Saturday, February 26, 2022

Sometimes You Get Just What You Need

What a challenging time of year to be an outdoor runner! 

We've had that freeze/thaw thing going on for a couple of weeks, where we get a warm sunny day with snow and ice melt followed by a blast of polar temperatures, which freezes it all back up again. In spite of there being ice everywhere, with adjustments to my normal running routes, I have been able to navigate safely and get my miles done outdoors. I've got a 15 mile trail run in April and then the Ice Age Trail Half Marathon in May and I've got to start building my miles again. 

In spite of the ice and snow or because of it, I've had to slow my roll a bit. It's actually been ok because I've seen some really cool things on my runs this week!

Friday's sunrise snow run
Weekly Rundown
Sunday: run 8 miles
Monday: pool running
Tuesday: CrossFit
Wednesday: trail run 8 miles
Thursday: strength training
Friday: run 5 miles
Saturday: rest

Running

The sun was shining on Sunday morning, but it was cold! I bundled up and optimistically headed out into the wind, back to the bike path, hoping it was clear after Friday's snow. The first part was plowed, and I was pleased to see that the rest of the path was mostly clear! The sun this time of year is strong and even when it's cold, the snow melts. I set out to do 8 miles and when I returned home with the wind at my back, I felt very satisfied with this run!


Wednesday was another bitterly cold morning. It was breezy again, so I decided to give the trails a try. The woods seem to mitigate the wind and I definitely made the right choice. There was nothing but ice down by the creek due to the big rains we had the day before. It was challenging to navigate--the ice was thin and I wasn't up for wet feet. I cautiously made my way around and decided to detour to the other side of the creek where conditions looked a little better. It was a good call and I didn't have to deal with that kind of ice the rest of my run. At one point, I came upon a herd of about 9 deer, foraging in the grass for food. There were 3 bucks, including my young friend (remember him?). They didn't seem bothered by me, just curious, and eventually, they passed by me to the part of the trail that I had just come from. It was amazing. Day made.


Once again, I woke up to fresh snow on Friday morning. There was a little more than last Friday, and not wanting to run through fresh snow again, I decided to run around the neighborhood. This late in the year, the snowplows do the bare minimum on the roads, so I laced up my trail shoes for better traction. The sun was coming up as I made my way to the park. Just as I started to run on the snowy sidewalk, a park district snowplow passed me on the sidewalk. Winning! What a gorgeous morning and even though for this run I mostly circled around my neighborhood on the streets, that sunrise was just what I needed to start my day. 

Pool Running

Yes, I'm still pool running! I can't believe it's been 6 months since I started doing this and I'm planning to continue for at least the spring. That is if I don't get banned from the pool for taking a selfie in the locker room! Full disclosure: I was completely alone!!! No other swimmers were harmed by my photo. Moving on, when it's nicer out, I've decided that I would like to get more time outdoors and I'll add a 4th day of running back in, putting pool running on the shelf until next fall. 

Strength Training/CrossFit

When I saw the WOD on the board, I had serious regrets about going to Tuesday's 5 am workout. It was a workout almost entirely on the bar. We started with a coach-led warmup of supermans/hollow holds on the bar, followed by kip swings, and high knee swings. There was another coach-led warmup of elevated planks, box planks, and wall walks. Then we did the MetCon: a 14 minute AMRAP of 18 toes to bars (I did high leg swings) and 9 slam ball (20#) box overs. I did 4 rounds before I ripped my palm on the bar, so I finished with 2 rounds subbing in v-ups for the high leg swings. I'm still waiting for the rip to heal. But hey, if you do the math I did 72 high leg swings, so there's that... getting oh so close to toes to bar!

On Thursday, it was back to work with SJ. She had a great session planned, starting off with bench presses. I have a soft goal of hitting a 100# bench press and this week felt like I am getting close, building to 2 sets of 55# x 10 reps! I alternated those with 4 sets of banded lat pulldowns. After that, I did 3 sets of box step-ups (20") holding 15# dumbells, making sure not to push off with the bottom foot, but to use the leg on the box to raise my foot off of the floor. Try it! It's challenging. I alternated those with an exercise where I hold myself up on the parallel bars, trying to hold my legs up to parallel for 20 seconds. Core!


Sometimes you get crazy weather too

When I got home from CrossFit on Tuesday morning, I was getting ready for work. It was raining, pouring, actually. Then it got really loud, so I looked outside to see my deck covered with pea-sized hail! It was the craziest thing. Even crazier is that it was so cold outside, the hail didn't melt. We still have some hail on the outdoor furniture. Cocoa wasn't a fan of walking on it. I sent pictures to our local weatherman, Tom Skilling, and he shared them on one of his newscasts. Is it me or is the weather completely crazy lately?

What the hail?



How was your week? Are you getting outside for your runs? Are you training for any spring races? Have you ever ripped your hand on a lift or an exercise? Any crazy weather stories from this week?

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



33 comments :

  1. you are getting in some serious weights on your bench presses. Photos like that kind of make me miss a gym for a second. Your trail runs always look so pretty! We do see a lot of deer out there and they don't seem to mind us at all. I pretty much run on the same trail all the time just mix up the direction a bit to keep it fun.

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    1. I do the same thing on my trails. The nice thing about running in nature is that it is always changing. Sometimes I get disoriented--it looks so different!

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  2. Wow, that’s some serious hail! I haven’t seen hail like that in a while. Scooby and I encountered a deer this week. It stared us down for a lone time before running off.

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  3. We did not get the hail. But I did see your pic on Tom's weathercast! Yes, I've ripped my hand for sure. It's the nature of the beast. Is that a 35# bar?? I've only ever used a 45#.

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    1. We have a variety of bars at CF, but yes, I use the 35# bar for almost everything.

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  4. You were definitely rewarded for getting outside for those runs this week! Sounds like each one of them was amazing.
    Your strength workouts are SERIOUSLY BADASS. I've never ripped my skin on the bar, but years ago when I worked with a trainer, he had me do so many inclined situps one day that the skin around my tailbone ripped open- I really hated him that day. I'm seriously impressed with your dedication in getting to a 5am HARD workout at the gym. I'll run at that time, but it's been years since I've seen the inside of a gym at 5am.

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    1. It's really really really hard to get up early enough so that I get there in time for that 5 am class, but I always feel much more positive and ready to tackle my day in the clinic after I do it. That's my motivation.

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  5. Crazy weather in Iowa, too, but no hail. We had a crazy freezing rain/sleet thing Monday overnight and (again) Tuesday overnight. It's no big surprise I'll be euphoric when all this winter nonsense is over and done.

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    1. I don't think I'll be euphoric but I'm definitely looking forward to not having to wear so much clothes when I run!

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  6. Wow on the hail! It was kinda crazy the amount of ice we got just 90 miles south of where I live, while at home there was more snow and no ice (which is so much better). I was lucky, too, that that wasn't on a day I was traveling.

    That's a fun photo of you throwing up the snow, Wendy!

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    1. Thanks Judy--I was going to do a yoga pose but before I did it, I picked up the snow and tossed it in the air. It turned out great. You just never know what you're going to get with the iPhone, do you?

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  7. Of all the hard stuff you do, holding your legs up parallel for 20 seconds while hanging on the bar sounds insanely difficult! You are a beast!!

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    1. It was crazy hard! I wish I could hold them up higher than I did, but this was definitely progress.

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  8. You are making huge strides on your workouts and that 100-pound bench press will be here before you know it.

    We haven't had any serious hail in a very long time...

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  9. We've had all sorts this week though not the three storms in one week we had last week! I would have done a running round up but didn't do anything interesting at all, one of my running friends has had a health issue that might have stopped her running, and another friend collapsed at parkrun while volunteering with me, so really I just want to leave that month behind.

    I'm not actually training for anything but feel the pressure of finding out if I'm in London Marathon hanging over me (they have to accommodate so many people, I'm sure I won't be). So I'm trying to keep up some sort of long run. Hope you get some easier surfaces underfoot soon!

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    1. I sure hope you get in to the London Marathon!! Do they give priority to people who actually live in the UK?

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    2. I don't know to be honest! I always go into the second ballot, too, to give myself more of a chance - you donate your fee if you don't get in (it goes to the London Marathon Charity which provides sports opportunities to kids in London) and you get sent a nice running top!

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  10. That hail is just crazy! The weather really has been wild this winter.

    You are crushing your strength workouts! And I just have to say again how much I love that photo from Friday :)

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    1. Oh thank you! I feel like I've had a breakthrough this winter. I'm really happy about it.

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  11. So inspired by your strength!

    OH MY- that hail! Craziness!

    The plows on the chain of lakes trails here are getting a little lazy too, ha! Though you are totally right that the sun is strong enough to do a lot of melt even on days it doesn't get above freezing. I do love that sun!

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    1. That hail storm was so weird! We never have hail in February. It was impressive, though!

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  12. warm and windy and then a blizzard... how do we run in the winter??

    But we do because running indoors in unbearable.

    I was so lucky that NYC was sunny and dry... not warm but bearable.

    The deer we see here are on the trails don't mind people at all.

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    1. From your photos, it looked like you had great conditions for your race!

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  13. As I'm reading this we had snow last night, freezing rain now and supposed to become all rain, with an avalanche warning in the mountains. I guess it's spring? Hopefully!

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    1. Sounds like what is coming here tomorrow...except for the avalanche warning!

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  14. Dang, look at those big weights on that bench press! #beastmode Those workouts are so good for you. I hope you are patting yourself on the back every time you walk into that gym.

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    1. I was pretty excited about those bench presses, I'll tell you that!

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  15. Talk about a crazy weather week! I hope that you get some 'warmish' temps soon. We had a hail/ice storm last week too and the sound of the hail scared me at first because I had no clue what it was!

    Love that you were able to see even more deer friends on your run last week :)

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  16. Hail! Yikes! We haven't had hail in ages, thank goodness.

    You are really crushing it with your strength! I am so proud of you and so glad you are earning so much success.

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    1. Thanks Jenn! I feel like there's been some kind of a breakthrough, strength-wise, this year!

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