkey and sweets I’ll be enjoying regret-free over the holidays. Except for typical vacation and birthday celebration eating this last week and a half, I actually have been eating spinach and lean meat for breakfast and bringing a salad for lunch every day, so I have that going for me. But as much as Oct. 31 through Jan. 1 is a long string of candy, birthday sweets, and holiday cookies, I don’t need to indulge EVERY day.

Here’s to another week. Hopefully I can get through it with limited IT band tightness and sugar highs, and lots of solid training sessions.

Another bump in FTP!

I need to spend more time here, working hard.

In early October I re-tested my FTP (functional threshold power) to see what gains I have been making on the bike trainer. It didn’t go well.

It started off feeling really hard and I knew right away it wasn’t going to be pretty. I couldn’t keep up with the wattage targets and was at failure much earlier than I would have liked or expected. The suggested new target afterward was lower than the previous by 5 points, so I declined it.

I’m not sure why it was such a dud – it had been a weird week of family in town and then a college football homecoming game, so my schedule was a bit off. I don’t remember my eating or sleeping being particularly bad in the few days before except for general not sleeping enough during the week and life stress. I had run the day before, but it was nothing too strenuous. It was probably just a bad day.

So, earlier in November, about 3.5 weeks after the first test, I tried again. This time the trainer gods smiled down upon me. I could tell from the beginning that it was going to be a good test, and I was able to keep increasing my effort for far longer than the time before. In the end, I had a new, shiny FTP a full 4.9% higher than my last successful test in mid-August. Woo hoo! I had been expecting only an incremental gain (my last two increases were 2-3%) so I was pretty stoked to see such a jump.

… That is, of course, until my next two rides when I actually had to try to sustain something close to that new power goal. One of my go-tos on Trainer Road is Gilbert, during which you ride steadily for 5 minutes just below FTP, then increase for 5 minutes, then recover, for four intervals. This time around, I had to take a break halfway through every 10-minute interval. But that’s OK, because the next time I do this, I hope to have improved to the point where I can take no breaks, or at least get a few minutes into the increase before I have to dial it back.

If nothing else, this was a reminder that progress may not be linear all the time, but forward is still forward. If you keep working hard, you’ll probably get better – what a concept! I want to test one more time before the end of the year to see if I can get a little better with some more hard work. In the meantime, it's all about putting in the time and effort to keep increasing the engine.

November 4-10 in review: Vacation not-running

Bike, run, head out of town.

Well, I’m glad I front-loaded some workouts last week because running on my mini-vacation did not happen. I brought clothes for a chilly outdoor run and a hotel gym run, but I was neither brave enough for the ice and snow that blanketed northern Michigan, nor disciplined enough to get out of a comfortable hotel bed on less than 8 hours of sleep to run before breakfast and checking out.

However, the extra-long weekend was still a lot of fun. We had to skip a winery event because my little car literally could not make it up an ice-covered hill, but we made it to several other wineries and several breweries, and did get some exercise doing some light, snowy hiking on the trails in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We couldn’t do the dune climb in the snow but we probably got in a good 4-5 miles of light-to-moderate trail hiking. I should have worn my Garmin! There was a part hiking up a ski trail that we were peeling off layers in 20-degree temperatures, we were working so hard. The views of orange leaves against the white snow was gorgeous!

After our jaunt up north we headed to Chicagoland to surprise a friend for his birthday, which we pulled off successfully! We did a little walking around Chicago on Sunday and some 12-ounce curls, but I only logged three real workouts Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before heading out of town Thursday morning. But, that’s ok – it was nice to take a break and get away from it all for a few days. And now my wine cabinet is full of cherry and dessert wines from the Leelanau Peninsula. Yum!

The workouts were:

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 32 fake trainer miles in about 2:05. Both of these were at my new FTP (update coming soon) and I was SUFFERING, especially on the second. I have never had to take so many breaks for a trainer ride. But now I have a goal to come back and do that same ride with fewer breaks.

Run: Once on the treadmill for 5.5 miles in 57 minutes. A boring, steady-state run to get in some mileage before heading out.

Total: Three sessions in 3:02.

Any activity I can get in during a week that includes heading out of town is a success in my book, so we’ll call it a stepback week. This week I am ready to get back into a groove and burn off some of those party drinks and vacation breakfasts, and to make sure I’m securely on the wagon when the holidays start coming fast and furious in a few weeks.

In the meantime, enjoy some beautiful northern Michigan hiking pics:

October: Not bad training through football, fall, a 5K, and more

Not a shabby breakdown for the month.

October had a bit of everything – family in town, football games, a 5K, sickness, and passing out candy for Halloween. The way the month was all over the place, I’m kind of impressed I kept up with any kind of training schedule at all.

I ended up with about 30 hours of training in 30 workouts, which makes me happy. I counted 8 (!) days off from training for the month for sickness, Halloween, or whatever, so that works out to about 1.4 workouts per days I did workouts. Not bad! Any time I can end up with about a workout per day and about an hour per day average for the month, I’m going to feel a-OK about that.

I did start off strong-ish for weight training and PT but petered out with both by the end of the month. I also didn’t do nearly as much yoga as I should have, especially since I increased my running mileage a bit and was a little tight and sore as a result. But I did do some good rides and runs, and it showed. I built up to 8 miles running in October, and did a fun 5K with my husband. Cycling was less exciting, as I had my first failed FTP test, but I got right back in the saddle and kept working. I watched a lot of Netflix this month.

October’s numbers worked out to be:

Monthly running mileage since December.

Run: 12 times, 10 on the road (including one race) and twice on the treadmill for 70.75 total miles (including my usual quarter-mile warmup and cooldown) in just longer than 12 hours. Wow! I am happy to have built slowly and steadily enough that I feel I can have a good month. I’m still running three times per week most weeks of one easy, one speedy, and one long-ish. I want to add one more easy run in there somewhere, but I feel there’s other, lower-hanging training fruit I need to look at first.

Monthly cycling mileage since December.

Bike: 9 times, all on the trainer, for 177.5 fake trainer miles in about 11 hours, 45 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my overall bike time and run time are so similar – I attribute that to doing a couple of 2-hour rides. No, it wasn't the greatest mileage month, but I still did a decent amount of work.

Weights: 4 times, 3 videos and 1 barre class, for about 4:15. I started the month off strong and petered out.

PT: 3 times for about 1:45. Again, the month started off strong and then PT got abandoned.

Yoga: 2 times for about 30 minutes total. These were two quick sessions Sunday evenings and not nearly enough for how tight my hips, hamstrings, quads, and calves are.

Total: 30 sessions in about 30:17.

I'm only 23 minutes short of what I did last month, even though I logged 3 fewer workouts this month. I am keeping up my routine most of the time, adding mileage where appropriate, and taking breaks when needed. Considering all that, I'm pretty pleased with how October shook out.

I know that I'll be out of town for a couple of days in November, and the holidays are on their way, so I don't know what this next month will bring. I am banking on all the good rides and runs from October to give me momentum into another good and productive training month.

Week in review Oct. 28-Nov. 3: Run, ride, trick, treat

Not logged is passing out candy time.

Ugh, I am WAY behind in my posting. I have so much to talk about – October wrap up! Another FTP test attempt! – but last week was a bit tricky, and I’m just now feeling like I’m catching up.

The week started off weirdly by doing my “long” run from the week before on Monday, since that whole week and weekend had been thrown off by getting sick and a gloomy, lazy Saturday. Because of Halloween falling on this past Thursday, I knew I needed to stick to a strict run-bike-run every other day schedule this week. I wanted to go for one last after-work run in the daylight on Friday, before Daylight Savings ended; I wanted to get back on schedule for my usual long trainer ride Saturday and “long” run Sunday; and I knew we’d be celebrating my dad’s birthday on Sunday and would need to run in the morning.

So although I had a super high-for-me-right-now run mileage, that was because I did two “long” runs, on Monday and on Sunday. I ended up skipping my trainer ride on Thursday to go pass out candy and eat my weight in pork carnitas at our friends’ house (totally worth it). I am bummed I ran out of time to do “other” workouts, but I did make runs and bikes the priority, and I did get my flu shot, AND I did a bunch of healthy food prep during the week. Healthy eating is definitely a time investment!

But, enough complaining. I managed:

Run: Four times, three on the road and once on the treadmill, for 29 miles (!!!) in 4 hours, 50 minutes. Like I said, this is two “long” runs so this high volume (for me at this point) is an aberration. A few notate bene:

• Monday’s run of 8 miles felt pretty good until some IT band tightness at the very end. I enjoyed what is probably my last short-sleeved run of the season, but very stupidly wore sunglasses (prescription – I don’t wear contacts). I stopped way too many times to take pictures of pretty leaves, which didn’t help racing the sunset, and could barely see by the end because it was dark and/or blurry! Funny in retrospect, but in the moment I was worried that I was going to trip over my own feet and/or get axe murdered. Run miles averaged about a 9:47 minute per mile pace, a decent long run pace for me.
• Wednesday was cold and rainy and there was no way in hell I was running outside in that miserable weather. Call me a lightweight or whatever you want, but days like that are why we invented treadmills and gyms. 5 running miles that were boring but felt fine.
• Friday I HAD to get outside to enjoy my last after-work daylight run. It was brisk but not really cold. I did some random speed work of quarter, half, and three-quarter mile pickups, and saw a quarter- and a half-mile split that both were sub-8, which made me happy.
• Sunday I took advantage of the early daylight and got ahead of a busy day by getting up early-ish and doing my run in the morning. I was sluggish for a couple miles before my fuel kicked in, and my hips and IT band were a bit tight by the end, and it was legitimately cold, but I survived to tell the tale. 8.5 running miles worked out to an average of about a 9:39 minute per mile pace; again, not a bad pace for me.

Bike: Two rides, both on the trainer, for 37.5 fake miles in about 2:39. This was an interval ride on Tuesday and a longer ride that included another FTP test on Saturday. I was not going to give up Halloween carnitas for a ride, or wake up super early and squeeze it in, so I’m happy with this.

Total: 6 sessions in 7:28. It’s a little skewed because of the two long runs and one long ride, but it’s still an average of more than an hour a day, so I’ll take it.

It may not have been a spectacular training week but I ate well, got my flu shot, hung out with friends, went out to dinner with my husband, celebrated my dad, made a big batch of tomato sauce, and had a bunch of other fun and shenanigans. Oh, and ran and rode a bunch too. Overall, it was a pretty good week. I’m happy with it and looking forward to the next.

Week in review Oct. 21-27: Sickness and then laziness

Yep — just one workout each. Blech.

Ugh, what a week. I started off fine with a weights video Monday, then felt crappier and crappier as Tuesday progressed. I ended up sick in bed Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday, and didn’t work out Thursday, either, to give my body a break for one more day.

I rallied for an easy run Friday, which was actually pretty nice if a bit chilly. But then Saturday came around… and it was gloomy and rainy out… and I just wanted to relax… so that day became a do-nothing day. I ended up dyeing my hair and calculating a few months of workout totals while watching college football, so I wasn’t totally useless.

It was chilly and windy yesterday, Sunday, and since I had just run on Friday, I decided to do a long trainer ride instead of a long-ish run. It ended being fine – 4 x 20 minute sweet spot intervals, and although I had to take a little break before the fourth, I didn’t have to stop during the interval. I had enough time afterward to prep the week’s breakfasts and a couple of days’ worth of lunches. Not great, not terrible, just fine. By Sunday evening I had given up on anything too productive, anyway. I did some yoga before a bedtime snack and called it.

My sick and lazy week ended up as:

Bike: One trainer ride of 30.5 fake trainer miles in about 2 hours, 2 minutes.

Weights: One video followed by pullup/chinup practice for about 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Run: One easy 5-miler with some walking warmup/cooldown for 5.57 total in about 58 minutes.

Yoga: 15 minutes of my own bends, twists, pigeons, etc.

Total: Four workouts in 4.5 hours.

If you take out the three sick days, it’s actually not terrible. I’m not going to beat myself up too much for taking the occasional lazy Saturday. And I am happy that I rallied for a nice, long ride on Sunday.

Today was warm-ish and sunny but, sadly, there aren’t many more warm-ish and sunny days in the forecast. And, even more sadly, Daylight Savings ends this weekend, which is a huge bummer for after-work runs. I will try to get in the habit of before-work runs but man, dark AND cold? Yeccchh.

Hopefully your week was more productive and less illness-filled than mine. After a crappy week like that, hopefully I can only improve on it for this coming week. And don't forget: Get your flu shot! I’m going to give myself a few more days to finish up with the lingering sniffles and cough but then I will be at the pharmacy getting my shot for the good of humankind. I DON’T want to spend any more sick days on the couch.

Out with a cold for a couple of days

Last Friday I had the dreaded throat tickle. Nooooo! I thought, and drank a bunch of tea and took an antihistamine. Saturday, 5K day, I felt fine, so I figured I had dodged a bullet. Sunday I felt fine and did a nice, long trainer ride, although I was tired. Sadly, by Monday the throat tickle was back, and on Tuesday my nose was running like a faucet and I was starting to feel lousy.

Yuck! I took a day off work and spent most of the day in a Benadryl-induced slumber, trying to shake off whatever it was. Most of the time I was awake, my view was this:

Kleenex, orange juice, tea, and two furry nurses trying to make me feel better.

I was feeling a million times better by Thursday, but I took an extra day off workouts just to give my body extra time to rest. Today (Friday) after work I went for a nice, easy run in the brisk air and everything felt fine. And I got more nice views:

I accidentally scared the ducks but they swam back to shore pretty quickly. 

Fall colors were GORGEOUS!

It was chilly and I wished I had a slightly warmer shirt but I survived and headed home to a nice, warm shower.

Hopefully that was the extent of my cold or allergies or whatever sickness and I can power through the rest of fall. And: Get your flu shot! The pharmacy didn't have them yet last time I was there but you bet I'll be making another stop as soon as I'm feeling back to 100%.

Week in review Oct. 14-20: Steady rides and a race

Exactly half cycling — I'm not sure I've ever done that before!

Last week was pretty fun. I was able to buckle down and do some decent trainer rides and decent runs during the week, and even ran a fun 5K on Saturday. I took a full rest day and one easy morning, and still logged about 8 hours of training.

I knew that I would be running the 5K on Saturday so I was strict with a bike-run-bike-run schedule Monday through Thursday. I took Thursday afternoon off work for a random other reason, but used some of that extra time to do a speed run, which ended up as four descending miles, ending with a speedy-for-me 8:16 pace before another mile cooldown. By Friday I was feeling sniffly and not great, so I decided not to squeeze in anything else and instead to go bed at a decent hour. I already wrote about Saturday’s 5K here. I wasn’t feeling very motivated Sunday but I was able to tough love myself into two steady hours on the trainer, which is my max right now. I can tell you though, that couch was TEMPTING.

Bike and run are right where I want them to be right now, I did some but not enough weight training and PT, and I didn’t do any yoga or swimming. So, there is plenty of room for improvement. Swimming has been on the back burner for a while, but I would like to do another birthday “triathlon” next month, so I should probably get in the pool a couple of times before then, right?

A non-training victory recently has been healthy eating. Minus a few weak moments where I put away a medically inadvisable amount of potato chips, the only dining out my husband and I have been doing is our regular Saturday morning brunches. I had to go back in my Google calendar to Oct. 5 to see the last time we went out to dinner! Wow! I am the house chef so this is no small feat. Yeah, there have been many potato chips, chocolate chips, and glasses of wine, but I am reassured that even if I am not doing heavy training, at least I am eating plenty of veg and (mostly) healthy meats.

Anyway, last week’s training shook out to be:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 62.5 fake trainer miles in about 4 hours, 4 minutes. Nothing out of the ordinary here; this worked out to be two hour-ish-long interval rides, and one longer steady-state ride on Sunday. I usually ride long on Saturday but I switched things up with the 5K and didn’t feel like trying to squeeze it in later that day.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 14.18 miles (I ended on an odd number because of the 5K) in about 2 hours, 29 minutes. Nothing spectacular here as I didn’t end up doing a “long” run, but it was nice to shake it up with the fun race on a beautiful day.

Weights: Just one video this week, after a run so I skipped the warmup. But I did some pull-up and chin-up work afterward so let’s say this was an hour.

PT: Sadly, just once this week, about 35 minutes of my latest batch of exercises and some rolling out of the quads and calves afterward.

Total: 8 sessions in about 8 hours, 9 minutes. Even with a day off, that’s pretty good, so I can’t be too mad.

Motivation was in pretty short supply yesterday and I am tired on this gloomy, rainy, Monday, so getting into a groove this week is probably not going to be easy. But even if I am not killing it training-wise, consistency, healthy eating and sleep will help. Hopefully.

Here's to great weeks for us all.

Detroit Free Press 5K 2019 Race Report

We ran a 5K this morning! A few years ago, as part of the Detroit Free Press Marathon and half-marathon festivities, organizers created a 5K on Saturday, the day before. We did the race in 2017, and it's since expanded a bit to include a competitive mile beforehand and a fun kids' mile afterward.

We were only doing the 5K, but we got there early enough (competitive mile started at 9 a.m., 5K at 9:30 a.m., and there were special medals for those doing multiple races all weekend) to find a parking spot easily and watch the competitive mile begin. The winner did it in something ridiculous like 4:18, which was LESS time than it took us to walk the block and a half from the start line to the finish line while we were spectating.

It had been pretty brisk in the early morning and we each had an extra layer on, but after watching the winners of the 1 mile we had plenty of time to walk back to the car to leave our fleeces and yoga pants before walking back to the start. The sun was out and there wasn't a breeze, and I knew once we got moving we would be fine. I was wearing long run leggings and a long-sleeved shirt, and a fuzzy ear warmer headband and light gloves, which I stashed after the first water station.

Before long, we were off! We had no time goals for this race, planning only to run steadily and have a good time. About a half-mile in I started hearing yelling and started to get concerned thinking that someone had fallen and people were yelling for help. I about died laughing when I saw this sign:

Woooo!

Amazing! We laughed about this for the rest of the race.

There really wasn't anything notable about the race except that it was a beautiful day and we weren't setting any records. I stopped for water once, my husband stopped to fix a weird sock fold issue once, but we plodded along and had enough energy for a finish line kick. And then we were off to brunch.

We signed up for this race on the very last day to do so online, and I was hesitant, partly because of the price. But this race always gives out excellent swag: A long-sleeved tech tee, medal, and a buff (or whatever the non-name brand name is — gaiter wrap?). I wish more races gave out buffs! I use them all the time as headbands and as light scarves when the temps drop.

High quality swag for Freep races, well worth the registration fees.

It was a great race and a great way to start a beautiful fall Saturday. I hope that I'm in good enough running shape next year that I can do a combo of races and get one of the special medals. Happy fall racing!

Week in review Oct. 7-13: Head down and work

A nice variety and not a bad week.

After the family- and football-filled week two weeks ago, I was glad for a nice, boring week during which I could get done a whole bunch of training. I had 2 out of 3 good trainer rides and got in some solid runs, and logged more than 10 hours of training for the first time in a long time.

The week started out not great with an FTP test I couldn’t keep up with, but I got some good running miles in that included legit speedwork on the treadmill, and did weights twice. I did my longest trainer ride in a long time, maybe years, while watching the Ironman World Championship on Saturday, and had a 7.5-mile run with a fast finish on Sunday that actually felt good.

My SI joint has been a bit cranky so I have been trying to realign it with various stretches and yoga poses as I sit and get up throughout the day, but I did manage a mini yoga session Sunday evening after all my cooking and prep for the week was done. My left side has given me problems for years, probably because of dance as a kid and muscle tension, lack of regular stretching, and working a desk job as an adult. One more reason why getting older sucks, I guess.

Despite the hiccups, I had a good week of:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 53.5 fake trainer “miles” in about 3:34. This included an FTP test that I bombed, a regular workout of intervals with power spikes, and two hours on the trainer on Saturday while I had Kona on the computer, the Michigan game on the TV, and Slowtwitch on the iPad. The time flew by, haha.

Run: Three times, twice on the road and once on the treadmill, for 18.75 miles in about 3:07. This included an easy run on a perfect fall evening, a speed run of increasingly speedy half-mile repeats on the treadmill on a dreary and cold fall evening, and a “long” run on a sunny and cool fall afternoon. Logically I should not have done a “fast” finish having just done speedwork and with nothing coming up to train for, but I was feeling good and I couldn’t help doing the last 1.5 running miles at a sub-9 pace, which is excellent for me right now. My left calf felt a little tight afterward but it is feeling fine today.

Some decent mile splits and a fast-for-me finish.

Weights: One video and pullup/chinup practice and one barre class for about 2:15 total. I feel SO much better when I am doing weights twice a week and I want to keep up this consistency as long as I can. Even if I am not doing my heavy routine right now, at least I am doing something.

PT: Two of my homework sessions plus rolling of quads and calves afterward for about 1:10 total. Nothing out of the ordinary, and I should have done double this, but I’m getting there.

Yoga: One quick session of about 15 minutes Sunday night, doing mostly bends, pigeons, twists, downward dogs, etc.

Total: 11 sessions in about 10:21. A really good week for me right now.

This coming week is full of unknowns. My husband has the sniffles – will I get sick? There is a local 5K happening Saturday – do we want to sign up? Will I make it to the pool? Will I ever get to bed at a decent hour? I am hoping to ride into this week on a bit of good momentum from last week and do just as much good training, if not a little bit more.

An FTP fail (but a plan forward)

I need to do more of this.

Monday was a training first for me: I failed my regular FTP test.

By “failed” I mean when it was all over, my new recommended wattage target was lower than my previous wattage target from the last time I tested about 8 weeks ago. It was lower by 5 points, which … seems like a lot. Blech. I declined the new number.

I knew by minute 16 or 17 that I wasn’t going to last much longer – my legs were already burning and fatigued. I really don’t think I could have worked any harder, though. By the time I tapped out my husband had wandered over to make sure I was ok because I was breathing so hard – haha! Yes, honey, I’m fine; I’m just not in as good of cycling shape as I would have hoped.

The only thing that sticks out to me as a reason is that I haven’t been sleeping well (story of my life) and that I’m pretty stressed in general. I did run “long” the day before, but long runs for me these days are about 7 miles, and I felt fine the next morning, so I don’t think that’s it. Nutrition was nothing out of the ordinary for the preceding two days, although I had had a good amount of junk food in the preceding week. I hadn’t done weights in a week, either, so my legs weren’t still sore from too many lunges or anything like that.

I don’t think there’s much else I can do except try again in a couple of weeks. I’m going to plan for mid-week, which should eliminate any real or imagined long-run fatigue. I’ll make sure I have a snack an hour or so beforehand. The only thing I can’t plan for is a good night’s sleep, but I can hope.

A friend suggested adjusting my FTP manually, but I don’t think I’m quite ready to do that yet. Maybe when my workouts are feeling super easy and I’m still failing my tests, that will be something to consider. For now, I’m going to keep working hard for a few weeks and see what happens. Imagine that! Working hard toward results. Huh.

September: A whirlwind of sickness, football, work events and other shenanigans

I'm late reviewing September but for good reason: My sister was in town for a couple of days, which resulted in family get-togethers and troublemaking. I miss her already, but I'm also glad to get back into a schedule.

September started out as a dud when my long Labor Day weekend was interrupted by a migraine. I was able to rally later as the month went on and get in some good workouts, including runs that are starting to resemble actual speed runs. I lost one Saturday to a college football game and another to a days-long work event, although I was successfully able to flex some hours and run and ride in the morning a few times. Yay!

Considering all that, it wasn't as high-volume a month as August was, but I'm OK with how everything turned out. September shook out to be:

A pretty steady increase in bike mileage these last few months.

Bike: 11 times, 10 on the trainer for 168 fake miles and once on the road for 35 road miles, for a total of 13 hours, 31 minutes in the saddle. Even though this is less volume, some good news is this is the same number of trainer rides as August; I just lost out on two Saturday road rides. Biking was a slow and steady grind toward consistency.

Very exciting, steady increase in run mileage! Hooray!

Run: 12 times, all on the road (!), for 61.25 miles in about 10 hours, 24 minutes. I'm thrilled by this. No only does this mark a steady increase in mileage for another month, but there was very little walking within runs this month (although I do count a quarter mile warmup and cooldown on most runs as part of the total mileage). Also, my overall pace has come down. Again, slow and steady wins the race here, literally and figuratively.

Weights: 3 times, 2 videos and one barre class, for about 3 hours and 25 minutes. Not terrible; at least I am doing something. I also got the big idea to do chinups and pullups after every weights workout. It started off ... not well but it got easier as the month went on. Well, not exactly easier, but I could do a few more reps, if that counts.

PT: 5 times, all at-home exercises, for about 2 hours, 50 minutes total. Nothing special here. I would ideally like to bump this up a LOT.

Yoga: 2 times at home for about a half-hour total. Again, I would like to bump this up a LOT, at least once per week.

Total: 33 sessions in about 30 hours, 39 minutes. This is still an average of an hour a day, even with all the migraines, football games, work events, etc., so I can't be mad.

There is a possibility that I'm going out of town for one weekend this month, but nothing is set in stone yet, and hopefully that is just one weekend. I like my travel and adventures but I also like logging some good training sessions. Maybe someday I'll be rich and can take train-cations. Alas, for now I have to do it like every other not-rich person — managing my training around work, family, and other obligations.

I hope everyone had a great September, and that October is off to a great, spooky start! May your leaves be crunchy, your air be crisp, and your pumpkin spice lattes be hot.

Week in review Sept. 30-Oct. 6: Football and family among some fitness

Some good running and a bit of other stuff, too.

I started a review of September but then I got distracted with other stuff – grrr!

Anyway. I knew last week wasn’t going to be a home run and that I would have to be careful with my schedule to get any workouts done at all. My sister was in town for a few days, so I took one day off work and training to hang out with her and my brother-in-law. We also had tickets to my husband’s alma mater’s football game on Saturday. We had a great time and great weather, but I think I am done with college football games for the year – noon games are an all-day commitment by the time we drop off our dogs at my parents’ house, drive to town, enjoy the game, wait for traffic to clear, pick up the dogs, etc. etc. etc. I know I’m complaining about something fun, and it was fun, but I hate giving up a whole weekend day. One or two games per season is enough for me.

I wisely front-loaded my week with a trainer ride and a weights video on Monday. My sister’s plans changed on Tuesday and we ended up doing a late dinner, which gave me time for an easy run after work and a quick shower at my gym before heading out to see her. I forgot flip-flops, so I’m sure my next post will be about how my feet fell off from whatever shower fungus I picked up.

I left work a bit early Wednesday to get in another trainer ride before they came over for a barbecue dinner and hanging out, during which my dogs tried their hardest to convince my sister and brother-in-law that dogs actually do eat barbecue. Thursday was my day off both work and training for family time (breakfast, cards, more snuggling with the mutts, and other shenanigans) and I rallied again for a great speed run after work Friday. I didn’t do any training Saturday because of the game, but I did go for a nice, long-ish run yesterday afternoon in the sunshine during a break in my usual weekly food prep.

I didn’t do any PT or yoga but considering the week, I am happy with what I could accomplish. It worked out to be:

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 18.25 miles in about 3:05. A few additional run notes: Tuesday’s run was 88 degrees and humid, and I was covered with gnats by the end. Friday’s run was 48 and getting dark by the time I left my late work event. However, all of my quarter-mile repeats Friday were at a pace that began with a 7, so I was super happy to see that. Sunday’s run was sunny and warm and my husband joined me for the first 2.5 miles before I did another 5 on my own. My left hip is randomly a bit sore today (probably from the lack of PT and yoga lately) but other than that, it was a great running week. I feel like running is the only thing I did relatively well last week!

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 31 fake miles in about 2:05. Nothing special here, I just picked a couple of my favorite Trainer Road workouts, watched Netflix, and got it done.

Weights: One video plus some chinup and pullup practice for about an hour total.

Total: Six sessions in about 6:10. I knew I wasn’t going to be breaking any records, especially with two days off. Of course I wish I had more time but all things considered, I’m happy.

Fingers crossed that this coming week will be much more boring and I can log some good training hours. I’m hopeful for another double Monday tonight, and Saturday is pretty much blocked off for Kona viewing =) and whatever workouts I can do while watching. I don’t want to make ANY plans; I just want to stay in and focus on getting some training in, cooking healthy food at home, and trying to get to bed at a decent hour, if that’s not too much to ask.

I hope your weeks are all off to a great start.