Winter's Revenge

Talk about your weather whiplash!

After a week of spring weather previews, Momma N pulled out the rug and threw us -smack dab- back into Winter. This started with a heavy snowfall overnight Sunday, and continued with cold temps and a heavy dose of wind...almost on the daily. 

Cold and windy weather is not a surprise this time of year, but it's still a buzzkill when it happens. Thankfully, the bulk of Sunday's snow was gone by Monday afternoon. The cold temps, though, set up homestead for the better part of the week...

Before I share 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 frigid world of fitness this week:

Easy Like Sunday Morning.

After Saturday's 50K on the bike, I kept things on the down-low with a mere 12 miles of cycling and a quick afternoon 1-mile walk before more Big 10 basketball watching.

Never Miss a Monday.

As mentioned, we got dumped on overnight, to the tune of 5-7 inches of snow. Monday morning's workout was all about snow removal. After work, I did a Pi Week preview, of sorts, and knocked out a windy 3.14K run (which translates to 1.95 miles), and finished the day with some core work.

Another Tunde Tuesday.

Tunde is fast becoming a favorite Peloton instructor, especially with her arm/shoulders workouts. I stacked a couple of her upper-body workouts for my early-morning sweat session. Later, I had Pi for runch (it was Day-1 of the 2022 Week of Pi challenge), did a 1-mile walk at work, and met up with Amy for a 2.5-mile after-dinner walk.

An Easy-Peasy Double Workout Wednesday.

With all the Pi running on tap for the week, I kept most of the cross-training on the low-key. The day started with 10 miles on the bike, along with a short core workout and a 1-mile walk at work. Later, Wednesday's Pi run took me on a new route, around the west side of town and ended with a jaunt through the Grinnell College campus.

Thankful Thursday.

Thursday had me multitasking with a double stack of Tunde's arm workouts while "Pi power-walking" with Milly! Holy shoulder smolder...I'm always amazed how much fire 3-pound dumbbells can generate! The Day-3 Pi run had me chasing a couple of hills on the county road, north of town, while repping my Iowa Hawks (who had defeated Northwestern earlier in the afternoon).

Friday "Fan" Fare.

I had Friday off from work (long story, but Max had ACL surgery and needed a doggy nurse on duty at home). I met up with Barb for a chilly Pi run before picking Max up from the vet. The temps dropped (and the wind picked up to 20mph wind) as the day wore on, so we timed our run well. After bringing Max home, I did a short 10-mile ride on the bike (while he napped). Later that afternoon, the Hawks defeated Rutgers...advancing to the semi-finals in the Big 10 Tournament!

A Sunny Shamrock Shuffle Saturday.

Holy Brrrr, Batman! The cold temps hit rock-bottom, and the wind was most evil for the Shamrock Shuffle in Iowa City. This was a new-to-us race, for both Allison and myself. The event offered a choice of a 3.17K or a 6.34K distance, and featured two figure-8 "loops" through a park (and surrounding neighborhood). On a beautiful day, it would be a great course, but on a freezing cold (and bitterly windy) morning, it was brutal, even with a 1.5-mile (approx.) warm-up. After returning home, I wanted to complete Day-5 for Pi Week, but had ZERO desire to head back outside...so I fired up Milly for 3.14-post-race miles. In full disclosure, I ran the first 1.95 miles (there's that 3.14K distance again, LOL), and walked most of the remaining 1.19 because my legs felt so trashed from the morning's racing antics. So, a little more than seven total running miles and slightly more than one mile of walking for the day.

What's on tap for Sunday?

Obviously, there will be a Day-6 Pi run. As I'm nearing the end of Pi Week, my legs are feeling a bit weary (I don't typically run this kind of mileage on consecutive days, especially for an entire week). I want to do some morning cycling, to flush out the legs, but I plan to keep those miles conservative (no intense classes or climbing/intervals). The Pi miles may have to be with Milly, due to the situation with Max (the hubby is out of town, and I can't leave Max unattended). 

In summery, this week was pretty Pi-dominated, and not just on the streets or with running. Walking was lack luster (due to the running, but also the crazy cold outdoors), and only had 10 miles. Biking took a hit, also due to the Pi running, and only had 32 miles pedaled. Running saw almost 22 total miles for the week. Strength training was limited to just upper-body (two sessions), though I did incorporate some easy stair-climbing (10 flights before all of my runs, except for Saturday's race).

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

A Tease of SPRING

Oh Dear Daylight, How I Love Thee

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. In case it wasn't made obvious, this was a big week for Iowa Hawkeye basketball! The women's team won the Big 10 Tournament last weekend, and the men's team pulled off a last-second victory over Indiana, taking them to Sunday's championship game. So, I've been sporting the black and gold. A lot. Friday was no exception.

Finally, a robin-spotting! When I pulled into work, Wednesday morning, I saw this robin in the tree outside of our office building.

Peloton milestones...On Thursday morning, I passed the 200-class mark. Later, I received notice that I'd reached the 100-strength class mark. Also, they praised me for the increase in workouts, minutes, and calories burned in February. The truth of the matter is, those increases were more a result of being back on the indoor bike, as opposed to the outdoor bike (while in Florida for January)...but I'm not telling, LOL.

Finally, one more tidbit about Iowa basketball...in their game against Northwestern, Thursday afternoon, the men's team set a slew of new Big 10 records. While I'm not much of a basketball player myself, I LOVE watching the game. I try to catch as many Big 10 games as my schedule allows, not just when Iowa plays.

Whew! It's been a busy week! 

What's been happening in your world? Did your weather turn rather chilly (again) this week, too? Any races this weekend, or in the near future? Got a favorite sports team?

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