Starting the New Year on the Right Foot

I've been reading a lot of posts about goals, 'word of the year', 'ins and outs', and resolutions. I think most of you know that I kind of just roll with what the year hands me. Already, I've signed up for a Chicago half marathon that takes place next month. My youngest son is going to join me and I know several other local runners who are doing it as well. I hoped that our mild winter would continue, but it is Chicago, and it looks like we are going to get some winter weather in the coming weeks. To prepare for this race, I'm going to do more running on the roads and focus on consistency. I'm a little less focused on my time. I want to feel good when I cross that finish line!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Ice Age Trail run 6.7 miles

Monday: run 4 miles

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: run 8.1 miles

Thursday: strength training

Friday: treadmill run 6 miles

Saturday: strength training

December miles: 81

2023 miles: 1015

We were up at the lake on Sunday, and of course I laced up my trail shoes. It was blustery and snowy, and the Ice Age Trail-Gibraltar Segment was beautiful! In the winter, I never know if the trails will be runnable up there, so it's always a treat to get in a full run. I was fortunate to have the entire segment to myself! 

I couldn't not run on New Year's Day! I felt like it was important to set the tone for the year. With a brisk wind out of the east and temperatures in the low 30s, I was more than happy to keep this one short. I reminded myself that I need to get used to this for my upcoming half in February! I stopped to play in handstand too. Don't be fooled by the photo-- I didn't hold this one and landed in the mud. Made me laugh all the way home. I spent the rest of the day by the fire, watching football. 

On Wednesday, I woke up in a funk. It didn't help that it was gray and gloomy outside either. It would have been so easy to go back to bed, but instead, I did a Yoga with Adriene class and then laced up my shoes for a run on the bike path. I need to get some long runs on pavement. Once again, I dialed into that 10m/m pace and maintained it for all of my 8 miles. There was a glitch at mile 4 when I ran across a wooden bridge and hit the black ice that was coating the surface. Thankfully, I stayed upright! I was very happy after this run. I'll continue to increase my miles over the next couple of weeks. It's not a true training plan but with no goal but to finish feeling good, I think it will be fine.

Oh yes, I shook it off in the middle of my run!

On Thursday,  SJ and I met for our weekly strength sesh. We talked about strength goals for the first part of the year. Since I'm running a half marathon in a month, neither of us thought taxing my legs would be a good idea. In addition, SJ is having her ACL repaired next week and will be out for a couple of weeks. When she comes back, she's going to program some drills and agility work. In the meantime, I'll go to class. 

For this week, she had me work on snatches and overhead squats. I did a lot of prep work for this challenging lift--lots of shoulder and hip openers. I started light and built to 40#. It sounds light, but trust me when I tell you how hard it is to pull the bar overhead using a wide grip! I did snatch complexes--2 full snatches into an overhead squat followed by 2 overhead squats. She was very pleased with my progress. In between, she had me pick up and hold a 70# slam ball for 1 minute. That was NOT fun. But I did it 4 times and am a better person because of it--or so she says. 

On Wednesday's run, I passed a guy hanging out in the underpass on both trips through. It struck me as odd and was a little unnerving. So much so, on Friday, the thought of running in the dark on the bike path made me a little nervous. While I'm sure it would have been fine, I took my run to the treadmill, running an uneventful 6 miles--save for a little tummy trouble. It seems I made the right choice for this run!

I woke up to fresh snow on Saturday and oh, how I wanted to go running! But with plans to run with the Trail Sisters on Sunday and a spot reserved in Saturday morning strength class, I headed to the gym. I love going to the gym on Saturdays. There are actually 3 classes going on at the same time: CrossFit, rowing boot camp, and strength. The energy is just infectious! 

The strength workout for today included power cleans 5 sets of 3 at <85%. I built to 70#. We also had back squats, 5 sets of 4 at a light to moderate weight--I maxed at 85#--because we were supposed to focus on form. We finished with 4 sets of 30 flutter kicks. 

I've shared before about my fear of heavy squats, so the focus on form was really helpful! What was also helpful was working out next to a guy in class who happens to be a strength coach and a CrossFit judge. He's given me a lot of tips over the past couple of months, but when I told him about my squatphobia, he gave me a lot of good advice, including hanging out in the bottom of a lighter squat for 3-4 seconds before pushing up. I wasn't going low enough either, so we talked about that as well. He was happy with my final efforts and told me to send the photos to SJ, which she loved.

How was your week? Did you make any goals, resolutions, or ins and outs for the New Year? Are you running any races this winter? 

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