Hello and happy Friday!! Boy it’s only two weeks into the New Year and I already feel like I really needed this weekend! I should hardly be complaining because I know teachers get much more frequent breaks and days off than other jobs, but it sure can be tiring. We have this coming Monday off for Martin Luther King Day as well, so this is a long weekend. I am so, so excited for a weekend with no plans and time to relax and be productive! I do love going out and have fun plans but it’s always nice to have a weekend with no obligations.
So far 2017 is off to a great start running and exercise wise! I have successfully (almost – I have one workout left to do tomorrow morning) completed two full weeks of my training plan to the tee. Usually I am pretty good about following my running plan, but so often I decide to change the cross training to something other than what I originally had listed, or end up changing up my miles slightly or flipping my runs because of weather/time/commitments, etc. There is something so satisfying about crossing each day off knowing you have done the EXACT workout! I am excited to see how long I can keep this up.
I started the week out with a spin workout in my living room (gee that bike sure is convenient!). By Tuesday the weather had turned into a weird rainy, muddy spring mess. I had my tempo workout to do Tuesday and still (somehow) convinced myself to do it in the slush. The winds had picked up by Tuesday evening and it would gust at times up to 40 mph! I know this sounds like an exaggeration but I have never run in winds this strong before. This run made me feel pretty tough for being out there though, and I managed to run some decent times for my 5 x 800s. By Wednesday the weather had gotten colder and the rain turned into some ice, so the run was a little slower, but I got in 5 miles. I found a big loop to run which gets me to about 4 miles and is still close to my house, which is great in the dark! Thursday I did a 45 minute spin workout in my living room (loving it).
I work at both the Middle School and two elementary schools in my district, which can sometimes present interesting scheduling issues. The MS and HS both had half days today because it was their last exam day, but the elementary schools all had full days. Today was a half day with afternoon classes, and since I only work at the MS for the morning classes, I didn’t have to go in until the afternoon today. I ran my ‘long run’ of 7 miles this morning and sure am glad I did! I really did not want to spend my entire time off this morning running but knew I would be glad I did in the end. Tomorrow morning I have to be somewhere so this will allow me to sleep in instead of getting up to run! The 7 miles felt pretty good this morning. It was a little chilly for the first mile or so, as it was 20 degrees outside, but I warmed up fast. My new Garmin has a HR monitor in the wrist, which means I need to wear it against my skin. In the winter I always cover it with my long sleeves so my skin isn’t exposed to the cold, which means that I can’t see my paces without making a point to check it. So far this has caused me to be decently surprised when I return home and find out that I haven’t been running as slow as I thought!
Tomorrow morning will wrap up the week with Kayla Itsines’ BBG Week 6 and then I will be 2 for 2 so far in my training! Tomorrow morning I am going to celebrate my Grandma’s birthday by going to and Escape Room which will be a blast! I went to my first one a few months ago and was instantly hooked on it. Earlier this week we celebrated my mom’s birthday which left me with 5 pieces of carrot cake. That cake has been getting me through the week and tonight I will be switching back to my ice cream! Even though today was a student’s birthday and they brought in some pretty great treats (I scored myself a donut with rainbow sprinkles). Gotta reward ourselves for making it through the dark and dreary January 😉
Have a wonderful weekend and stay safe to all those in this winter weather mess!