It's false spring and I couldn't be happier!

Finally, this week we warmed up!! Heck, I was happy to be above 20F! We also had abundant sunshine, and it was everything. My favorite workout this week had to be Wednesday's run at the preserve, with warmer temperatures and lots of deer sightings, including a buck. Seeing them is always a treat. Let's hope this false spring sticks around for a while!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Trail Sisters run 6.3 miles, 36 pushups

Monday: auxiliary strength/36 pushups

Tuesday: Fluid running/36 pushups

Wednesday: trail run 6.3 miles/36 pushups

Thursday: auxiliary strength/36 pushups

Friday: speedwork/treadmill/4.5 miles/36 pushups

Saturday: 36 pushups

I was so happy to finally get to run with my Trail Sisters on Sunday morning! It was a beautiful, sunshiny morning with about an inch of fresh snow on the trail. Yes, it was still cold, 20F, but like last Sunday, the sunshine made it feel warmer. In fact, I worked up a pretty good sweat!

We ran along the Des Plaines River, one of my favorite local trails. This trail runs from the state line north to south of O'Hare. There are many access points, and runners have a lot of options to choose from. No deer sightings, but I didn't miss them because I had such good company!

Monday's strength workout was a repeat of the previous week's. We were encouraged to increase our weights and/or our reps:

Set 1 (E2MOM x 6 minutes)

-Dumbbell Deadlifts: 

--round 1 choose a weight at which you'll hit failure between 8-12 reps: 50->55# each hand 10 reps

--round 2 drop weight, rep until failure: 45->50# each hand 10 reps

--round 3 drop weight, rep until failure: 40->45## each hand 10 reps

Set 2 (E2MOM x  6 minutes)--same scheme as above

-Barbell lunges

--50->65 (oops)# 4 reps

--45->55# 12 reps

--40->50# 12 reps

Set 3 (E2MOM x 6 minutes)

-Dumbbell Strict Press

--20# 10 reps

--15# 10 reps

--12->15# 10 reps

Set 4 (E2MOM x 6 minutes)

-Bent over barbell rows (unchanged from last week)

--65# 12 reps

--60# 12 reps

--55# 12 reps

Rowing Sprints

-5 rounds x:30 all out/2:30 rest finished 1:54 each round. The goal is under 2:00 and this made me very happy!

Wednesday's trail run was under bright blue skies! And yes, it was warmer...but warmer is relative. It was 25F when I started my run. We are definitely thawing out, though--the trails were a mess. There were a lot of icy patches, which slowed my roll. There was also packed snow and a dry, clear trail, which made me happy. I was greeted by a buck, a doe, and a fawn as soon as I stepped onto the trail. While I love seeing all the deer, buck sightings are extra special because they are so infrequent. And they are gorgeous. 

I saw more deer on my way to check on the owl's nest--nothing was happening there! Lots of birds singing, woodpeckers pecking, and squirrels squirreling. It was such a pleasant morning.

Thursday's auxiliary strength followed the same format as Monday's. Since I missed last week, I had to guess at my starting weights: 

For each movement listed: E2MOM x 6:00

Each set should take 40 seconds or less, rest for the remainder of the time.

Set 1: Choose a weight at which you'll hit failure at 8-12 reps

Set 2: Drop weight, reps until failure

Set 3: Drop weight, reps until failure

Movements: 

Bulgarian split squats: 1 KB in each hand, 25# x 8 reps, 20# x 8 reps, 15# x 12 reps

Dumbbell (one in each hand) bench press: 25# x 12 reps, 20# x 12 reps, 20# x 12 reps

Barbell hip thrusts: 165# x 10 reps, 160# x 10 reps, 155# x 10 reps

Pullups: banded sets of 5

Sprints:

E2MOM x 10 minutes

10 seconds all out assault bike

5 A-jump squats (to a 45# plate)

8 ab mat situps

Times: :38, :36, :36, :34, :32

On Friday, I did my speedwork on the treadmill. It's still too cold and dark in the morning right now! I started out with 4:1 pickups, similar to last week. But after 5 rounds (30 minutes), I needed to do something different, so I did incline intervals, starting at 1% and increasing by 2% every minute up to 9%. Then it was back to 1% and repeat. I did this 5 times and kept my pace steady at 5 mph. This was more mentally tough than I expected. I think I'm done with the treadmill. Fingers crossed that Mother Nature cooperates.

Off the road...

On Saturday, we went up to the lake! This was the first time I'd been up there since before the holidays! It's just been too cold to come up here. We have heat, but there's just not much to do when it's bitterly cold. The weather this weekend was just gorgeous--on Saturday, it hit 50F--guys, it just gave me life! The hubs and I went out to lunch at a local brewpub, and shopped for our favorite cheeses and coffee. Our favorite farmstand had fresh lettuce, microgreens, and eggs! When in Wisconsin, one must bring home the local specialties! After lunch, I took Cocoa out on the channel to play with her ball. There's about 8 inches of ice, but Cocoa was a little confused about why she could walk on the water. We enjoyed the sunshine and had fun, but of course, some ice fisherman left a dead fish on the ice, which she promptly rolled in. UGH. Dogs will be dogs! Anyhoo, the hubs and I (and Cocoa too) really enjoyed our little getaway! 

One more thing...between auxiliary strength and the pushup challenge, I've been chronically sore this month. But wait...there's more...I had unexpected DOMS this week after taking my CPR/PALS test! Who knew? This year, I did the hospital course, which is self-directed, with a skills test on manikins connected to a computer. One wrong chest compression and you fail...I had to repeat it multiple times to get it right. For the baby, chest compressions are done with your hands encircling the chest and your thumbs pressing the sternum for the compressions. I think this counts as a workout! And yes, my hands were sore, but even more so were my thumbs and fingers! Gripping my phone was a challenge, lol, and yep, dumb complaint, but it was real!

How was your week? Are you experiencing false spring? Have you ever experienced unexpected DOMS from an activity that wasn't a workout? What was your favorite workout this week?

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