Dec. 28-Jan. 3 Week in review: Making a staycation into a great week of training

A GREAT week of biking for me and not too shabby for everything else.

This holiday season was sad, especially last week when I didn't even see my parents from a distance, but I'd be lying if I said I missed the crowds, the going out, the waiting in line, the spending money, and all that jazz. The two best things about not going anywhere or doing anything was that I took the time off work and I got to spend the extra hours training and relaxing.

I was able to finish December and 2020 strong (year in review coming soon; I have been putting off compiling my numbers and I am behind) and get in some decent trainer riding and running outside, even in the snow and slush. If there's one silver lining to all this, I've discovered that I am made of tougher stuff than previously thought, and can run outside in conditions a bit harsher than I would have last year.

I spent a lot of extra time on the bike trainer, which led to my best trainer week probably ever. One monkey wrench in the week was one of my dumb dogs getting sick. We've had her for 13 years and fed her twice a day during all that time, and she still eats crap off the ground, sometimes literal crap, even though it makes her sick. After many trips outside she recovered relatively quickly and although I didn't start training until later in the day those few days, neither of us were worse for the wear.

One non-training victory was taking our New Year's Eve party budget and spending it all on seafood. I cooked a feast of crab legs, shrimp, and lobster for dinner that night and it was all amazing. I actually cooked a lot over break, which hopefully helped mitigate some of the extra booze and sweets I happily ate to celebrate our holidays at home. XD

Anyway, training was:

Bike: Four times, all on the trainer, for 85 fake trainer miles in about 5:32. I am 99.9% certain this is my best trainer week ever and the most time I've spent in the saddle since I was 70.3 training and doing four-hour rides on the weekend. And, it all felt pretty good! I am definitely working during my rides, but I haven't had to bail on a workout yet.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 17.8 miles in about 3:03. This was one run in between rain squalls to hit an even number for the year, one early (well, "early") run on New Year's Day ahead of a snowstorm, and one easy run trying to dodge slush puddles. None of these were really pleasant, but I kept them short enough that the cold or wet didn't make me miserable, and I felt pretty good afterward for all.

Weights: Three times: one core, one video, and one heavy/body routine for about 2:45. My strength challenge last month made it clear I need to do more core work so I'm trying to work it into the rotation. I'll figure out a nice couple of routines, even if it takes some trial and error.

PT/Pre-hab: Five times, three mobility and two running PT, for about 1:55. I ran out of steam on Sunday and needed to do boring adult things like food prep for the week and make sure I was ready to go back to the W word, so I ended up skipping that day.

Yoga: Three times, all via the Down Dog app, for about 45 minutes. I got an email that Down Dog is free for the time being (although I'm also hearing some friends with accounts older than mine are always free) so I'm taking advantage. It's nice to shake it up and do some poses that are outside of my usual rotation. My goal for January is to do yoga on every day I run, and I managed to hit this goal for the first two run days of the year. Yay me!

Total: 18 sessions for a hair longer than 14 hours. Woo hoo! That's a really good week for me. And, it was a good mix of bike/run and the other complementary stuff, that will hopefully help me bike/run for years to come.

I'm back to reality this week but it did feel good to get in a good week while I could. I could have run more, but at what cost? Getting even colder and wetter? No, thanks. I'm very happy with working that extra training into my staycation week. I am hopeful this sets me up for a solid month of bike trainer-ing with plenty of weights, PT, and yoga to keep things moving, and getting outside to run when I can. That's about all I can ask from any January, pandemic or otherwise.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay warm out there!