Saturday, January 7, 2023

Kicking Off the New Year on the Right Foot

Cue the music... I'm thinking of the Black Eyed Peas' Let's Get it Started and if that song is now going through your head, you can thank me! I hit the ground running with a race on New Year's Day and that set the tone for how I want this year to go. Strong, happy, positive. I'm going to work on controlling what I can and the rest will just be background noise. That includes my job, which will take a back seat to prioritizing my mental health. I've set a goal of retirement in 2 years. The light is at the end of the tunnel, my friends!

With regards to fitness, I haven't set any goals for the year except to have fun. I'll continue to work on strength. Maybe I'll work on speed and race some short races. You know I'll be running the trails this year again!

I also got good news on the RA front. I saw my rheumatologist this week and my blood work was the best it's been since my diagnosis 6 years ago. I get to cut my medication in half. We'll see how it goes, but wow! What a nice way to start a new year.

You get what you pay for with free race photos!

Weekly Rundown
Sunday: Cheers to the New Year 5k 27:50 1/41 AG
Monday: CrossFit
Tuesday: Pool Running
Wednesday: trail run 6.1 miles
Thursday: strength training
Friday: treadmill run 6 miles
Saturday: rest

Running

So about that New Year's Day 5k: I met up with 4 of my trail sisters and at 10 am, we crossed the start line. I let my legs carry me and I finished with nice, even splits of 8:46m/m. This was not my fastest 5k this year, but I gave it all I had. You know you're pushing it hard when your brain is screaming for you to stop and walk at 2 1/2 miles, lol. I didn't, but I also didn't have any gas left in the tank to push hard to the finish line. No matter, I won my AG, out of 41 women. It always depends on who shows up, am I right? We had a lot of fun and enjoyed some really good beer at the finish!


Wednesday was raw and damp after receiving over an inch of rain. I was worried that the trails would be muddy, but I decided to give it a go. I started out on the main trail and was startled by a deer family hanging out in the woods, munching on foliage. You know I was thrilled! I attempted a couple miles on the single tracks but they were such a mess that I gave up on that. No matter because I saw several more deer families as I looped around on the main trail. It never gets old.


Yes, I ran on my treadmill on Friday. There was black ice and since I run the bike path in the dark, I didn't want to risk a wipeout. I have a new space for my treadmill (see below) and I actually didn't mind this run as much as usual! Who knew? Don't worry, it won't be a thing, but it's nice to have a pleasant space to run indoors!

CrossFit/Strength Training

For Monday's WOD, the strength portion was a push/pull workout and you know I like those. This was a really tough one: 3 sets each of chin ups, handstand pushups, pull ups, and perfect push ups. The number of reps were TBD by each individual. If we weren't able to do the workout as written, were also encouraged to modify to the most difficult option. I chose to do 3 chin ups using a band, 5 pike push ups, 3 pull ups using the band, and 5 perfect push ups. After that was the MetCon, 4 rounds for time: 2 laps farmer's carry (I used 35# KBs), 80 jump rope singles, and 12 lunge wallballs (10#). I finished in 8 minutes!

On Thursday, I only showed up with one lifting shoe--doh!--but it all worked out because SJ had upper body and core work on the plan. She had me start out with Pallof presses using a resistance band. This really made my core burn! I alternated those with banded RDLs. Then we worked on bench presses, building to 4 sets of 4 at 70#! I was really excited about that. I alternated those with 4 sets of 20 bench crunches. After we were done, on my own, I repeated that upper body push/pull workout from Monday's WOD. I'm going to do this one at least 1-2x/week going forward, measuring my progress by my ability to increase reps. It's a good one!


Off the Road: My 'New' Home Gym

Since we've become empty nesters, I've been wanting to turn the boys' former basement playroom into a home gym. For years, my TM and other fitness equipment have been housed in the back room off of the garage, which also serves as the catch-all, the dog's room--you name it. Finally, on Monday, the hubs and my youngest moved my TM and assault bike down to the basement. I spent most of the afternoon cleaning and purging more stuff. I hung up my medal racks and that made it look like home! There's still work that needs to be done, but I'm really excited to have this space all to myself!


On Saturday, we drove up to the lake and had dinner with my youngest in Madison. This will be his final semester at the University of Wisconsin! It's so hard to believe that he will be done. We're making plans for his graduation. He's planning on staying in Madison for the summer, but after that, wants to move to Chicago to live with his brother. No word on what happens after that!



How was your week? What did you do for New Year's? Did you set any goals for the year? Are you decluttering/purging?

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












34 comments :

  1. Love the new treadmill space! That will definitely help on those black ice days (be careful!)

    Great photo in front of the Capitol!

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    1. The Capitol always makes a great background, don't you think?

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  2. look at you showing those ladies who's boss! Way to go on your age group win. So glad that you created your own new gym space. Enjoy! Have a great week ahead

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  3. Love hearing good news!! You showed RA who's boss.

    Congrats on your speedy 5k... as you said, it's who shows up and you did!!! I'd be happy with that pace...

    Fingers crossed we do not have ice or snow as I do not have or plan to buy a treadmill.

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  4. That is fantastic news about your RA meds. I'm sure you're thrilled! The workout room looks so nice. Maybe it'll make those mill runs a little more pleasant? That's great Matt plans to return to the area after graduation. I knew Maddie would not, and while I'm super happy for her, we'll have to figure out how/when we'll be able to see her.

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    1. I'm happy my boys are both so close. But I wonder if Matthew will get wanderlust...we'll see where he finally ends up.

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  5. So excited for you on many fronts! RA meds, retirement, workout room and winning your AG in your race. Great way to start the year! We continue getting rain so I run when I can, but I haven't been on our trails this year - I know there's going to be a lot of mud for the next while. I did get in a 10 miler on New Year's, so I feel like I started off on the right feet ;)

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  6. Great job on the 5K! That had to feel like a big jumpstart to the new year. Also, fantastic news on the RA meds. Onward!

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    1. Right? I think we could all use a lift after the past couple of years.

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  7. Congratulations! An AG win on New Year's Day is the perfect way to start the new year. Plus you got good news about your RA and now have plans to retire! I think this is going to be a great year for you. Oh, and I think your free race photo is great!

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    1. I did a little filtering on that free race photo, lol. But it's always nice to have a photo when crossing a finish line!

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  8. What an awesome start of the year! There are so many good things in this post and what you said about what you can't control will be background noise... that was incredibly inspiring to me. I'll save that thought!!
    What fantastic news about the RA meds!
    My goals for this year are mostly to keep going with my current routine, be able to run more, get stronger and more fit, and lots of music goals too.

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    1. I'm so looking forward to following your progress this year! Glad you're part of the group!

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  9. There is some much goodness in this post - I love it! Such great news about your RA meds! And congrats again on your AG!

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    1. I'm happy to share when good things are happening! I'm ready for a change.

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  10. Nice job winning that large an AG! We actually had a deer run in front of us (he apparently ran across the road, then across the bike path) as we were walking yesterday. It all happened too fast for photos but it was a decent sized deer!

    Getting to lower your RA meds is really awesome. Fingers crossed for you.

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  11. Congrats on finishing first in your age group (and out of 41, wow)! Sounds like you and your trail sisters had a great morning!

    How fun to have a dedicated space just for you and your workout toys! And how is your youngest son graduating this spring? Wasn't he just in high school?

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  12. That's so great you can have your own personal workout space now. I am a bit envious, but superhappy for you. And I love that you also see deer on your runs. I do too and it always make me so happy :) Happy 2023!

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    1. Isn't it amazing? I think seeing animals in nature never gets old.

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  13. What a way to start the new year! Great news on the RA - halving your medication is fantastic progress.
    You are right, that push and pull WOD sounds like a great workout to do weekly. I might just copy that!!

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    1. If i want to achieve that strict pull-up, I'm really going to have to get serious about it! Join me!

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  14. Woohoo for setting that retirement goal!

    Congrats on your AG win for your first race of the year. Talk about starting off the year with a bang!

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  15. Love your new home gym! It will be such a great space for you! Nothing major on this front - We are getting new carpet so yes, I'm decluttering!

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    1. We need new carpeting now that I've moved my stuff down to the basement. It never ends!

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  16. That is exciting news from the rheumatologist! I love the 2-year retirement plan. I am looking at 10-12 more years. Hopefully this year you'll have a great year full of running and racing. Maybe I will see you at a race?

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  17. I've been in that Capitol! I was really shocked I could walk right in (it was pre-IRA ceasefire so we had a lot of security in our public buildings from that, and pre-9/11 of course). Congrats on the RA, it's getting my friend here, taking her lung capacity, making her so unwell, so I'm glad it's getting pushed back over there xxx And what a lovely treadmill space indeed - well done!

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    1. So sorry about your friend! I feel very grateful that my RA responded so well to the meds she has prescribed.

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