Sunday, December 26, 2021

'Tis the Season to Keep Moving

Just because it's the busy holiday season doesn't mean I put my workouts on the back burner! Au contraire, my friends. If anything, I'll cut back on holiday prep to squeeze my workouts in. This year feels more stressful than usual to me. Between the chronic stress of the pandemic and the explosion of Covid cases in the past couple of weeks, I need to move my body more than ever! Thank goodness for it all. 

Friday's foggy run
Weekly Rundown
Sunday: trail run 7 miles
Monday: pool running
Tuesday: CrossFit
Wednesday: trail run 7 miles
Thursday: strength training
Friday: run 7 miles
Saturday: "rest"

Running

On Sunday, I joined the Trail Sisters Chicago Northwest for another trail run. This one was held at a new to me preserve about 20 minutes from my home. This preserve reminded me of the Buffalo Creek Preserve, with the limestone trail, where I run fairly often. Both of these are well-groomed wide trails, which seems to be how most of the trails are around that area. When I think of trails, I prefer the more rustic, narrow single tracks like the ones near my home and on the IAT. But when running with a group, it was a nice place to put down some miles. It was a cold but bright sunny morning. I started off with a group that was a little too fast and had to drop back, eventually joining a group of women running at a much slower pace. We chatted the miles away and I'm already looking forward to the next group run!


Wednesday morning was the coldest morning of the season! But it was sunny and so I layered up and headed to my favorite trails without a plan. I traversed the single tracks and the main trail, calling it quits at 7 miles. I really enjoyed this run and I felt as if I could have gone much farther! I had to go to work and I needed to save some energy to tackle my afternoon in the office.


It was really foggy Friday morning when I headed out for my run. It was also pretty mild, which I didn't mind at all. I was pretty sore after Thursday's strength session, so this run felt hard. I stuck to my 4:1 run intervals and I needed every one of them. Since I had the day off, I pushed my distance to 7 miles. After that, it was back home to continue holiday preparations!

Pool Running

With so many people off work this week, I thought the pool would be packed, but I mostly had the dive well to myself. The woman who teaches pool running was tethered in and I climbed in next to her. We talked briefly--she's recovering from peroneal tendonitis--and we talked about race plans for 2022. For my workout, I did the Life is a Highway Workout, which was exactly what I wanted. There are a lot of large movements, like cross country and big stride running, which feel so good in the water. There are also a few endurance runs in this class. It all felt great and I shook out the tightness from my muscles.

CrossFit/Strength Training

When I walked into class on Tuesday morning, the coach greeted me with "I can't believe it!". Ok, it was the 5 am class. I work at 8 on Tuesdays and it was either that class or after work. I know myself well enough that if I don't exercise in the morning, it most likely won't happen. Anyway, the strength portion of the WOD was 4 sets of 5 strict presses at 60-70% alternating with banded face pulls (think lat work). I couldn't remember my 1RM, so I did a couple reps while adding plates. Coach said the 5th rep should be hard, so I settled on 45#. Yeah, that was fine. The MetCon was a chipper (10-9-8...) of back squats from the floor, handstand push-ups (I did decline push-ups from a box), and lateral bar hops. I wish I could have gone heavier on the back squats but since we had to clean the bar over our head, I was limited to 55#. Still, when you add it all up, I did 55 reps of the 3 movements and yeah, I was feeling it for a couple of days after!


On Thursday, SJ had overhead squats on the plan. Overhead squats are done with a wide, hook grip. She had me do a lot of shoulder openers but I could not comfortably hold the bar over my head, much less squat in that position. We've worked on these in the past and they've always been difficult for me. I was disappointed. She had me do front squats instead --another not favorite of mine, lol-- and probably because I had done so much pre-stretching for the OHS, the front squats went really well. There was also some resistance band and core work.

OUCH!

Happy Holidays!

I'm exhausted but so content after a nice Christmas celebration with my family. After missing my family last year due to Covid, it was so nice to get together this year! Thank goodness for the vaccine, the booster, and the availability of testing. We gorged ourselves and laughed ourselves silly. Can you believe we didn't take any photos? I do have some photos from Christmas Eve when the boys and I stopped to check out the amazing light display in this local town. 


You're never too old to feed the sheep

I'm also grateful for my running family. These ladies have been part of my blogging circle for many years. This little blog has brought so many wonderful runners into my life over the years! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!

Thanks to Kim for this collage!


Did you get all your workouts in this week? If you celebrate, how was your holiday? 

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown. 


32 comments :

  1. Lovely runs and photos - I've continued building up after my cold and doing nicely - I've also added a post to the Run Down for the first time in almost two years! It was so lovely joining in with the group photo thing and I thought, "I ought to be a running blogger still if I've joined in with that"! So watch out for my round-up of the running year ...

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    1. I'm so happy to see you back in the round-up! Looking forward to reading more throughout the new year.

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  2. Yes! We have to keep moving! Nice week of workouts. I'm glad you enjoyed some good family time. It's so nice to have everyone home for a bit!

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    1. We still didn't have everyone here for the holiday- Thanks Covid!--but it was so much better than last year.

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  3. Getting to a 5 am class is dedication! So fantastic to see you running happy again and with new friends too. Hope you had a fantastic Christmas with your family.

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    1. My mom passed the baton to my sister and me for hosting duties--we're going to alternate years. It was a lot of work, but so much fun!

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  4. Merry Christmas! Being a dark ‘o clock exerciser, it’s easier to still get in my workouts, but I did keep them shorter so I would be ready for the day when everyone else got up.

    So glad you got to enjoy time with your family!

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  5. It's so nice to see you running in a group although you prefer to run solo! Sometimes it's nice to have a change and to chat a bit during a run.
    To me, those kind of chatty group runs go by much faster, don't you think?

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    1. Definitely! I'm happy to meet some other local women who like to get mud on their shoes!

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  6. Happy Holidaze My Friend - I Am So Pleased To See That You Were With The Fam This Year - So Wonderful

    Stay Strong,
    Cheers

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    1. I'm glad it worked out for all of us to get together. We were missing a few, but mostly all were here.

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  7. Our holidays were very different and sort of rushed this year. The lack of snow was a huge paradox (not that I lost any sleep over it), and we didn't have our usual big extended family get-together(due to non-Covid health issues for several people). SO, yeah. Still a beautiful and joyful time of year, though, despite the circumstances ;-)

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    1. Oh, I don't mind the lack of snow at all! Sorry you didn't get to see your family. After 2 years of this nonsense, it's getting tough for a lot of people.

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  8. Lucky 7s. You need to play the slots lol

    Glad to hear you enjoy group running. It's a different animal.

    Our holidays were low key but we are all healthy and that is all that really matters.

    I got out there to run in spit of the weather... life is good!

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    1. I hadn't thought about those 7s, but you might be on to something!

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  9. A great week of workouts. Sometimes I also run without a plan to explore part of the city (mainly the suburbs) that I seldom visit or for a "tour" through the downtown or by the sea.
    Glad to read that you are part of a running group.
    Here we spent Christmas Day with our children, their families and .... the cats.
    Happy New Year.

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    1. I'm so glad to hear you were able to get together with family too!

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  10. Totally agree with you about carving out the time to get in workouts over the holidays - that's definitely one of my priorities every December.

    So glad that you were able to have a fun Christmas with your family. You know it's a good time when you don't take photos because you're too busy enjoying yourself!

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    1. It was the first year we hosted Christmas day! There was so much to do but it was a lot of fun.

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  11. I always think it's great when there's no photos -- it means you're really enjoy the company. Although photos for memories are good, too. :)

    Happy Holidays, Wendy!

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  12. Sounds like you had an amazing Christmas! Ours was... different... but I'll echo Kim and say it was still a beautiful and joyful time of year (well put, Kim!)
    Glad you're getting so much running in! Sounds like a perfect mix of running, pool running, and strength. Your foot must be feeling good :)

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    1. It's feeling good, but interestingly, my ankle has been bothering me--not the side that was broken, but the other side of the leg. ugh

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  13. What a lovely week! Running/fitness is definitely helping me this season...I'm sure you're used to more technical trail, but I think anything not paved is 'trail' to me :) It sounds like a great group that you've joined!

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    1. I definitely like the single tracks--I like the technical challenge, but this is nice too. Anything not pavement is definitely kinder to my old body, lol

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  14. You had a great week of workouts! And I'm so glad you enjoyed some great family time on Christmas - I forgot to take pictures too. Too busy enjoying the moment :)

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    1. I think that's what it's all about! Although I wish I would have taken some photos, lol

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  15. I am so so glad you had a lovely (and active) Christmas. I think moving helps me get through the holiday craziness.

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  16. It's great that you were able to get together with your family for Christmas. I love the Christmas Eve picture of your sons feeding the sheep.

    Good job on getting your workouts completed. I definitely don't let the business of the season interfere with my workouts.

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