It’s All a Blur

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It was another crazy week in my little world.

I’m still on a quest to get on a decent schedule that will allow for more slumber time while balancing the new work routine and fitness fun. Is it selfish to want/need all three? I think not. Suffice it to say, there was some fatigue happening…ugh.

Life is a balancing act, though, and this is all good. And I am learning the valuable lesson of appreciating proper sleep, LOL.
 

Before I discuss the deets, welcome to the Weekly Run Down!

I love hosting this link-up with Deborah (from Confessions of a Mother Runner)! If you write a fitness-based blog, you're invited to join the party. The link-up opens at 8:00AM (EST) on Sundays and remains open through noon on Monday. We love reading about everyone's weekly fitness endeavors, training highlights (or low lights) and race recaps. We ask that you link back to both hosts, and we encourage you to read/comment on the other linked blog as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)

Anyways, here’s what went down this week, in my little corner of the universe:

Sunday saw some cycling

With a long day of travel and busyness on tap (visiting my aunt in NE Iowa), I was on the bike shortly after rising and shining. After 15 miles, and cleaning-up, I was in the car and on the road by 8:30 It was a nice mini family reunion, and we had several hours of conversation, food and laughs. I didn’t make it back home, though, until after 7:30 that evening. After taking Max for a quick walk, I was ready for some serious downtime.

Never miss a Monday

After an evening of rain, the air was very damp but the temps were decent. I decided to just go ahead and knock out my Monday run (two miles), then and there, since more rain was in the forecast. Spoiler: smart choice! It rained intermittently throughout the day, and wasn’t yet finished when I got home from work.

Tuesday was pretty typical

This was a nice low-impact day, with a good mix of cardio and strength work. The day saw four “miles” on the elliptical and an upper-body burn, courtesy of Peloton, in the early hours. After work, Max took me on a very easy-paced walk (a dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do, and that means numerous stops for sniffing and marking).

Wednesday was a whopper…

The 4:45AM 3-miler with Kelly and Hannah went well, but no bonus miles this week (we were taking headshots at work that morning, and I needed that extra time to primp and poof the hair, LOL). It wound up being one of my more stressful days with my training, so my brain was mush on the drive home. Information overload can be overwhelming, just saying.

A very thankful Thursday

As much as I “dread the tread,” I was especially grateful to have my new-to-me ‘mill within reach. I have really been missing my speed walking sessions, and having the (still yet to be named) treadmill in my garage is actually a decent set-up. It’s been awhile since both Deb and I have walked together on  Thursday mornings. With the 37F temps outside, I was not eager to play the layering game…so to the ‘mill I went for a 4-mile cardio burn. And, after work, it was to the Thursday night group run I then went (no pics, but it was another of those unplanned 3-mile tempo ordeals, LOL).

Friday had me back on the bike

Nothing grandiose on the agenda, but I love an early-morning cardio fix to jumpstart the day. I didn’t have a lot of time, so it was just a quick 4-miler on the bike before getting ready for the workday. And that’s all she wrote.

Not quite a simple Saturday…

With a late-morning trail race on the roster, I didn’t want to overdo the cardio. So, a 2-mile wake-up walk on the ‘mill sufficed. As I said on social media, it was the calm before the storm…and that was no exaggeration (see below).

…and Sunday?

As this goes to press, the forecast is looking cloudy and chilly in the wee hours. The odds are good I’ll hit the bike or the treadmill again (ha! Who am I???). My body is feeling kind of cranky and strained from the trail race, so it will be something on the low-impact spectrum.

In case you missed out, here’s what went down on the blog:

cRaZiNeSs

IMT Des Moines Half Marathon - 2024 race recap

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. There was another Iowa Hawkeye game on the weekend’s schedule, so I was back in black. Unfortunately, all of my game day mojo was in vain because the UCLA Bruins came out victorious. Oh well….

As mentioned, there was a trail race Saturday. Yowza, this was a tough mother “mudder!” Wouldn’t you know? We haven’t had hardly any rain in recent months, but the week leading up to this race served up some serious precipitation, as did race morning. As if a hilly trail race isn’t challenging enough, adding rain to the leaf-covered terrain upped the difficulty factor several notches. Suffice it to say my hips and ankles took a beating, as did my hands on a few slips and slides (eww, can you say muddy palms?). Nonetheless, it was a fun morning with a lot of my running club members (and we may have swept the awards, just saying). Stay tuned, there’s a recap forthcoming.

Anyways, that’s the latest. I’m working on fine-tuning my at-home routine to accommodate my new work schedule (early mornings, long work days, and not enough hours to fit in everything). The strength-training has suffered a little, but it’s a short term situation. My commute is much shorter now than my last job, and that will be improving even more in a few weeks when our office relocates to its new location. Until then, it’s a work-in-progress with keeping things in balance with the increased slumber I seem to be needing. Onward!

Alas, how was your first week of November? Anyone else get some much-needed rain (even if it was ill-timed, LOL)? Any races happening, or focused training for a future race?

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