Week in review March 23-29: A social distancing mini-camp

A nice variety of training, if nothing else.

It feels a little ridiculous writing about my training last week. Detroit's and Michigan's COVID numbers have been getting worse and worse every day. My state rep died yesterday. Kids aren't going back to school until fall, at the very earliest. It's scary out there.

But regular workouts have been keeping me sane, and I have been getting lots of extra movement with the time I'm saving from not commuting, getting ready in the morning, or having any weekend or evening plans. As far as training goes, this was one of the best weeks in a while, even if it was tough emotionally.

And I haven't been counting hours of dog walking as training, either. I'm taking them out for almost an hour before work and another 45 minutes or so at lunchtime every day, plus at least one walk per weekend day (although it poured all day Saturday). I have been really enjoying watching the sunrises and listening to the birds in the mornings. It's a nice, peaceful way to start the day.

But training-wise, I logged:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 64 fake trainer miles in about 4:06. I've been keeping my routine of easy ride Monday, interval ride Wednesday, long ride Saturday.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 23 mils in about 3:51. This was an easy run, a speed run (half-mile pickups), and a long run of 11 miles. I honestly wasn't sure if I could do 11 -- it's been over a year! But I got into a good groove and before I knew it, it was time to turn around. All was well.

Weights: Twice, one video and one of my heavy/body routine, for about 2:30. I also worked on pullups and chinups after my video. The upper body strength is coming back.

PT/Pre-hab: Three rounds of my homework plus rolling afterward for about 1:45.

Dryland: Two rounds of stretch cord exercises for about 30 minutes. Well, if I can't swim, at least I can do this.

Yoga: Twice, once with the Down Dog app and once self-guided, for about 30 minutes.

Total: 15 sessions (!!!) in about 13:11.

So yeah, the world is going to you-know-what, but training is one constant in my life right now. My goal is to keep training until I can't, whether that's because I get sick or we're not allowed to go outside at all. When I do go out it's me, the dogs, and sometimes my husband. I haven't interacted with another human face-to-face in weeks.

I really don't know how all this is going to shake out. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I'm just going to keep hunkering down and doing what I can to stay healthy physically and mentally.

Stay home, stay safe, stay moving

We're doing as OK as we can during the pandemic. Our governor issued a "stay home, stay safe" order earlier this week and we are taking that to heart.

I've left the house only to walk the dogs and go on a couple runs. I interact with my husband, my work team, and that's about all. But, I'm an introvert and a homebody anyway, so it's not TOO much of a change for me.

I am definitely staying active during this time at home.

And, although there is a lot of stress eating potato chips, I have done pretty well with some healthy habits:

• We've eaten at home every single meal for the past two weeks.
• I've taken the dogs out for long walks every day, about 2.5 miles in the morning and other 1.5-2 at lunchtime, for the past nine days straight.
• Related to above, I've worn my Garmin to track my steps every day, and today marked the sixth straight day I hit at least 10,000. Last Sunday, the last time I went on a "long" run, I set a new record for me of 30,000. And the reason I didn't hit 10,000 last Saturday is because I only went on one long dog walk and rode the trainer instead of running. Two hours on the trainer doesn't really help my step count, haha.
• And, yesterday marked the 13th straight day of workouts. Some days it was only an easy run, some days I tripled up. I took a rest day today because I am TIRED, but I am getting a good mix of run, bike, weights, PT, and yoga.

I am hopeful that the extra workouts and dog walks balance out the eating and not sleeping from stress. Detroit's and Michigan's COVID numbers are getting really bad. But, I am going to stay as safe as I can for as long as can. The running, riding, and other activity is definitely helping with the mental aspect.

Stay healthy, everyone.

Week in review March 16-22: I'm going to keep training as long as I can

A pretty good training week, all things considered.

Well, the dog doo really hit the fan this past week. On Monday I was a little concerned, by Wednesday I had a work laptop so I could WFH, and by Saturday we were fully social distancing and hunkered down at home.

Detroit is really getting hit hard with the COVID-19 virus and Michigan's numbers are shooting up. Our governor issued a stay at home order today, but she made exceptions for things like walking the dog and going for solo runs. So, as of now, I'm going to continue to do those things SAFELY as long as I can.

I really tried to make the most out of my extra free time last week since I didn't have to get ready for work or drive to the office. There were lots of dog walks, I tried a new-to-me yoga app, I did a bunch of PT, and I even tried some dryland swimming exercises. It was definitely an interesting week.

By the numbers, it was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 62.5 fake trainer miles in about 4:08. Not my fastest week, since my legs felt tired on Saturday, but I got my three usual rides in, at least.

Run: Three times, all outside (on solo runs staying far away from everyone I saw), for 19.5 miles in about 3:18. This included one quick and easy run after a LONG day at work, a run during which I was angry at the world and ran some pretty decent-for-me paces, and a long run of 10 miles, the first time in two months I've done double digits. I feel like the run is coming along, again.

PT: Twice, my homework sessions followed by some rolling, for 1:10 total.

Weights: One online barre class followed by chinups and pullups for about 1 hour.

Yoga: Twice, once trying out the Down Dog app and once solo, for about 30 minutes total.

Swim/Dryland: Once trying out some dryland resistance band moves simulating swimming for about 15 minutes. (I did this as a warmup to some PT on a day I didn't do any other training). There are tons of exercises on YouTube so I hope to do more of these in the coming weeks.

Total: 12 sessions in about 10:21. My best week in a while! It's been about two months since I've hit the double-digit mark for hours trained, as well.

I didn't count the dog walking since that's not really training, although both dogs are currently passed out from five straight days of 1-2 hours of walks per day.

Not my dog, but hilariously accurate.

I have no idea how this week, or next week, or the week after that, is going to shake out. None of us do. It's probably going to get bad, and I might even get sick. Until then, I have my trainer, and I have my dog walks and outdoor rides, and I have my home weights videos and equipment. I'm going to keep training as long as I can do so safely.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay inside as much as you can.

Trying to take advantage of pandemic WFH time

I finally got my work laptop at the end of the day Wednesday, which means I am now working from home and hopefully not contributing to the spread of the coronavirus.

I haven't been sleeping and I have been stress eating, so my goal is to take the extra time from not commuting or bothering to put real work clothes, and use that toward general fitness. So far, my schedule these past two days has looked like:

• Wake up at a reasonably early hour (6:10-6:20 a.m. ish)
• Take both dogs out for a nice long walk — I hit almost an hour both days
• Healthy breakfast
• Morning of work
• Take both dogs out for a nice long walk — 40-50 minutes
• Eat a healthy lunch while jumping back into work
• Afternoon of work
• Run followed by online barre class yesterday, dryland swimming drills followed by PT today

Dog walks from today and yesterday. My dogs are the big winners from this situation.

What I was NOT able to accomplish was getting to bed at a decent hour. I made a healthy dinner yesterday, but today's consisted of fried fish and waffle fries cooked in lard.

But overall, so far, so good. I've only been a part of the work from home mafia for two days, but I've already gotten in 11.5 miles of dog walking and a couple of extra workouts. If I can burn off all the extra calories I've been taking in from stress eating, I'll consider that a success.

Week in review March 9-15: It was A Week

Moderate exercise is going to help keep me sane through all this.

Y'all, it was A Week last week.

Not only was I negotiating a major life change, but the effects of the coronavirus crisis really started making themselves known. I was under a lot of stress last week. I worked out every day except Friday, but I had to accept that trying to add anything else would be more stress than it was worth. I was already on edge all day and not sleeping all night.

So, I didn't do much except bike and run. But, I had three good runs, all outside, and none with significant pain. My rides were mostly OK, and I did one round of PT. I was feeling guilty about not going to the pool for a month, and then the virus got more widespread and we were told to stay home, and now the gym is closed, so I don't feel guilty anymore.

What I did accomplish was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 63.5 fake trainer miles in about 4:06. I have been making Monday's ride a bit easier after a long ride Saturday and long run Sunday, and my legs have been appreciative.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 18.75 miles in about 3:18. This was a very easy run with my husband, a "speed" run with some quarter-mile pickups thrown in between every mile, and a "long" run of 9 miles running.

PT: One round of my exercises for about 35 minutes.

Total: 7 sessions in almost exactly 8 hours.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. My fridge and freezer are full, my pantry is stocked, and hopefully I will be able to work from home starting later this week or next week at the latest. As long as we don't get a curfew I'll keep running outside (alone!) as long as I can, and riding my trainer and lifting weights inside. My barre studio is streaming some classes on social media, and I have a yoga app, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to stay active. If all else fails I have a kickboxing bag and pent-up energy.

Stay safe out there.

March 2-8 week in review: Back on the bike and some outdoor running

Lots of biking and a good amount of other stuff.

It wasn't a bad week last week. I was finally feeling better enough to really get back into some training, and the weather cooperated enough that I was able to run outside.

The week started off slowly because we ended up with last-minute tickets to the Red Wings game Monday, so I didn't do any training. I hopped back into it Tuesday with a nice interval ride, which was tough enough that I had to take a time-out and reduce my power for a while. But, I was able to nail the second interval set in a smaller gear with a higher cadence; lesson learned.

I'm also going through a major life change that required significant brain power on Friday, so I wasn't feeling up to a run. My supposedly "good" knee was killing me that day anyway, so I figured a rest day wouldn't be a bad idea. It felt fine the next day and (knock wood) hasn't bothered me since, so I guess I made the right decision. It felt like the area around my patella was inflamed, so who knows what the heck I did to it.

Wings games and inflamed knees aside, it was a decent week:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 63 fake trainer miles in about 4:11. I went a little longer than my usual hour- or two-hour-long rides to end my rides on even numbers.

Run: Twice, both on the road, for 12.5 miles in about 2:11. This was one super easy run with my husband, and one "long" run of 8 miles on a gorgeous Sunday. The 8 miles felt a lot better than last week's 7 even though I was a bit faster, so I'll count that as a success.

PT: Two rounds of my homework followed by rolling out my quads and calves, for about 1:10 total. I took advantage of my extra time Saturday and Sunday to knock these out because I knew it needed to be done.

Weights: One barre class, for the first time in a long time, for about an hour. This felt good although I can tell I've lost a bit of strength in my shoulders.

Yoga: One quick session of 15 minutes at the end of a long week. I needed this, badly.

Total: 9 sessions in about 8:47. Not terrible at all considering I had two days off training.

I haven't made it to the pool since my indoor tri last month, and I need to get more consistent with my weights and PT, but this week felt like a good one to get in the books. I can always make improvements in the next week, right?

Here's to another good week of training for all of us!

February in review: 5K fun, indoor tri done, and by sickness undone

February had a good variety, but not much substance. (Activities by hour.)

Oh, February. It was A Month. I started off strong-ish with a fun 5K on Super Bowl Sunday, did a good amount of swim-bike-run and an indoor tri mid-month, then came down with a bug that took me out for a week. I was able to rally slightly to end the month on an upswing, but a week off an already short month means I wasn't setting any records for February.

It was pretty unremarkable overall.  I guess for the worst month of the year, what can you expect? I didn't even really do anything "fun" beyond those two races and hanging out with family one afternoon. February was a slog, workouts were a slog, the weather was a slog, etc. I was happy to see March 1 on the calendar.

My mediocre February training included:

Bike: 10 times, 8 on the trainer and 2 on a stationary or spin bike, for about 171.5 fake trainer miles in a hair longer than 11 hours. The first couple weeks of the month, this worked out to two, one-hour-ish rides and one, two-hour-ish ride on Saturday, with an easy brick mid-month before the indoor tri, and then easing back into longer rides after I recovered from the bug.

I have been loosely tracking my run progression, but downward isn't the direction I want to see!

Run: 9 times, 1 on the road (race!), 7 on the treadmill, and 1 doing laps around a gym for the indoor race, for about 42.6 miles in almost exactly 7.5 hours. My knee was a bit iffy at the end of January so I started February with an easy 5K and a couple easy runs before the race, but the bug wiped me out for the end of the month. My last run in February was on the 19th. Yuck.

Swim: 4 times, all in the pool, for 4750 yards and 1600 meters in a bit less than 3 hours. I am honestly so happy that I got back in the pool, I don't even care how slow I am or how many drills I have to do to get back in the swing of things.

PT: 3 times for about 1:45. I'm giving myself a bit of a break because of my bug, but this is still a pretty sad number. I haven't been able to get into a PT groove lately and it's going to affect my run and the rest of my training soon if it isn't already.

Weights: Once for about 1:15. Same as PT: Skipping weights is going to affect my run and the rest of my training soon if it isn't already.

Yoga: Once for about 15 minutes. I feel like a broken record, but: Skipping yoga is going to affect my run and the rest of my training soon if it isn't already.

Total: 28 sessions in about 24:44. I mean, considering I was sick for a week, it's not THAT bad?

February wasn't great, being sick sucked, and I'm ready to look ahead to March. Onward.

Feb. 24-March 1 week in review: Slowly and surely coming back from a bad cold

Easing back into a regular workout routine after a bad cold.

I knew I wasn’t going to be doing much last week, after recovering from a bad cold and fever late the week before. I stayed home Monday and rested, and felt stuffy enough in the head that I didn’t do any training Tuesday or Wednesday, either.

By Thursday I was feeling like myself again so did an easy-ish trainer ride after work. I was thrilled to get my blood moving and body sweating again, and felt like a new woman afterward. I would like to say I continued that momentum into Friday, but, alas, there may have been a happy hour and a family birthday celebration, and, alas, I was not dedicated enough to squeeze a run in between those two events.

I didn’t want to jump too quickly back into the swing of things, so I settled for an hour and a half trainer ride on Saturday before a frog-themed Leap Day party. The weather was warm-ish on Sunday, so I made sure to make time for an outdoor run later in the day. I wanted to run at least an hour, and my last “long” runs had been 7 miles almost two weeks earlier and 9 miles more than a month ago, so I decided that anything in the 6-8 range would be good. My knees started hurting a bit at about mile 5.5-6, so 7 was my lucky number yesterday. I knew I would want to stretch afterward so I blocked off a bit of time for yoga before bed, too.

In all, the week included:

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for 30 fake trainer miles in about 2:03.

Run: Once, OUTSIDE, for 7.5 miles total (7 running miles) in 1:18.

Yoga: Once for 15 minutes of mostly hips and hamstrings, which was MUCH needed

Total: Four sessions for about 3:36.

I was happy to get anything at all in the books last week after getting so sick the week before, and I was proud of myself for not overdoing it and making myself sick again. It also felt good to take some time for fun after I got better, too.

Here’s hoping this coming week is much less eventful and much more germ-free.