Saturday, December 31, 2022

Down With the Sickness!

At the start of the week, I continued to need time to recover from the never ending GI bug that started to plague me in the middle of last week. I started to feel better, physically, on Monday, but some lingering symptoms kept me from getting too active. 

As well, the cold weather finally let go of us on Tuesday, just in time to return to work! I decided not to get up at 4:30 for pool running to give myself a little extra rest. It was a good decision, as I woke up to an email from the park district that the pool was closed due to a water main break. I rolled out the yoga mat and had a date with Adriene, which was the perfect start to a decent day. 

There was nowhere to go but up from there! 

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: run 2 miles
Monday: rest day
Tuesday: Yoga with Adriene
Wednesday: trail run 9.3 mile
Thursday: strength training
Friday: run 6 miles
Saturday: rest/work

Year-end total miles: 971

Running

I have a personal tradition of running around my neighborhood on Christmas Day and this year I vowed to at least get a couple of miles in, even though it was bitterly cold and I was still feeling the effects of that illness. The sun was shining, so how bad could it be, right? Well, with the wind at my back, it was fine, but when I had to turn in the direction that the wind was blowing from, it was painful! Thankfully, I only planned a 2 mile loop back to my house and I was glad to be done! And BTW, I only saw one other person outside who was walking her dog.


I woke up Wednesday morning feeling good and ready to hit the trails. The sun was shining and the temperature was a balmy 30 degrees. I decided to retrace my route from last week, with plans to maybe run 6-7 miles. I started out trying to find a groove and settled in after about a mile, running on packed snow-covered single tracks. I startled a deer (or maybe he startled me!) but he was the only one I saw on this run. Somehow, I miscalculated my route--no surprise--and ended up with 9.3 miles. I'm not sure how that happened but it was just wonderful! I wish I we could have winters full of days like this!


It was blustery and 39 degrees when I headed out in the dark for my Friday morning pre-work run. It didn't feel bad, though, considering what we had a week ago. In fact, a local weatherperson noted that it was 54 degrees warmer than one week ago, so yeah. The wind was strong and I headed into it once I hit the bike path. Once again, I took full advantage of that tailwind on the way back home to give me a nice speedy finish!

Strength Training

Since I still wasn't feeling well, I skipped CF on Monday. But on Thursday, I was ready to get back to work. I never mentioned to SJ that I was disappointed in my deadlift 1 RM but interestingly, today she had heavy deadlifts on my plan and asked me if I wanted to attempt another 1 RM in a couple of weeks. OF COURSE, I SAID YES! She had me build to 4 sets of 4 DLs at 170# which is 85% of my max. Dare I say that even though they were heavy, they didn't feel impossible. I'm looking forward to challenging that max in a couple of weeks. We finished up with dumbell bench presses, 3 sets of 10 at 25# each hand immediately alternating with 5 perfect push-ups. I will admit that I failed both on the last set, which she said was exactly how she thought and wanted it to go. I finished up with 3 sets of 20 second hollow holds followed by 5 hollow rocks.

Happy New Year!

The holiday festivities continued throughout the week and on Saturday, we took a ride out to my parents' house to see my youngest sister and her husband and son, who were in town from New York. We were trying to remember the last time we all got together--I think it was sometime over the summer. It's always nice to see them! Today, I'll be running a 5k in the morning and then we'll finally get to celebrate Christmas with my oldest son, who returned to Chicago on Thursday from his work out in Oregon. My youngest will be driving down from Madison, so it's sure to be a good time. I think this has been the best holiday season in a long time--I sure like letting it linger like it has this year!



How was your week? Is anyone else recovering from illness? There's certainly plenty to go around! How did you do, mileage-wise for the year? Are you experiencing a winter thaw? Did anyone else have an extended holiday? Here's to a GREAT 2023!

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





30 comments :

  1. Yes to "down with sickness" and to hoping your 2023 is healthy.

    No one sick here (knock on wood) but many of my friends have had various illnesses (mostly COVID).

    Very warm yesterday and I do have a fun race today... love this thaw but I know that cold weather will return.

    You do need to come to NY and visit your sister....

    Happy New Year.

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  2. Well, we managed not to get Covid this year, so our Christmas was pretty great! I'm glad you're feeling better and it sounds like you had some great runs this week. I'm always fascinated by the details of your strength sessions, since I'm a heavy lifter wannabe. I hope your 5k went well- and ENJOY YOUR TIME with both sons home!!! I know how special that is. Happy New Year!

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    1. The 5k went great--I'll share more in next week's recap--and now onto the family time!

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  3. Your Wednesday trail run sounds perfect!

    Oh yeah, I got the end of the year virus - sore throat, headache, body aches (not GI, though). Glad you're feeling better as am I.

    Here's to a happy, healthy, and fit 2023!

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    1. I'm glad you're feeling better! This year has been brutal, hasn't it?

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  4. Glad you're feeling better! Have fun today with your sons :) Happy New Year Wendy!

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  5. I'm sorry to hear about the lingering GI bug :( Hopefully you're back to 100%. What a fun surprise when a run feels great and turns into a longer than planned one! Sunny and 30 is the best. Happy New Year Wendy!

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    1. Yes, almost back to 100%-some lingering ick but nothing that keeps me from moving!

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  6. Sorry to hear about the bug and hope you're properly better now. I got 900 miles in almost exactly and was very pleased with that given the heat wave in the summer, ice recently, and back injury. I didn't do many miles this week as was supporting one friend to attend a funeral, visiting my best friend in London and volunteering at parkrun twice, and those were my priorities. Onwards and upwards in 2023 and hope you have a super year x

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  7. Good to hear you're getting better from that virus.. GI stuff is the worst. If I get it, it can take weeks before I'm back to normal. I've been ok now with no sickness since early October (when I just had a simple cold), doing my best to continue like that but we'll see.
    Nice work with the deadlifts and more in your strength session! Happy new year and stay well!

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    1. Thank you! I'm definitely almost where I need to be, health-wise!

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  8. I was more than overjoyed with Iowa's winter thaw! Nothing like a couple of fantastic runs, with minimal layers and shorts in December ;-)

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  9. Great picture of your family! The weather has been pretty agreeable around here, but I'm sad to see the snow all gone. Fingers crossed we will get more in January. How nice you ended up with a longer run and it was all good!

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    1. I hope that we get more snow too! I have some snowshoes from last year that have yet to be used!

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  10. I love that top that you wore on your 2-mile neighbourhood run!
    Good luck with the Deadlift 1RM! I'm sure you will beat your personal record soon.
    The drop-in rate at a Crossfit box here in Zurich is USD 30.-. I think I'll work on the perfect push-up instead! :-)

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    1. Oooh that's expensive! I'm not sure what our drop in rate is, but I don't think it's that much.

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  11. Glad you are feeling better and back to running again! The wind was crazy last week. I am glad the snow is gone. That is great you got to spend time with family and celebrate.

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    1. I enjoyed our extended holiday! Now to put the house back to normal.

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  12. I'm glad you're feeling better! Great job with your workouts - those runs that could just go on forever are the best. And it's funny how warm 30 degrees can feel on a run compared to single or negative digits! Happy New Year!

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  13. Glad you're starting to feel better! I got sick the day after Christmas and have been recovering since then. It's no fun to be sick. But I've enjoyed the extended time off from work and time with the family - even if it's not been restful because of everyone being home. We had some frigid temps (felt like negative 25 with wind!) so when it became 20 degrees a few days later it felt balmy - it's funny how that works!

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    1. It seems like so many people were sick over the holidays, but this week was just much better for me all around, lol

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  14. There are several stomach bugs going around here, in addition to some other funk. I'm so glad you're on the mend. It doesn't sound fun. And look at you with those dead lifts! Absolutely amazing! You have worked so hard and you can see it in your results.

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    1. That was so much fun! I'm hoping I can crush that 1 RM in a couple of weeks!

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  15. Happy New Year! I am glad that you were feeling better by the end of the week :)

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