Seasonal Chillin’

‘Tis certainly the season for chillin,’ both figuratively and (quite) literally!

Momma N held nothing back this week, except for all things warm. Fortunately, she wasn’t especially generous with snow, bless her.  She more than made up for that, though, with cold temps and insane wind on the daily. 

Holy Brrr, Batman! It was a cold one!

Before I divulge the cold & bitter deets, 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 blog as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)

Anyways, here’s what went down this week, in my little corner of the universe:

A slick Sunday…

As if Deb and I hadn’t spent enough time cycling (virtually) together, we joined forces (again) early 

Sunday morning for more spinning and grinning. I wasn’t quite as ambitious as her, but was happy with 15 miles in the saddle. It was still a bit slick outdoors, so I postponed the streak run until the evening hours, in a desperate attempt to bask in the glow of the full moon (see below). The rest of the day was spent indoors baking, blogging and buying (via Amazon).

Never miss a Monday…

In another attempt at capturing the full moon, I got outside in the wee hours for a 2-mile pre-workday walk. Although the moon was visible, it was filtered through a thick cloud cover. Sigh. 

After work, the temps were slightly warmer, the moon was still hidden, and the wind was mild. In other words, perfect conditions for a 3-mile run (that may have morphed into a tempo-paced interval-inspired endeavor). Can I just say it felt amazing to let the legs have their way and do their thing.

A much-needed TLC Tuesday…

The day started with some therapeutic stretching, and my post-Monday-run legs were quite grateful. After work, I got out for a quick 1-mile streak run, then hit the elliptical for 5-ish miles and finished with some upper-body strength work.

It was a very frosty Wednesday…

Yeah, there was a dusting of the white stuff on the ground upon wake-up. The roads were patchy with intermittent slick spots. Kelly, Hannah and I took our time on our ritual 3-mile route, stepping gingerly and keeping more on the streets than the usual sidewalks.

A thoroughly busy Thursday…

With a busy post-workday on tap (ahem, a much-needed hair appointment, LOL), the only available run-streaking opportunity was upon wake-up. Yes, that was before meeting-up with Deb for our weekly hour of cardio power. So, I suited-up, ran that 1-mile streak run, and was on the bike by 4:30AM. Yes, I can do crazy things, but I seldom (if ever) have any regrets. Just a mere 15 miles for me (again, Deb was much more ambitious, LOL), and I finished with another pre-workday upper-body strength session.

Yay for FriYAY!

After a late night, and a not-so-restful night of sleep, I just wasn’t “feeling” the morning run gig. The solution? Save the run for after work, and hit the elliptical instead. Nothing like a solid sweat session of cardio bliss (32-ish minutes) to get the energy a-buzzing.  After work, I had every intention of doing just a single 1-mile streak run, but my legs got the best of me and ran two miles instead. It happens.

 

Celebrating the Saturday Solstice …

After a somewhat failed attempt at a Saturday sleep-in (seriously, my body thinks a 5:54 wake-up is a sleep-in, LOL), I texted Deb to see if she was on the bike. I joined her a little later for 15 miles. I postponed my run to mid-morning because my weather app showed “no wind” around 10:00. Turns out the app lied to me, again, but not a big deal. When it’s sub-freezing (19F). It’s going to feel cold, wind or no wind. I’m just grateful to have made it to the Winter Solstice, and am only too excited about the gradual increasing daylight on the roster.

…and what about Sunday?

There are some different options I’m considering. I’ll definitely get out for either some walking or streak running in the early hours, but I’m holding off to see what the weather is showing upon wake-up.

So, how did the week play-out? Considering the weather was outrageously cold and windy, I’m content with all that I got done outside. Running saw 16 miles, walking had two miles (#oops), and biking logged 45 miles. The strength work was solid, and getting in two different elliptical workouts was a nice change in routine. There were also a couple of random stair-climbing sessions, believe it or not.

In case you missed out, her’s what went  down on the blog this week:

Back to the BRRR!

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. Since it’s the holiday season, I try to keep in the spirit with my outfits. I do try to keep things subtle, on occasion…hence the seasonal scarf. Truth be told, I’d forgotten I had this fun and festive little beauty because it was hidden. I’m glad I found it while looking for something else, LOL! 

Garmin rewarded me with the Stage 4 running badge this week. Is it ironic this would show up during my Streak? 

Lastly, the ever-elusive full moon did not play nice this week. I had to improvise and sneak a pic with a streetlight posing as a fill moon stand-in. ANother incident of the weather app being a big fat liar. First world probs, anyone? 

Anyways, that’ll do for this week’s update. Can you believe we’re closing in on Christmas? And the New Year isn’t too far behind? 

How was your week? Did you get a lot of arctic-like temps as well? Are you able to still get outdoors, or are you spending more time indoors than desirable?  Did you catch the full moon,or was it playing Hide and Seek for you also?

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