Saturday, January 7, 2023

New Year; Same Me


Here we are, one full week into 2023...and, my-oh-my, how time flies when you're having fun!

It may be cliche, but it's true (at least in my world). I've been keeping busy, trying to enjoy the remaining remnants of the holiday season and maintaining all things fitness, so this first week of the new year has flown by. 

I haven't really set any specific new goals for 2023, nor have I made any reflective resolutions. My main focus is to keep on keeping on, and to enjoy this ride called life. So far, so good!

Before I dis on the deets of the week, 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 world of fitness this week:

A sunny start to 2023!
The first morning of '23 started with an exhilarating 3-miler in the crisp low-30F temps. Although the temps were sub-freezing (27F feels-like), the wind was almost non-existent and the sunrise was beautifully bright. I even had to shed a layer and lose the gloves! Garmin surprised me with a Strong Start badge, so there's that. I also got outside for a 2-mile walk in the afternoon. Happy New Year, indeed!


Never Miss a Monday.
The day started with 12 miles on the bike and a Flash-15 workout (an intense mix of cardio and strength moves, via Peloton). Mid-morning, I headed outdoors for the final run of the RW Winter Run Streak. Technically, the Streak officially begins on Thanksgiving Day, but I'd done a 2-mile run the day prior. Also, since I always run on Mondays, this was a "bonus" day (as were its two miles). Thus, this Streak had a total of 41 days and a grand total of 76 streaking miles. 


Easy-Peasy Scaled-Back Tuesday...
As much as I love doing the annual run streak, I'm always glad to see it conclude. Tuesday morning had me on the elliptical, for "four" low-impact miles of cardio fun. There also was a 2-mile walk after work...and that's all she wrote.


Triple Workout Wednesday (well, sort of...)
Ever have a stray clump of hair magically appear, mid-way through a sweaty workout? This mysterious wayward wispy got my attention by clinging to my neck (and it felt much bigger than it appears in the pic, just saying). After eight miles on the bike, I headed to my weekly PT session. My gal had me do a 1-mile warm-up (on the bike there), then she thoroughly worked me over from the waist-down. Later, after work, Max and I took a short walk in the blistery wind. Back home, I summoned the treadmill for more walking and utilized an arm/shoulder (light weights) workout as I moved. Spoiler: the DOMS, from the morning's PT session, had already arrived.


Thankful Thursday
After a night of snowfall, I had 20-minutes of fast-paced shoveling on deck upon my Thursday morning wakeup. That was just my warm-up, though. There also were 100 flights of stair work happening as well, though Garmin says I only did 33. What the what?  Oh well, just like with most things in life, WE know the truth even its not accurately revealed by others, LOL.
 

Thursday evening, Barb and Allison and I met up for a long-awaited reunion and enjoyed four miles of full moon running. I've said it before, but I'm so glad we started these full moon runs! I look forward to them every month!


Happy FriYAY!
Believe it or not, the DOMS were still trying to cramp my style. We're talking quads and hammies and glutes, oh my! I kept things low-key, with eight miles on the bike before heading to the office. Later, a friend and I got in a 1-mile walk (mid-afternoon), and Max took me for a 1/2-mile jaunt around the park after work.


Saturday's Sweat Fest Extraordinaire
It had been a long time since Barb and I had done a Saturday morning run. We met-up at 7:30, amidst the bright sun and blowing snow. The temps were showing 9F, with a -4F feels-like, and I had no clue how to dress for the occasion because it had been f.o.r.e.v.e.r since I'd done an extended run in such conditions. We ran our #5at5 route, and kept a decent pace, but I was a major sweaty mess after finishing, LOL. So, FYI, your body can get quite hot in sub-freezing weather, though your ponytails will freeze. Once back home, I did some stretching and rode seven miles on the bike...both as a cool-down for my legs and a defrost for my face and hair.


...what's on tap for Sunday?
The early morning temps are looking cold, but the wind is looking rather tame. It might be nice to get some fresh air under the (still somewhat) full moon with a walk. That sounds all well and good, but I'll probably opt for a longish ride on the bike and save the walk for mid-morning, well after daylight appears.   

So, this first week of '23 had some decent action, but also a bit of recovery. After finishing the Streak, I had two guilt-free days with no time in the running shoes. That was a blessing in disguise because Wednesday's PT session was another doozy, and I had the DOMS to prove it. Anyways, running tallied 14 miles this week, but the bulk of those were from Thursday and Saturday. As for walking, this week saw a measly eight miles...I really need to just fire up the 'mill, on occasion. I'm still getting outside, on the daily, but the walking miles seem to take the biggest hit if the weather is really uncomfortable. I even scaled-back the biking, this week, a bit (omitting my "usual" Sunday morning long ride). Total miles in the saddle came in at 36. Extra cardio included Tuesday's elliptical and  Thursday's stair workout. Strength training was on-par with a couple upper-body workouts and all the lower-body PT. 

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

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. You all know I'm a proud Iowa Hawkeye. Thursday night's basketball game, against Indiana, was a nail-biter in the final minutes. I missed some of the first half of the game, when the Hawks were down by 20+ points to the Hoosiers, but I was there for the big rally-back in the second half. So, of course, I had to don the black and gold, in celebration, come Friday morning. Would you have done the same?


I don't very often have my phone handy on the drive home from work. I stopped for gas, though, and had to capture Friday evening's sunset. I'm excited to see the sunsets happening a tiny bit later and later every day.


And finally, here's another ugly "collegiate" sweater update. I shared a pic of the first sweater (for the  youngest daughter) in Friday's coffee post. I'm approximately halfway done with sweater #2, which is for the son, who is an Iowa Hawkeye graduate. I'm just about to the armholes, so I'll be dividing up the stitches (for the front and back) and then knitting each of the sleeves. It's a lot of tedious work, with non-stop stitch counting, continuous color changes, and a good mix of "visualizing the finished project" each time I introduce another pattern variation. But, that's what makes it fun, LOL.


That's the latest and greatest as we begin this new year of fun and fitness. 

How did your week play out? Any cold (though sweaty) runs to mention? Ever had your ponytails freeze? Got any races coming up, this winter or on your spring calendar? 

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36 comments:

  1. I didn't even realize there was a full moon this week but I guess it's because it was so cloudy--we couldn't see it. The sun has been absent for quite a while. Your lucky you got to see it. Nice job on the streak!

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    1. We were really lucky here. The full moon, technically, was Friday night, but it was very bright on Thursday (when we ran). It looked pretty full (still) Sunday evening as well. It's not very often we have so many consecutive evenings with clear skies!

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  2. Nice job finishing that streak strong! You deserve the time off. My walking also is hindered by the winter weather- makes it hard just to "go for a walk" when it's cold or snowy.

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    1. I can usually make myself get out for a walk, but I definitely don't walk as far or as frequent.

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  3. I am glad you PT is helping you so much You should share some of your exercises with us! Way to go finishing your run streak. I don’t think your sweaters are ugly :) Have a great week Kim!

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    1. I'll have to assemble a collection of the favorite PT exercises I've been doing. That's a great suggestion for a future blog post ;-)

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  4. Nice work on the PT and streak! I managed 22.5 miles this week so am glad to have got the year off to a strong start and finally back to it after ramping up gently! Happy New Year!

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  5. oh, yes, I know the frozen pony tail! I had one time where it was stuck straight out! It's great to sweat in the cold, but definitely need to get inside quickly afterwards :)

    Looks like a solid first week of the year Kim! Way to go!

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    1. We don't know where all the blowing snow was coming from...maybe just off the trees? It didn't look like it was actually falling, so it was odd how covered we were.

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  6. I don’t have any big goals for 2023 either, but I am being intentional with my workouts — and stretching.

    Glad the snow didn’t prevent your full moon run!

    Another great sweater!

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    1. We had some scheduling conflicts with the actual "real" full moon on Friday, but Thursday worked out well with the clear sky! It was nice having the streets so clear and dry considering how snow-covered they were in the morning.

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  7. Nice week of workouts and congrats on completing another run streak! PT sounds intense and how wonderful that it's working!

    I love the sweater you're knitting for your son. It's going to turn out great!

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    1. Thanks, Debbie! I like how the sweater is turning out, but it's a lot of time and attention to get it done.

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  8. same old same old for me... which is a good thing... good health and lots of races.. Half on Feb 19, Mar 19, April 15 and May 20.... that should keep me busy

    Congrats on your run streak and glad to hear PT is working for you!!

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  9. I've had many a workout with a random piece of hair as a workout buddy. Back when I was running, I always put my hair in a power bun to prevent tangles, but sometimes a piece from the back will fall out and get really knotted up. Caroline Girvan made a comment in one of her videos to the effect of in the fitness world there aren't a lot of good hair days. Sigh, true life.

    Happy Keep On Keeping On!

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    1. My hair is layered, so I always have random wispies flying amuck, but usually they're at least contained behind a headband. Key word: usually.

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  10. That's some seriously cold weather for running! Here it's been mild, but I never really know what to expect because of the strong winds these days, and in addition you never know if you'll run into rain showers. I was out in some nasty weather yesterday and realised I need to stop overestimate how cold it will be, I had 3 (DriFit type) layers and it was seriously too sweaty.
    For 2023 I have nothing big planned but will keep going with my fitness routine.

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    1. The wind is almost always a factor here, in terms of how cold it "feels like" compared to what the actual air temp is. It can really be a crazy guessing game on how many layers are needed because it changes daily.

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  11. We weren't terribly cold here this week and the snow was minimal but we saw hail and zero sun, so there's that. I'm so done with the gloom. Sweater #2 is looking great so far!

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  12. Sounds like a great week- is your glute/hamstring issue all better? How much longer do you have of the PT? It's obviously working.
    Congratulations on finishing the streak! I'll bet it felt good to not HAVE to run every day this week. And as usual I thought of you when I saw the full moon.

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    1. The glute/hammie feels great when I'm running, walking, biking, etc. THAT part of the issue is probably 90% resolved. I still have some discomfort, though, if I sit too long (like in a car). I've been having some ongoing lower-back pain, so we've been working on that a bit. I'm too creeped-out with chiropractic care, so I'm trying to avoid that...

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  13. Congrats on completing your streak! It's so great to hear how well PT is working for you. I'm hoping to get started with mine this week - you inspire me :)

    Your current sweater project looks fantastic!

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    1. I'll be interested to hear how your PT goes. Fingers crossed you get some relief from it.

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  14. I have never actually had my ponytail freeze! Bandit has been a bit balky about walking again, but apparently the one day it was just because it was wet. Picky dog. He walked just fine today without a jacket -- and 32 degrees!

    Congrats on wrapping up another streak.

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    1. I've had the ponytail freeze before, but it doesn't happen very often.

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  15. It's nice to be in a fitness routine and not having to change a whole lot when the new year comes around, amirite? I love that fitness is not one of the areas where I need "resolutions" (which, if I am honest, I don't really make... I feel like any day of the year is a good day to make changes, if I feel it necessary!).

    Happy 2023!

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  16. Brrrr, but also what a nice week (minus the DOMS). I would love if I had a group to get me out for a full moon run, but my nights are crazy and I am awful running in the evenings.

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    1. We had a decent turnout the first time we did a full moon run (maybe eight people?), but the three of us are the diehards, LOL.

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  17. Awesome job on your workouts this past week! Sorry about the brutally cold temperatures - hopefully you will get some relief this week and go back to "normal" Winter weather lol

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    1. The weather this week, so far, has been much more likeable ;-)

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  18. As you know its summer here so no freezing ponytails for me BUT we were on holiday in South Africa - it was up in the mountains and to our shock it was cold! Not freezing cold but cold enough for us to have a fire every night (well... I think we could have done without but we couldn't resist a blazing fireplace!)

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  19. Somehow I missed the badge on New Year's Day. I just checked my account and I see it now.
    That is a beautiful sunset.

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  20. I'm with you - still clueless on how to dress in really cold weather again! Great workouts this week. Love that plaid scarf!!

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