Weekly workouts – fun, friends, and a duathlon!

I guess it’s week 9 of coronavirus “quarantine”, but things have been very normal around here this week. Some restaurants with outdoor dining have opened up, and a few retail stores have opened up. On the running front, I had a pretty epic week. A hamstring “strain” (or something) that happened back in mid March has finally calmed WAY down. Barely noticeable by the end of the week! I ran almost 30 miles, saw friends, worked out with friends, and even raced this week. Woot!!

Monday – 40 mins elliptical.  I guess my elliptical workout is my new Monday jam!  Time to catch up on some TV watching.  I still have 6 more episodes of Schitt’s Creek to watch, and I’m stretching it out as long as I can!  And surprisingly, my body is feeling good despite all the rough mountain biking this past weekend. (Recap here in case you missed it) Hooray!

4.25 mile walk.  I finally finished my audiobook, “Rich People Problems”.  I really liked this series of books (Crazy Rich Asians).  It sure did take a long time to complete though! Random thing I saw on my walk… isn’t this a fun way to celebrate? I wonder what they staked them to the ground with?

Tuesday – 4.5 miles, treadmill.  This has not only been the first time in *weeks* that I have been on my treadmill, it was also the first run that I’ve been on in weeks that my right hamstring hasn’t felt “pinchy”.  That’s WONDERFUL.  And I know this will surprise some people, I did miss the rhythmic beat of my feet hitting the treadmill.  It’s all good 🙂

I do have to rant about a Zoom meeting this week.  At my office they decided we all needed to bond a bit and use Zoom video instead of just audio.  So we had our first IT team meeting.  It was fun to see everyone again!  What was not cool was a millenial on our staff who is working remotely.  I kid you not, but he was laying in bed for the whole meeting.  He was just a big zoomed in head, but I could totally see the blanket across him.  I thought that was a bit rude.  Make an effort and at least sit up for God’s sake!

4 miles PM run… yes, you’d think that morning run was a win and I’d stop there, but my friend asked about getting together for a run and I was like “A friend!  A friend!!”.  So yep, 4 miles were run after work.  We got to do a jump shot too.  Sooooo good to connect with a friend again!

30 min Peloton strength class.  Weights with my son.  Phew, my shoulders were pretty whipped after this one!  

Wednesday – 20 mins elliptical, 10 min core class. I told myself I’d just sleep in, but since I woke up early, I did some exercising!  That core class was so hard!!  Ugh.  The planks were especially a challenge with my tired shoulders from last night.

Thursday – Bootcamp.  Real live bootcamp!  This was a great workout.  My friend has been meeting with friends for a workout in the early morning, and I really wanted to join them. You know, FOMO (and friends!!).  So I showed up.  Not even really knowing what we were doing!  We met along the river.  Did 3 sets of weights, then climbed up a bunch of stairs.  Then we ran up the ramp (the alternate route instead of the stairs).  Then do it all over again.  FOUR times.  After the first time up the stairs I was gasping for air.  My friend considers me a “fast runner” and told me to just “go ahead” when we were running up the ramp – but little did she know I was dying!  Well, let’s be honest – it was apparent to everyone that I was struggling to keep up with them. LOL!!!  (note me sweating in tank top, and them in long sleeves. ha!)

But the river view was awesome, and we did see a bald eagle in the trees nearby.   And it was so nice to reconnect with people!!

The workout was cut short because it started to rain, but I will be going back for sure!  It’s personal now.  I feel out of shape! 

Friday – 10 miles, long run.  And DOMS.  Oh my, I was feeling that stair workout from Thursday!  But there was no way I was missing out on the great weather. I went farther than I had expected to go.

I did find some fun things on my run…  a bunch of snails, crossing the path I guess? Also a toad. And $1!  I never find money on my runs, so that was pretty exciting!

Saturday – Corona-thon duathlon!  Virtual edition of course 😉  This event was done with my son.  His first duathlon!  I’m very proud of him.  He did great!  1 mile run (8:45 pace), 13 mile bike ride (13.5 mph), 5k (9:49 pace).  The weather was decent (mid 50’s) but it was foggy and humid.  He had never practiced running after biking, so the “jello” legs were pretty odd for him.  If you’ve done a brick workout, you know what I mean!  There was a little bit of walking during our 5K, but for a guy who hasn’t worked out more than 50 mins with me, racing for a 1:45 mins was a big step up!  I think he could easily be convinced to do another duathlon.  Yeah!

Sunday –  5 miles. I decided to try out my compression socks today. So I actually had two workouts… running, and taking my socks off. Ugh. I’m really not a fan of compression socks, so they will go back in my drawer for another year or so until I get inspired to try them again 🙂 We spent the rest of the morning shopping for veggies to plant in our garden… when the rain stops.

Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!

Q: If you plant a garden, what grows best for you? What do you like to grow?

Tomatoes and cucumbers work well for us. We’re going to try some green peppers and watermelon again, but they have never been very successful!

Q: Do you wear compression socks for running?

They are just too restrictive for my liking – and too hot. I’m not sure what benefits they would have for me, but I just can’t get past those two issues!