What's there to rant about???

To say this winter has been a crazy one would be the most grandiose of understatements.


How's that for a play on words.

It's true that I'm more of an outdoor enthusiast than indoor inhabitant. I crave the fresh air and love the warmth of sunshine on my face. I am also a glass-half-full kind of gal. This particular winter, though, has given me plenty to rant about.

For example:

1 - We have had the cold temps, but barely any snow. This is Iowa, after all. I believe if we're gonna have the teeth-chattering temps, we ought to have something to show for it. But, this unpredictable winter (with its crazy extreme temps and wind) really did happen at convenient time for me...because it was my off-season. My body (and mind) needed a dose of downtime to recover, rest, and rebuild from my late season marathon. In short...it was the optimal time for me to stay inside.

What was so great about my off-season? Plain and simple, it was a time to take things easy (more info about my off-season HERE). There was no pressure to train for any upcoming events. No long training runs to schedule on my weekends. I made myself have at least three non-running days each week, no exceptions. And, most importantly, I focused on doing other things to stay active without jeopardizing my "running parts."

Walking was a great way to stay active while in recovery from my marathon

2 - More time inside usually means more time on the treadmill...which usually translates to UGH. Somehow, I managed to "embrace the suck." And, because I was spending so much time inside with the treadmill, I decided to finally give her a name...'Milly. (You can read more about that HERE)

How's that for a post-treadmill glow?

3 - Daily cardio can be tough to find when you aren't relying on running for all of it. For example, one of my January challenges was to do 30 minutes of cardio everyday. Without the "luxury" of daily running, I was forced to get creative inside my house (and not just on the treadmill).

What's a gal to do? Answer : stair work!  If there's one piece of "equipment" that strengthens the lower body and gets the heart pumping, it's the stairway! I do a lot of drills on the stairway...simply going up and down (usually taking the stairs "by two's," but also going "by three's" as well).

Here's a few workouts that I have created:
The Stella vs. 'Milly Interval Extravaganza Workout (more specific details HERE ). As mentioned above, my treadmill now has a name ('Milly), so I thought it only fitting that my beloved stairway have a name as well....so, I named her Stella. I created this workout to intermix 1/4 mile segments on the 'mill with increasing (then decreasing) sets of stairs.

This is a fun one!

The Fast & Effective Stair Workout involves intervals of double-steps and triple-steps:

ready for some "jello" legs?

How about adding some "sideways" steps to the mix? The Strength-Based Balance Burner Workout is great if you're short on time but want to get the sweat flowing:

4 - Being stuck inside is usually so boring!  Guess what? It's a lot easier to do planks inside than outside (at least in the winter). I have been doing daily planks for several years, but this winter I decided to up the ante and do more than just that 2:30 morning forearm plank. I added some short planks throughout the day, and did a lot of planking before bedtime. The best thing to come out of this? I got some fellow fitness-minded friends to join me!

Care to plank along with me? 

5 - It wasn't until February that I was ready to ease back into a base-building running routine. But guess what? February has been pretty kind to me (thus far) in terms of weather. We're had a couple days with cold temps and windy conditions, but most of February has been entertaining unseasonably warm temps...like in the 40's-50's! I have been enjoying lots of outdoor mileage in capri's or shorts, and simple light layers (without the need for the much-loved puffer vests).

Capri's and "no gloves!"

SO, any rants about the winter (or weather) you need to share? How has your February been so far? 

I'm linking up with the ever-awesome gals (Lacey and Meranda and Rachel) for the Friday Five 2.0...and the theme for today is "cold weather rants."