Saturday, December 24, 2022

It's The Little Things

As if getting ready for the holidays wasn't stressful enough, this week literally brought me to my knees as I was sidelined for several days after coming down with the stomach flu on Thursday. My job is the gift that keeps on giving! Speaking of my job, I also had my annual review, and let me just say that blindsided does not begin to describe it. The cherry on my sundae of a week included the arrival of the so-called 'bomb cyclone' on Thursday, bringing high winds and bitter cold, but thankfully, not much snow.

It's the little things.

The good news was that because of the weather, our office was closed on Friday, giving us all a bonus day off. I still wasn't feeling great on Friday, so I welcomed that extra time to recover. Plus, my youngest made it home from Wisconsin. It's so nice to have him around!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Trail Sisters 5 miles
Monday: CrossFit
Tuesday: Pool running
Wednesday: trail run 8 miles
Thursday: unscheduled rest
Friday: unscheduled rest
Saturday: still resting

Running

It was cold and the Trail Sisters run was set for that preserve that I don't like. But the sun was out and I was looking forward to running with the group. It was 18F when I arrived and 7 of us hardy souls set off down the path...into the wind. We split into 2 groups without even planning on it. The group I ran with ran a nice easy 10-ish m/m. But oh, that wind. Fortunately, once we turned around and headed back, we had a very strong tailwind that pushed us back. The bright sunshine was definitely welcome but it didn't make much of a difference with the temperature. I was grateful for the company. 


With the impending storm bearing down on us, I decided to get some extra miles on Wednesday's trail run. It's not uncommon for me to run 8 in the warmer weather, but when I headed out on the trails, it was 11F. No wind was definitely a win, but yeah, it was cold! The first mile was tough, but once I warmed up, the cold didn't bother me, just like Elsa. It was really quiet on the trails--save for a few sparrows, cardinals, and a poor buck whose antler was hanging off his head. He looked a little upset about it. Buddy, I feel you. I worked my way around the east and west groves and processed some feelings about that work evaluation. It looks like I've got some decisions to make. I didn't finish the run with any answers, but I did feel better. 

CrossFit/Strength Training

Most everyone at the gym has maxed out their lifts--I have not, but that is coming--and so the focus is shifting towards the CF Open and barbell cycling, something that I have come to enjoy. For the strength portion of the WOD on Monday, we did 5 sets of 3 power cleans and 1 jerk at 55%. SJ wanted us to do split jerks, but I just did regular ones, with my feet parallel. I'm not sure what my max is for these lifts,  but I did 55# and it felt good. We alternated these with 5 sets of 20 second hollow hangs. The MetCon was a 14 minute AMRAP of 40 double unders (I did 80 singles), 20 atomic situps, 15 goblet lunges (I subbed goblet squats at 35#), 10 single arm push presses (I did 20#), and 5 KB hop burpees. I finished 3 rounds.


So, not much fitness to report for the week, but I wanted to check in and wish you all the Merriest Christmas if you celebrate! We've got family coming over today, but it won't be a large gathering as not everyone will be here, including my oldest. He's still working out of town. We'll miss him but he's being paid well to stay, so I can't feel bad about that! Are you getting together with your family today? I hope you all have a very healthy, happy holiday!

It didn't make it hard to take a few rest days!



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




32 comments :

  1. Stomach flu is really the worst, I'm so sorry. All I can say that it seems like you have nowhere to go but up! You've really had so much stress lately, Wendy, I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy your family -- that's the most important thing!

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    1. Thank you Judy! It's been a rough week for sure. Hoping to shake off this bug and get out for a few miles today.

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  2. Sorry about the tough week. Ugh. I think the universe is nudging you toward something better. The gang is all here and it's been lots of fun, although Maddie leaves tomorrow and who knows when she'll be back. Her spring break is booked so it may not be until summer. Sigh. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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    1. I'm waiting for that sign! I've definitely enjoyed having Matthew home. It's not often I get so much time with him.

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  3. Ugh on the stomach flu!! Hope you are feeling better today. Merry Christmas.

    It was super COLD yesterday but I dragged myself out the door and was glad I did. There was a group that ran 13 miles but nope, I ran solo for 3.

    Quiet day here!

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    1. I did get out for 2 this morning but between the cold and my tummy, that was more than enough!

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  4. Oh yuck...the stomach flu sounds absolutely miserable! I guess it was good timing with the weather, but there are a lot more enjoyable things to do while being stuck inside. Hope you're feeling better...

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    1. It just keeps hanging on! But I feel good enough to do spurts of activities.

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  5. Merry Christmas, Wendy! Sorry about the stomach flu and job situation. Enjoy your day with family. It's just the two of us today but we're happy to just stay home and really happy we didn't plan to travel to Tennessee or Indiana to see Les' family!

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    1. Merry Christmas Kathy! Yes, be glad you didn't come to the midwest! Brrrrr

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  6. Oh, that sounds like a rough week! Stomach flu is seriously the worst. And what's this about a negative work evaluation? That's not very Christmas-y. Anyway, I'm sorry about all the stress and sorry your oldest isn't there with you- but I'm happy the rest of your family is there. Enjoy your day- Merry Christmas!

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    1. Yeah, I'm not sure what's up at work. It is all very odd. I can't lose sleep over it, though. I know I'm doing a good job and there are probably things going on behind the scenes that I have no control over.

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  7. Boo to the stomach flu!! That went around here earlier in the month and thankfully we are all healthyish now. But super cold too!!

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    1. This thing just keeps lingering! Glad to hear you are all feeling better.

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  8. I hope you're feeling back to 100% after having the stomach flu and that you had a successful run today. My hubby has been sick with some non-Covid bug and I feel like I'm getting it now so we had to cancel all Christmas plans with family and friends. We've had a nice relaxing day, though.

    I'm sorry about your work stress. Hope things work out with that quickly.

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    1. Still not 100% but slowly heading in that direction! I hope you feel better quickly!

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  9. Well, if there ever was a good week for a flu then this was it, ha! Hope you will feel back to normal soon.
    What employer does annual reviews in the Christmas week? That in itself is a red flag - management doesn't seem to be on top of things. I'm glad your trail run helped you to process things - it's amazing how that always helps.
    That photo in the forest is beautiful! I guess that's usually a flowing stream, right?

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    1. Thank you for making me feel better! I'm not sure when reviews are due but yeah, the timing was very poor.

      Yes, it's a creek that meanders through the preserve--it's down in a ravine.

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  10. Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear about the stomach flu! That’s horrible! Quite good timimg though that you had to take rest days when you possibly couldn’t get out anyway because of the storm? So good your son made it home, that wasn’t obvious with the storm. I hope you had a good Christmas despite still recovering.

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    1. While I wasn't happy about being sick, yes, the timing certainly worked out! I wouldn't have wanted to call off work. And yes, we had a great Christmas!

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  11. So sorry to hear that you came down with a stomach bug last week. Definitely not fun for holiday time but glad that you're feeling better now.

    I have my work review next week and I'm curious to see how it goes. I'm sorry that you were blindsided but your review last week - always so frustrating when that happens.

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    1. It's been a challenging year to work in healthcare and it was really jarring to have such a disappointing review.

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  12. You And Your Family Have Been On My Weather Radar Mind - Bummer On The Flu As So Many Around These Parts Came Down With It Mid December - A Very Happy Merry Belated Holidaze To You And The Family - And Coco Two

    Cheers

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    1. We're finally thawing out! I hope you had a very merry Christmas!

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  13. Oh man, that's a lot happening, especially the stomach flu! Glad you are feeling better and you got an extra day off work. We had a pretty low key Christmas. Spent a lot of time visiting at the hospital :(

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  14. Oh look I think I am back on your blog's good side!

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  15. Hope the weather improves. It's sorta starting to here....if you think warming up to almost freezing is improvement, lol. Sorry about the work situation. Sounds like the writing maybe on the wall and time to dust off your resume. No reason to work hard and not feel respected or valued. Good luck. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
    Sandy's Space

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    1. The work situation is such a conundrum--the patient care brings me so much satisfaction but the management is more focused on productivity. In the current climate, I don't think you can do both. I'm 60 years old and nor really willing to start over again. So yes, I've got some decisions to make.

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  16. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your work review. I know that you have been conflicted about your position, so I hope this brings some clarity. Hugs. I hope you had a very merry Christmas. I know you missed your oldest. The stomach bug is making all the rounds. I don't think many of us will be sorry to say goodbye to 2022.

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    1. There were a lot of highlights this year for me, but yeah, 2022 has been very difficult. I'm normally an optimist, but I'm not having high hopes for 2023, lol

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