Hello, It's Me

After 6 weeks of illness and recovery from dental surgery, I can finally say that I'm feeling almost like myself again. Almost, because my mouth isn't 100% healed, but I'm done taking pain meds, and I'm eating food that can be chewed. Lol. Between health issues, the weather, busyness at work, and the unrest in the country, I was feeling a little shaky. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm in a much better place.

Thankfully, we had a reprieve, albeit brief, from the bitter cold this week before the deep freeze rolled back in. I was able to get outside for a run on Wednesday. And what a run it was!! It did me a world of good. Here's to hoping for a few more like that. Weather gods, are you listening?

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: treadmill run 6 miles

Monday: yoga with Adriene, auxiliary strength

Tuesday: Fluid running

Wednesday: trail run! 7 miles

Thursday: yoga with Adriene, auxiliary strength

Friday: rest/virtual conference

Saturday: treadmill run 6 miles

On Sunday, I was having misgivings about joining my Trail Sisters for our weekly run when I received a text from Ilisa, our leader. She said it would most likely be the two of us, and when I shared my concerns about the bitter cold and wind, she called it. She said she thought I was the only one who would still go! I'm not becoming a fan of the treadmill, but if I'm being honest, I need some strong runs to get myself ready for spring. After taking so much time off, I am ready to dial it back up again. And no, I don't have any races on the calendar, but I want to be strong-just in case...

For this run, I decided to throw in some speed intervals every 5 minutes. The treadmill is a great tool for this. I ran a steady pace of 12 m/m, and for the intervals, I ran 8.5m/m. I thought at first this might be too slow, but by the last 3 intervals, I struggled to recover from them! I ended up doing a total of 10 intervals. It was a great workout, and I think I'll do more runs like this as I continue to recover. Hopefully, increasing my speed!

Monday was a surprisingly challenging auxiliary strength workout. The structure was the same, 4 sets of 4 rounds of activities. When I looked at the workout, I thought it seemed easy. I was deceived....

Set 1

4 rounds :40 slam ball (25#) reverse lunges/ :10 transition/ :40 single leg slam ball (25#)/:30 rest

Set 2

4 rounds :40 slam ball side lunge (20#) with knee drive/ :10 transition/ :40 battle ropes/ :30 rest

Set 3

4 rounds :40 slam ball (30#) good mornings/ :10 transition/ :40 depth drops (20' box)/ :30 rest

Set 4

4 rounds :40 sandbag (50#) clean/ :10 transition/ :40 med ball shelf situp/ :30 rest

But wait...there's more! After the workout, we did a group activity--we planked while in a circle, passing a med ball to the person next to you. After the ball pass, you dropped to a low plank, and then returned to the high plank when it was time to pass the ball again. We did 8 rounds, 4 in each direction. Whew!

Wednesday was sunny and...perfect. The temperature was in the upper 20s, and there was no wind. There was a layer of fresh snow on the ground. I couldn't get out the door fast enough! It was quiet at the trailhead. I took my time running on the main trail. I was surprised at my effort-it felt hard with the snow on the ground. I found $2 in the snow and thought it might be my lucky day! As it turns out, it was.

After about 2 miles, I crossed the very busy road to get to the east preserve, where I hoped to see some deer. I wasn't disappointed! I saw a few deer in the field, but couldn't get close enough for photos. As I moved towards the wooded area, I saw another group of deer in the marsh, munching on foliage. I stopped to watch them, and they stopped to watch me. One of the does signalled to the little deer, and he approached me. He stomped his front leg, as if to scare me off! It was just the cutest thing. 

After watching the deer for a while, I moved deeper into the woods. After the windy year we've had, the woods are a mess with many fallen trees and debris. There were a lot of deer tracks in the snow, and I can see why they like it in there--it's a good place to get lost. The herd that I'd seen earlier came through, and they were not happy to see me again. I watched them run away, white tails high in the air, and headed back out of the woods. As I approached the main trail, I saw a guy looking up in a tree. He pointed out a Great Horned Owl. I just couldn't believe it! He also showed me the tree where they nest and told me to watch for babies in the next month or so. Wow. Just wow. 

It was back to the gym on Thursday for another auxiliary strength class. TBH, I did not love this class. It was hard and, and very few of the movements were my favorites. I know, I know...we should do more of the ones we DON'T like...

Set 1:

4 rounds :40 renegade rows 15# with pushup (I just did them on the floor)/:10 transistion/:40 russian twists (15#)/:30 rest

Set 2:

4 rounds :40 hollow body slamball press (20#)/:10 transition/:40 kneeling lateral slamballs 25# and can I say that these were therapeutic/:30 rest

Set 3

4 rounds :40 slamball alt pushups -I could not do these so just did regular pushups/:10 transition/:40 banded PVC lat pulldowns/ :30 rest

Set 4

4 rounds :40 alternating front and lateral dumbbell (8#) raises/:10 transition/:40 wallball chest tosses (10#)/:30 rest

On Saturday, I woke up with visions of running on the bike path, but once I saw the temperature was -10F, my plans changed. Whomp, whomp. I'm no weather wimp, but come on, man! So back to the treadmill it was. For this run, after a warm-up, I decided to do speed ladders, starting with the TM set at 4.0 and increasing the speed by 0.5 every minute until 7.0, then returning to 4.0. I did 8 rounds before I hit 6 miles at 1:07. The time passed quickly, and can I just say: what a great workout! Maybe the treadmill isn't so bad, after all? HA! I went outside after and did this: 

It was -4F, but I was so sweaty that it almost felt good...almost....

Off the Road...

You may have heard something about a deep freeze here in the Midwest! On Friday, I woke up to -8F. With the wind, the wind chill was -20F. I was lucky to have already scheduled the day off to attend a virtual conference. Most people weren't so lucky and had to go to work, including my two sons. My oldest, a union electrician, is working downtown in the Sears (Willis) Tower on the 74th floor. He sent me this photo, which is just breathtaking! You can also check out Erica Agran's IG for a very cool photo of Lake Michigan. It might be brutal out there, but you can't deny the beauty of winter!

And here's one more photo from that beautiful run I had on Wednesday. Days like these will get me through this winter. Even if it's only one outdoor run per week...

How was your week? What was your favorite run of the week? Who else is stuck inside because of the bitter cold? Were you affected by the big storm? Did you have any fun wildlife sightings? Have you ever seen an owl?

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