I've Got Cabin Fever and the Only Prescription is Getting Outside!

Even if you are sick to death hearing about the polar vortex, those of us experiencing it this week could talk of nothing else. It was dangerously cold, ridiculously cold--colder than I can ever remember! While the recent cold spell forced almost all of us inside, I feel fortunate that it didn't affect me in a bad way. My power was on, my home was warm, the treadmill fired up, and I got an extra day off work. I spent the day working on the blog and studying for the class I am taking.

I also did some reading on the polar vortex and found this great article on Mashable. It explains all about why we were so cold this week and yep, it's all due to global warming. I couldn't help but marvel at the palpable excitement of all the TV weather people discussing this phenomenon. I learned about frost quakes, which woke me up at night. And even though we were warned about the dangers of the boiling water trick, you know I had to try it. I love science.

Anyhoo, it was a really interesting week. We went from -25F on Wednesday to 35F degrees on Saturday. What a difference 60 degrees makes! Inside or out, I got my workouts in. Because as we like to say: the temperatures might drop, but the workouts don't stop. Ok, maybe no one likes to say that...I'm just going a little stir crazy over here.

Jumping for joy on Saturday!

Running
Before the polar vortex wobbled off the Arctic Circle and landed in Chicago, we actually had a mini-warm spell on Monday. We got another 6 inches of snow in the morning, but in the afternoon, I laced up my shoes and ran outside in the 27F degree temperatures. 27 degrees might not sound warm, but after experiencing sub-zero temperatures, it felt great. The roads were still a mess from the snow, though. I didn't wear my YakTrax because I thought conditions would be better. This 4 mile run was quite an effort, but I'm glad I got to get out there.

On Wednesday, despite what I posted on my Instagram, I did run 6-ish miles on the treadmill. So many people were concerned that I ran outside in my shorts, but trust me, the 3 minutes I was out there to get a photo was enough to turn my skin red. I felt like I was being burned by the cold! Now I can say I've run twice as much on my treadmill this winter than last year. That would be a total of 2 times. Hoping that I don't have to use it much more, but I'm pretty sure there will be more TM runs in my future.

Saturday I ran 6 miles on the streets. I meandered through a couple of different neighborhoods because so many of the sidewalks were still icy and snow packed. The temperature was in the 30s and I was sweating. People out walking kept commenting to me on how warm it felt. I had a great run! Why can't winter be like this all the time?

Maybe it will be--the groundhog didn't see his shadow!

I totaled up my miles for January and it was an abysmal 55 miles. But in that total is a half marathon and that indoor marathon relay. Quality over quantity!

CrossFit
Coach Sammy Jo pushed me hard on the front squats--it was so freaking heavy that I told her I couldn't do it. She told me I could and put wrist wraps on me (my wrist was hurting) and a back belt to help me concentrate on a tight core. It was like magic. I lifted 110# x 3 reps for my final set. I alternated those sets with Romanian deadlifts, 55# x 8 reps, 4 sets. I love those! After the heavy lifting, I did weighted one-legged box step ups and reverse lunges off of a plate. There may have been a few dance moves too...

Bootcamp was intense! We started off working on handstands. I did "negatives", meaning that I kicked up into handstand on the wall and lowered my head down to a pad. This work will help prepare me for handstand pushups. We alternated this with double under practice. I'll never be able to do double unders. I truly believe you have to be gifted to do them. So I just jumped rope. After this, there were 4 rounds of 500m row, 12 ring rows, and 12 v-ups. We followed that (yes, there was more!) with 3 x 2:00 of 3 cleans, front squats, push presses, and AMRAPs of thrusters. You could use a barbell (which is what I did) or dumbells.

Recovery
I've made recovery a big focus for 2019 and that is reflected in my low mileage for January. While I'll be ramping up my miles again, recovery is going to continue to be very much a focus for me. On Saturday, I had my monthly therapeutic massage and since she was able to work out so much of the tightness in my back last time, this massage was not nearly as painful. She was also able to work on my legs and my shoulders.

I wanted to do more yoga this week, but it just didn't happen. On Sunday, I did a new-to-me Rest Day Restorative Yoga for HIIT Athletes. I figured that this class would focus on hips, hamstrings, and glutes and I was right. While I enjoyed the slow pace and the long holds of the poses, I didn't care as much for the chit-chat between the hosts of the class. Call me cranky, but I like my mindfulness time on the mat.

How was your week? Were you affected by the deep freeze? Massages-yay or nay?

~~~~~~~~Welcome to the Weekly Wrap!~~~~~~~~

This week, I have the honor of co-hosting with Amy from She Runs By Faith. Holly is taking a few weeks off as she moves to her new house. 

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