A Winter Rebel...with a cause

Call me a rebel.

I have found that laughter is (almost always) the best medicine in curing an attitude problem, especially in terms of dealing with the weather. We can't change the weather, after all, but we can control how if affects us.

Recently, in light of my repeated treadmill runs (BTW, current count is at 11 in the past 30 days), I decided a small act of rebellion was in order. If I wasn't able to run outside (due to ice or extreme cold), I could at least snap a quick post-treadmill-run selfie outside. Not only were the numerous sweaty treadmill selfies getting rather b.o.r.i.n.g., but that small act of stepping outside was rather empowering.


Here's how the rebellious week played out...

Monday
The day started off innocently enough, with 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 flights of stairs...

the elliptical pics are getting a little boring as well, so I'm resorting to filters to liven them up

..and got rather exciting after work. The snow had started to fall, rather quickly, so I fired up Milly (again). We did a progressive 5K run, but I added 400 meter surges at the end of each mile...you know, just to make it interesting.

#nevermissaMonday

Tuesday
The morning was mediocre with 30 flights of stairs. I did these barefoot, while the nail polish on the toes dried. Actually, taking the stairs barefoot, but fairly slowly (so as not to slip, since I didn't have any traction), is a great workout for the calf muscles.

That evening, I did a pretty intense upper-body strength circuit. There were numerous hammers, biceps, triceps and shoulders intermixed with push-ups and ab/core moves.

#nobatwings

Wednesday
Nothing grandiose other than an early morning 2-mile power walk and 20 flights of stairs to wake up the body. And another (filtered) treadmill selfie.

more #funwithfilters

Thursday
Sometimes the heart just ain't feeling the run (even on Valentine's Day). I was decked out in red, but was kind of dreading yet another 5-miler with Milly. The run never felt bad or painful, but my mind was MIA from the experience. I told myself (before I even laced up the red shoes) that I could stop at four miles....so I did. I probably could have soldiered on for another mile, but that one extra mile would not have made me a hero nor was it necessary. Had I done the extra mile, I fear I would have resented myself for pushing forward when I really didn't need to. I've done that before on the treadmill, so I know I have the mental strength to do so...I just didn't feel the need to do it that particular morning. Alas, the #5at5 morphed into a #4at5 instead, and I felt ZERO guilt in calling it good.Onward!

four miles at 5:00 a.m. instead of the usual five...#noregrets

Friday
Would you believe it was another cold morning in Iowa? Twenty minutes of power walking with Milly and 25 flights of stairs. And another outdoor selfie. And that's all she wrote.

another #winterrebel selfie

Saturday
It was a cold morning, but a bright and sunny day. The Freeze Fest 5K (Marion, IA) was my first race of 2019, and I was excited to pin on a race bib! In fact, I was so excited that I didn't realize I'd forgotten both my Garmin AND IPod until we were 20 miles en route to said race. I have done other "naked" runs (without music), but never without any kind of a watch to gauge my time, pace or splits. It was too cold to fuss with my phone for music or timing. Spoiler alert, all went quite well! Ignorance, apparently, is bliss and I was able to bring home a 2nd place AG medal. I'll recap the race in a few days, so stay tuned.

the first piece of 2019 hardware was well-earned

Sunday
...and, guess who got even more snow? Like, 8+ inches of the white stuff (as of 8:00 a.m.). We knew it was coming, so it was not a shocker, but still.  I wanted to do a few easy-paced recovery miles (and my manicure desperately needed attention), so I laced up, polished up and fired up Milly. Not a 5-miler, but a 5K, with another post-run outdoor selfie to commemorate the occasion. By the way, I was still in celebration mode of the Iowa Hawkeye's last-second victory over Rutgers (Saturday afternoon). Life is good.

#multitaskingmanicure

So, the week did play out nicely. As mentioned last week, the lower-body strength workouts are coming via the daily stair-climbing this month (see below). My upper-body workout left me cringing every time I sneezed and/or laughed (DOMS of the abs). And the running? Fourteen miles, most of which was all done inside. Saturday's 5K race (with a 1-mile warm-up) left me feeling quite accomplished. I'm good with everything.

In case you missed them, here's my posts from last week:
Going with the (cold) Flow
Running...Be Still My H.E.A.R.T.

In other news:
My Friday Fashion Flair post (on Insta) was all about cold weather survival. I made this cropped wool-blend poncho several years ago, and it always feels so cozy. As much as I love my bright colors, I also love the perks of a neutral grey piece. Add a chunky and funky necklace and it's not so neutral anymore. As always, feel free to join me! Post a pic of a featured outfit, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and give me a tag (@runningonthefly). Don't be a stranger!

I referenced all the stair work I'm doing this month...and it's for a challenge at my place of work. Our goal is 562 flights of stairs to be climbed by March 2nd (the equivalent of the total number of floors in several combined buildings within our company's franchise region). As of this week, I have reached the goal, but am shooting (climbing?) for a grand total of 1,000 flights. Stay tuned.

And, finally, did you celebrate Valentine's Day? I made it a point to dress (somewhat) in red for my run (I'm kind of dork like that). I made this pic several years ago...and always dig it out from the archives for February 14th

...and, I couldn't resist sharing this little gem that I saw on social media....can you relate?

How was your week? Crazy weather? Great workouts, or a few challenging ones? More snow?

 I'm linking up with Holly and Wendy and Amy (this week's guest host) for the Weekly Wrap. This weekly check-in is such a great place to connect with fellow fitness-minded peeps. Please join us!

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