sidebar | life and training 12.6 – 12.12
Busy week full of disruptions. On Wednesday I received my Moderna booster shot and it laid me out all day on Thursday: chills, aches, 101 fever, the whole shebang. Thankfully, I improved relatively quickly after that and returned to some normalcy by the middle of Friday. I really hate being cloistered and couchbound for an entire day. My body is made to move, and move often, and having to sit for an hour after sweeping the floor is rather jarring for someone who spends most of her time upright and flitting to and fro. Going for a midday walk to buy artichokes was quite the blessing.
I may have mentioned this prior, but the amount of fog we’ve experienced lately is too damn high. I seriously don’t remember witnessing this much in the past few years. The mornings aren’t terribly unpleasant, though I’d love for them to cool off again, but traipsing through sticky humidity that feels like rain but clings like summer isn’t the nicest of tactile occurrences. Seems much of the country is seeing some unusual weather patterns.
Babble all you want about broscience, but somethings amiss in the atmosphere, kids.
The 2021 Holiday Cookie Box Is Here!
I have two more recipes to share this week (by Wednesday! Promise!) but most of them plus many bits of advice on how to build the perfect treat box is up and ready for your viewing. Who of you makes cookie boxes as gifts? Whether you’re shipping or hand delivering, I do hope you find this array of tips and recipes useful! Check out this year’s cookie box here.
A Few Things I’m Digging
This cardigan…My all-time favorite cardigan thus far. I own the Charcoal Heather color, which appears to be sold out, but a few colors remain still and if you need a seriously cozy wrap for all types of occasions, get this one.
Bottle brush trees… These are such an easy and inexpensive way to decorate for Christmas. I have several sizes and colors: I love these for my overhead shots and also set them on the stairwell ledge between these larger guys.
Rose quartz serving board…Put this gorgeous board on my Christmas list in hopes that Santa will prevail in his jolly red kindness.
Sugared cranberries…How beautiful do these look on different dishes! I prettied up glasses of my Santa’s Sleighride Sangria with these ruby jewels and used them as garnish for a special gingerbread treat coming this week. By the way, if you haven’t nailed down the perfect holiday cocktail – make that one, damn it.
Cheesy French Onion and Mushroom Pasta Bake…This guy is definitely going on my upcoming Christmas Even/Day menu post. I ain’t even mad about the leftovers. Grab the recipe here!
Week in Training
Monday, 12.6: 5.7 miles, 10:32 pace + 54 minute back and biceps
Saw some evidence that my supplementing might be helping my run woes! My heart rate was down an average of 5 bpm even though the weather pretty much sucked: humid, foggy, and warmer than it has been. I’m glad to see this and hope it’s a true trend!
Strength:
- 4 x 10 pull-apart
- 4 x 8 curl
- 4 x 8 row
- 4 x 12 hammer curl
- 4 x 12 lat pulldown
- 4 x 8 preacher curl
- 4 x 8 ea. balanced single arm row
- 4 x 10 ea. oblique bend
- 4 x 40 alt. v-up
- 4 x 15 bench leg drop
Tuesday, 12.7: 3.46 miles, 8:40 pace + 45 minute shoulders & triceps
Time Crunch Tuesday with a fast 30 minute run and strength right after. I clocked an 8:16 mile again but my first two leaned much faster than last week’s 30 minute bonanza. Another very foggy morning and disturbingly warm, so reaching these paces was even more satisfying and while they were hard, they didn’t feel uncannily so.
Strength:
- 4 x 8 Arnold press
- 4 x 10 skullcrusher
- 4 x 4 machine chest press
- 4 x 10 triceps dip
- 4 x 12 front raise
- 4 x 10 triceps push down
- 4 x 5 hang clean and press
- 4 x 10 triceps pulses
Wednesday, 12.8: 7.26 miles, 10:22 pace + 52 minute legs
Foggy again. Leg day was much harder without solid use of my right thumb. I think gripping the really heavy dumbbells strained some of the muscles/tendons so any sort of non-neutral motion triggers a lot of pain. I managed well enough and tried to focus on movements that isolated my lower body more.
Strength:
- 4 x 8 deadlift
- 4 x 10 leg press
- 4 x 8 leg extension
- 4 x 10 ea. single leg deadlift (my thumb struggled really hard with these)
- 4 x 10 ea. donkey kick
- 4 x 12 swings
- 4 x (20 machine crunch/40 alt. jackknife/20 v ups)
Thursday, 12.9: 3.7 mile walk (1:04:00)
Had enough energy when I woke up to get outside for awhile, but soonafter I was hit with fatigue and fever and thus was couchbound all day. Those vaccines are no joke! I knew I wasn’t *truly* ill so I didn’t concern myself with the recovery time, but it was a bummer to have such a large halt in my routine. Still glad my body let me walk before peacing out for the day.
Friday, 12.10: 6.71 miles, 10:34 pace
Felt much better after a day couchridden by the Moderna booster, but I definitely ran longer than I should have. I walked for 20 minutes to get home afterwards.
Saturday, 12.11: 9 miles, 10:37 pace + 50 minute legs
Maybe it’s the lingering aftereffects of the booster or maybe just my new normal, but this run was difficult in ways it shouldn’t have been. I don’t think I’m going to build much beyond this for now unless I have an anomaly day where everything feels great.
Strength:
- 4 x 12 hip thrust
- 4 x 15 seated calf raise
- 4 x 10 leg press
- 4 x 10 ea. side lunge
- 4 x 10 single leg leg press
- 4 x 12 sit squat
- 50 crunches/40 ea. jackknife/30 bicycles/20 dumbbell drags/10 hover bird dog/50 inchworms
- 1 minute boat hold
- 1 minute wall sit
Sunday, 12.12: 5.75 miles, 10:26 pace + 47 minute back & biceps
Switched out my rest day since I received my booster shot on Wednesday and figured I’d feel like total shit on Thursday. Which I did. Easy hour and a short strength workout to end the week.
Strength:
- 4 x 8 ea. low biceps curls/8 upper biceps curls
- 4 x 8 row
- 4 x 12 concentration curls
- 1 x 12/3 x 10 mid row
- 4 x 10 barbell curls
- 2 x 12/2 x 8 straight arm pull down
- 4 x 12 dumbbell press-out
- 4 x 30 deadbug
- 50 crunches
Total running mileage: 37.9
