It's been a long time since I've had the winter blues, but they hit hard this week. I'm not sure why this year is different. There are a few things that could be contributing to it--the hubs' health issues, some family drama, the extra few pounds that have stubbornly attached themselves to my middle, learning about a work friend diagnosed with cancer, those devastating California wildfires, and some anxiety about our country's future. Oh, and of course the bitter cold that has settled in our region after we experienced a spectacular autumn.
I'm doing my best to get on top of this. I'm making sure to get outside for all my runs--that's always helped me in the past. Running more with my trail group. I'm excited about the new strength program I'm participating in at the gym. I'm planning a few trips for the spring. Reading lots of books. Leaning into all the cool opportunities I've been offered at work.
Ok, I'm also going to tackle my closet, declutter, and donate or sell on Poshmark. According to experts, decluttering is supposed to help with anxiety and depression. It's a little disheartening to have all these pants that don't fit anymore.
What do you do to fight the winter blues?
Weekly Rundown:
Sunday: Trail Sisters run 6 miles
Monday: CrossFit Auxiliary Strength
Tuesday: Fluid Running
Wednesday: trail run 5.5 miles
Thursday: CrossFit Auxiliary Strength
Friday: run 6 miles
Saturday: Yoga with Adriene, work
It was 12F when I met my Trail Sisters for our weekly run. We met at another local preserve, Potawatomi Woods, which is part of the Des Plaines River Trail. This is one of my favorite sections. We ran north and crossed over some bridges to a very pretty section. There was no wind--yay--but it meant I was overdressed. Even this time of year, it's hard to figure out what to wear! As always, we had great conversation and the ladies indulged my need to snap photos.
I was excited to go to CrossFit on Monday morning where we would be starting a new auxiliary strength program! The coaches developed this program to augment the strength training we normally do. There will be 4 week cycles, 2 days per week, which happen to fall on the 2 days I go to the gym. This first workout had 4 sets of 2 activities and we did 4 rounds of each set. Each activity was done for 40 seconds. there was a 2 minute transition between sets. All the activities were done with dumbbells.
Monday's focus was lower body:
Round 1: goblet squats (25#) alternating with frog pumps--hip bridges done in a frog leg position (30#).
Round 2: step up to a box with knee drive alternating with RDLs (10#)
Round 3: calf raises on a plate alternating with deadbugs (12#)
Round 4: reverse lunges with knee drive alternating with bear crawl hold (knees hovering above the ground)
This was HARD! At the time, I wished I had gone heavier with the dumbbells. But the DOMS hit me on Wednesday--my legs were fatigued on my run and my core was pleasantly sore.
Wednesday was cold but the sun was out and there was no wind. Having learned my lesson about overdressing on Sunday, I went a little lighter on the layers for this run. I was warm everywhere except for my face. I felt pretty blah when I headed out and I couldn't really shake it. It didn't help that I saw a dead deer on the roadside on my way to the trailhead. I didn't see any deer on my run and actually, it was quiet overall in the woods. It was very pretty with the sun shining brightly and a light dusting of snow on the trails.
On Thursday at CrossFit, we did the upper body auxiliary strength workout. Just as we did on Monday with the lower body workout, each lift was 40 seconds with a 10-second transition between lifts. We did 4 sets of each round, with 30 seconds between sets and 2 minutes between rounds.
Round 1: marching front plank alternating with supermans (prone back extensions)
Round 2: alternating one armed seated overhead dumbbell press (15#) alternating with banded pull-aparts
Round 3: alternating one arm dumbbell bend press (15#) alternating with dumbbell upright rows (15# each hand).
Round 4: alternating arm bicep curls (15#) alternating with 'skull crushers' aka dumbbell overhead tricep extension (20#)
My arms were jelly after this workout. If you think these weights are light, try doing these movements for 40 seconds. 4 times. It's much harder than I expected and by the last round, I was ready to be done!
Early Friday morning, I woke up to a dusting of snow. No problem, right? I laced up my Hyperion Max, but after slip-sliding my way to the end of my block, I turned around and headed home. No, I wasn't going to take it to the treadmill! I just wanted to change shoes to the Ghost GTX, knowing that these shoes would keep my feet on the ground. They did, but there were a couple of close calls when I hit a few patches of black ice! I kept this run slow--10:30m/m pace--and stayed upright the entire run. I call that a win.
How was your week? Have you ever had the winter blues? What do you do to stay positive during the winter?
I shared the details of my strength workouts in case anyone who does home strength wants to try it. If you do, let me know what you think! I'm really impressed with this so far.
I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.
Sorry to read you have been having a tough time. Getting outside can do wonders for my mood too even if it is just a short walk. Decluttering is always satisfying but I never want to do it. Always happy when I do!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it will pass. I'm just sticking to my routine and keeping busy.
DeleteI'm sorry things have been tough. Family stuff is difficult here and we have had first snow then a cold snap and I just don't have the kit to cope with it (I have yaktraks and the like but we get such a thin layer of ice there's nothing for them to grip on) and am scared of falling and hurting myself, so I haven't been able to get out and run much. It made a lot of difference to get out today. Hope things feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can get out more soon!
DeleteSo today is the first blue sky day... and no wind... still cold. But I stayed indoors. Crazy, right? The bad weather seems to appear on running days. LOL
ReplyDeleteMy closet or should I say 4 closets are full but it takes so much time...
That's a lot of closets to purge!
DeleteI hope you can kick the winter blues. Here's hoping you'll have more sunshine to cheer you up!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning a trip to California in March. That should help!
DeleteYep- that's why I moved to Florida. My SAD was really bad, and right after Christmas was especially hard for me. You're doing everything right- getting outside, keeping busy, planning trips... you could also consider a SAD lamp. I never tried it (they weren't as big of a thing back when I lived up north) but some people have success with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your workouts! They do sound HARD.
I thought about the SAD lamp--I think I'll hold off and just try to keep busy!
DeleteI don’t exactly have the winter blues, but I am in denial about what’s coming around the corner and very distressed by the LA fires. It sounds like running helped you shake things off for a little while at least.
ReplyDeleteIt always does!
DeleteSorry the Winter Blues have not been playing nice. This time of year is tough with all the cold and still-limited daylight. I have noticed substantially more daylight on my commute home, though, and that definitely makes the winter doldrums a little more bearable.
ReplyDeleteDo the winter blues ever play nice? :p Here's to more daylight!
DeleteJanuary is the worst winter month! Spring seems such a long way away and there was nothing in between to look forward to. But very soon you will be seeing daffodils and tulips!
ReplyDelete40 seconds can be long! These workouts sound very effective. I love the way you put it: "to be pleasantly sore"! So accurate!
Is your husband still recovering well?
Thanks for asking! He's still having some low back pain, below the surgical site, as well has shoulder and knee pain. He sees the rheumatologist in a week. I'm curious to hear what she has to say.
DeleteUgh yes to the winter blues. Except this year the cold and grey and snow are just making me angry! I hate it and am angry that they're keeping me inside. Taking walks outside (when I finally force myself out) or working out (mostly indoors these days) has been helping. And luckily I'm so busy with the kids that I don't have much time to be blue.
ReplyDeleteI find if I'm busy it helps me too!
DeleteNot sure if it's the winter blues, but I'm often hit with Sunday anxiety! Finding myself with too much time on my hands and not feeling productive. Getting outside helps me. Gray skies are a bummer and I'm much happier when the land is snow covered!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm in a straight up depression, if we're being honest. I have STRUGGLED getting out of bed some mornings. I want to blame the cold, but I don't think that's it. Sigh. Big hugs to you. I keep faking it til I make it, but the more I hear, the more I get in my head. I hope you have some really incredible workouts and things going on this week to help pull you out of it. You know we've got your back!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jenn! I hope you can get through it too. We're in this together!
DeleteThe icy path sound awful. Two winters ago I would run with yak tracks, but I still fell three times so I decided I will only run when the paths are clear. My kids are so young so I couldn’t handle doing something like breaking my risk to make the stage of life even more challenging. It’s horrifically cold here right now, but it will warm up tomorrow I think. I’m recovering from surgery on my hand from an RA flare so I am pretty limited in what I can do, but I am hoping to get out for a nice long walk tomorrow. The Winter blues haven’t hit me yet. I’m mostly just have the blues from needing this darn surgery.
ReplyDeleteIt's also very cold here right now! I'm planning on bundling up and heading out to the trails for some snowy running.
DeleteI hear you on the winter blues. I have a lot of similar anxiety plus depression about Matilda that is hard to shake. I hope your husband's health concerns are okay. Thinking of you both.
ReplyDeleteGrief is a pain like no other. Give yourself grace. Keep on running. You'll be ok. <3
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