Saturday, November 27, 2021

Outside is Alright


Yes, it was another cold week.

But the fresh air? The breathtaking sunsets and sunrises? The company of friends? A house full of family?  All made for a worthwhile week of fitness and fun, and the frigid temps were bearable.

Yes, you read that correctly. The cold of the pre-winter season wasn't too bad...

Before I share all the details, 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 blogs as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)


Anyways, here's what went down in my little corner of the fitness world:

Sunday - Spinning and Grinning
A new routine, that's been a great fit, is a longish Sunday morning Sebbe ride. Like last week, I did 25 miles of intervals (again) this week...and finished almost five minutes faster. Later, Max took the hubby and myself for a 2-mile walk.


Monday - Welcome to Peloton!
Yes, I drank the Peloton Kool-Aid, and signed up for the free 2-month trial. Sebbe and I did our first official class, a 30-minute cycling workout. The class, plus a little extra cool-down pedaling, netted me 12 miles for the morning. The weather conditions were mild, so a friend and I got in a couple of 1-mile walks at the office. After work, I ran a tempo-paced 3-miler, while hastily chasing the sunset...and it was a beauty!  


Easy-Peasy Tuesday Schmooze Day
Another cold weather routine that has filtered back into my fitness regime is the Tuesday morning elliptical gig. This week, we did "4 miles," though I always question how accurate the distance really is. The timer showed 30 minutes...if only I could knock out that kind of pace on foot! There also was more walking at work (one mile) and after work, with Max (also one mile).


Double Workout Wednesday
With the promise of warmer temps by the afternoon, I hit the basement in the early hours. This time, we took on two Peloton classes, for 15 combined miles. Also, more walking on my morning break at work.


After work, Barb and I had plans for a #5at330 in the 50F temps. The forecast was showing gusting winds headed our way by late afternoon, so we wasted no time in lacing up and meeting up. And, with  temps in the 50F's, it would be a shame to not wear shorts (instead of capris or leggings).


Thankful Thursday!
As was forecast, the temps did a nasty plummet overnight, giving us a feels-like of 0-degrees, thank you very much. This was the 10th year of our local Turkey Trot, and may very well have been our coldest Trot yet...but, (WOW) the turnout was huge! As in years past, there were 1, 2, and 3-mile options for distance, and participants were encouraged to bring food items (or monetary donations) for our local food bank. Barb, Allison and myself ran the 3-mile route. I have not heard back on totals, but the food/cash donations were plentiful. Coupling that with our Thanksgiving gathering, which included  nine seated around our extended dining room table (and three dogs underfoot), my heart was very full.


Back in Black Friday
As mentioned in my Runfessions post, the Winter Run Streak is now my reality until New Year's Day 2022. That said, I opted to begin my day on the bike, doing the Turkey Burn Ride (and stacked on another 20-minute Pop Ride) for 18 miles of intervals and hills. After a quick change into warmer (and drier)  clothes, I did a 2-mile Streak run in the bright (but cold) sunshine.


A Sunny Saturday Showdown
When the morning begins with a few hours of surprise rain, the run gets postponed until mid-morning (at least it does this time of year). When Barb and I did get out, at 9:00, we had damp air and cloudy skies. Within a couple miles, though, the sun came out and the mid-40F's temps felt almost tropical for our seven miles. Afterwards, there was Big 10 football on tap. The Hawkeyes had defeated the Cornhuskers Friday evening, but their fate (in claiming the Big 10 West title) was riding on the Wisconsin vs. Minnesota game. Also, there was a hotly contested match between Michigan and Ohio State for the Big 10 East title. So, let's just say there were several hours of "recovery" on the couch following my run.
 

Alas, this played out to be a busy week! With Peloton added to my fitness arsenal, I have even more options for sweat equity...so stay tuned! In addition to the cycling, so far, I've done a full-body strength class, and a post-run stretching session, and am looking forward to doing more core-focused work and yoga. This week, the running saw 20 miles, walking had a meager 9 miles, and biking dominated with 70 miles. 

In case you missed out, here's what went down on the blog last week:

In other news:

Fashion Friday Flair! I was #BackInBlack on Friday, and not just in terms of the post-Thanksgiving shopping ritual. There was a lot of Iowa Hawkeye spirit in our house, with the football game against Nebraska and a basketball game against Portland State. Both teams were victorious, and the football team is headed to the Big Ten Championship game next weekend, where they'll face the Michigan Wolverines. We're staying tuned for which bowl game the Hawks will have on their agenda. Go Hawks!


Last, but certainly not least, if I can give a shout-out to our running community. Actually, calling it a "running community" is kind of a disservice given the fact that we share more than just a love of running within our little network. Several of us laced up and trotted (virtually) in unison, and I could feel the love, support and encouragement from all of you. It warmed my heart on a cold and windy morning!


Alas, so that's a brief synopsis of my week. We did have a full house for Thanksgiving, though I was remiss in getting any pictures (and I call myself a mother AND a blogger, LOL). Hey, it is what it is.

So, enough about me...how did things play out in your world, fitness and otherwise? Any turkey trotting? Crazy cold temps? Excessive wind?


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34 comments:

  1. I realll)lly need to get on the Peloton bandwagons! So glad you're enjoying your workouts and the free app trial. We had some cold and snowy temps here, but it may get to upper 40s one day this week and I can pull back out my capris!

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    1. Amazingly, we didn't get any "real" snow last week...though we see a few white things blowing around during our turkey trot. SO far, I've used the Peloton app mainly for cycling, but without an actual Peloton bike, the cues are a little tough to duplicate (?) since my resistance setting is very different (definitely not as advanced, LOL) and I don't see my ongoing "output" to know if I'm working hard enough. BUT, I can still follow along and mimic most of what they're doing.

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  2. Glad to hear you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was the same "bad mom" that took zero pics. Sometimes the best laid plans just don't happen. Haha!

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    1. I'm usually taking pics of everything, but I get razzed so much for it. Since I'm long past the scrapbook days, I sometimes share the pics on Facebook...and that brings me all sorts of ridicule as well. It's a no-0win situation. Then, trying to be mindful and NOT take too many pics, I totally forgot to take any, LOL.

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  3. I caught snippets of the Michigan / Ohio State game while doing various things around the house, but totally missed your game. While decorating the Christmas tree, I watched my Hokies become bowl eligible after an awful season when we beat our in-state rival.

    Keep me post on what you think about Peloton. It sounds like you're enjoying it so far!

    Thanks for the linkup and have a great week!

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    1. That's great the Hokies came through...and beating an in-state rival definitely sweetens the deal! The Michigan-OSU game was exciting, as was the Minnesota-Wisconsin game. Crazy how there were so many standings riding on how this weekend's games played out.

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  4. Disappointed in our Badgers. Michigan is going to be tough to beat! Glad you're enjoying the Peloton app. Have a good week.

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    1. Michigan is ALWAYS tough to beat, so it was a huge MSU win to beat them earlier in the season. The Peloton app has been a nice way to change-up some of my workouts for the time being.

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  5. Fun to see you embracing the Peloton app! I have lots of suggestions on classes. Looks like Thanksgiving weekend was good and busy for you. Have a great week ahead

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    1. Yes, we need to chat and compare some notes on Peloton classes. This morning's 60-minute ride was about 15 minutes too long, LOL. But I'm glad I gave it a spin (see what I did there?). Thanksgiving was nice, but it sucks waking up to an empty house ;-(

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  6. Hee hee there's no shame in drinking the kool-aid! I didn't stick with Peloton but I sure learned a lot from it. I think it's probably a better fit for the bike.

    After years and years of saying "I'll never do a run streak" for some reason this year the RW streak is calling my name, so I'm on the bandwagon. I really enjoyed my one mile run yesterday so we'll see how it goes.

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    1. It's only been a week, so I can't really offer much of an opinion yet. I have learned a lot, though, and definitely will take away some helpful info/tips from the experience. I hope the run streak goes well for you! This morning's 1-mile run (after a tough 25 miles on the bike) was SO NICE!

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  7. Glad to hear you had a great Thanksgiving.
    38 days of running is a good challenge: Winter Run Streak sounds interesting.
    Here not cold yet but rainy, rain everyday.

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    1. The run streak is a nice way to close out the year, at least it is for me and my regimen. I'd never do a streak year-round, but it's fun to try something different short term.

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  8. You did great last week! Some of my workouts were kind of... sketchy. But I did run the turkey trot! I've never done a run streak but my husband did the RW Memorial Day- July 4th run streak a couple years ago, and really liked it. Good luck with yours!

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    1. I did the Memorial Day-July 4th streak several years ago, too, and enjoyed that one as well. I don't think I read your race recap...so I'm gonna head over there next ;-)

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  9. Hah, I failed at Thanksgiving photos too. Remembered to take a few before dessert, but used to take a picture of everyone around the food-laden table. Oh, well.

    Glad you are enjoying the Peloton app. I find all the options motivating.

    Yay on your turkey trot and thanks again for organizing and putting together that photo collage!

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    1. Well, we were just sitting down to eat, and the oldest daughter said, "I hope you're not going to take a pic of all of at the table again." Ha ha...so I didn't. Then totally forgot to take ANY pics afterwards.

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  10. It will be interesting to see which Peloton classes you like the best. I have been using Obe Fitness, which is also a free trial. I have found several stretching classes that I like, primarily because they are only 10 mins long! I did find the selection of classes on Peloton overwhelming. I should get my husband to do the trial because he has been using our spin bike a lot. Great workouts again this week for you!

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    1. I've done mostly cycling classes so far, but I want to check out more stretching and yoga options. I agree, there are almost too many classes to choose from!

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  11. I did trot in real life and with my virtual blogging friends. Thanks for the collage.

    I am outside all the time but yesterday was a little much with that wind.

    Today it is snowing!!

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    1. I"M glad we trotted "together" ;-). I'm outside, every day, for one thing or another, b ut often times it's short-lived. We've had some terrible wind this Fall....

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  12. I totally forgot to take a photo on Thanksgiving too.

    Another great week of fitness for you! Great to see you trying out the Peloton classes!

    Thanks again for the collage :)

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    1. It seems like that was a trend this year-> no pics! The Peloton classes have been interesting, and I've gotten some good ideas from them for future workouts ;-)

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  13. Awww, look at all your Thanksgiving run pics, that's super. And well done on a lovely heartwarming week altogether. We've had SNOW here and a big storm, so parkrun was cancelled yesterday but I won an award at our running club awards night for being a parkrun pioneer and supporting one of the smaller local runs. No running also because I've gone from just getting over the cold to having side-effects from my booster vaccine (but that's fine, obviously). Hoping to get out tomorrow ...

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    1. The hubby and I've been holding off on getting our vax boosters because we both had terrible post-vax side-effects, from both doses. Congrats on your parkrun recognition!!!

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  14. Even though I couldn't contribute, thanks for the blogger photo collage! I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying family & not taking so many photos. :)

    Today it's snow showers on & off, except when I ran -- when I wanted to see it! Just gotta roll with it, so to speak.

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    1. Fingers crossed, the snow has been avoiding us for the most part. We've certainly had the cold weather for it, though.

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  15. I only use Peloton for strength (some stretching, but no bikes or runs) and I am enjoying it- the price is so much cheaper than the classes I was going to and there is a ton of variety.

    Glad you had a great turnout for the turkey day run despite the colder temps! The collage turned out great, thank you for including me! Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. I really want to tap into the strength classes...just need to find a convenient time (I know, lame excuse).

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  16. It's been cold here this past week too and we got our first flurries of snow this morning. Thankfully it was a very light now and it didn't stick to the ground. I'm not ready for snow yet lol.

    I'm so glad that you joined Peloton! Feel free to come to me with any questions :)

    Thanks again for putting together that collage - it's so festive and puts a smile on my face!

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  17. Thank you so much for our annual collage! It's always so special! <3

    We had frost yesterday! Frost! But it's been so nice for running. I love it.

    I know you are going to love Peloton!

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  18. That is really cool that the Turkey Trot offered different distances so everyone in the family can participate!
    I'm blogging from my phone so I am really sorry I couldn't get your badge to link up. Hopefully it will work next time as I am slowly getting back into blogging after some issues. Glad you had a happy Thanksgiving friend.

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  19. I'm so looking forward to hearing what you think of Peloton! Best of luck as you try this new #sweat adventure! Absolutely love that Turkey Trot collage! :-)

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