Week in review Jan. 27-Feb. 2: Gray, cold, and crabby

A good amount of running, and some other stuff.

It was a rough week. As I mentioned in my January review, the last week of the month really hit me hard with the cold and gray, and I was exhausted and crabby all week. I started off strong with a longer-than-usual trainer ride, but Tuesday ended up as an unscheduled rest day to try to recover, get my poop sorted out, and go to bed early.

I was able to rally for a few good mid-week workouts: another trainer ride, a weights video, and a swim on Friday night. (Do I know how to party or what?) I did a long trainer ride again on Saturday, and that ended up being the only discipline I did more than once last week. I had good intentions for an easy swim Sunday evening, but I was still pretty exhausted and took a nap, a rare thing for me.

I had a good reason for my Sunday sleepies, though, which was probably the highlight of last week: a 5K! The weather looked OK, so we signed up at the last minute for a Super Bowl morning 5K not too far from us. We had to get up pretty early to do it, and I didn’t sleep well the night before, but it was still fun and worth the drive. And my knee cooperated, too. Hooray!

By the end of Sunday and again today, Monday, the sun had come out. I’m no fool; I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life and I know winter isn’t done with us yet. But it is nice to enjoy a tiny bit of spring for a day or two as a respite from the unending cloudy skies and cold temperatures.

Overall, last week was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 66.5 fake miles in about 4:24. I had a bit of extra time on Monday so I did a slightly longer cycle at a slightly easier intensity. My knee felt OK so I didn’t go too hard on my two other rides of the week, either. I also started watching Derry Girls, which is hilarious if you are looking for a new trainer or treadmill show.

Swim: Once in the pool for 2200 meters in about 1:05. It’s been about 100 years since the swim was my second-highest volume discipline of the week. This was a lot of drills to get settled into the water and then something resembling laps alternating with and without paddles to get some feel for the water back. I am making slow and steady progress here. I had good intentions to get in the water once more during the week and on Sunday but I was so tired, I just couldn’t make it work. Ugh.

Weights: One video followed by chin-ups and pullups for about 1:05. This was one of my old reliables to change it up on a day off both bike trainer-ing and running.

Run: Once on the road for a race! This was 3.1 exactly in about 40:09, my husband’s pace. Hey, we all start somewhere, and I was happy to run alongside him and try to be a good cheerleader. Taking a week off seems to have done my knee good and I am going to try to work in a few short and easy runs again.

PT: Just once for 35 minutes. Ugh. I slack on PT and then my knee hurts again. What an amazing coincidence!

Yoga: Once for about 15 minutes of self-guided moves. I keep lying to myself, telling myself that I’ll get up early and do a short session before I get ready for work. I haven’t make that happen yet, but I do enjoy a few minutes on Sunday evening to stretch out the week before I get into a work mindset. So, that’s something, I guess?

Total: Eight sessions in about 8:04. I had a lot of short sessions this week but some decently long bikes, so it all evened out.

Not my best work, but I had some consistency and still completed a variety of workouts. It wasn't terrible. I am hoping that this coming week brings more sunshine, less stress, more consistency, and solid workouts. "More sunshine, less stress" seems like a good goal for training and otherwise, right?