Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links…

 

Giving Myself Grace

This week was all about preparing for a festive time with our immediate family as we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, all while adapting to changes to our usual holiday traditions due to the pandemic. And in order to do that, I needed to give myself grace, something I’ve been working on since February when my physical therapist suggested it as one of my goals.

Prepping early and allowing myself to skip workouts without feeling guilty were both key. I’ve learned a lot and hope to carry it into the new year.

 

Overview of the Week

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll down for daily details…

 

Sunday

Less than 24 hours after my previous day’s run, I headed out again on the country roads of southwest Virginia. I kept it shorter at 4 miles and was happy with my 9:08 average pace.

In years past, these horses came running toward me whenever I ran by, especially if I made a clicking sound with my tongue, but this year they didn’t seem so interested in a visit. Perhaps they’d just eaten and weren’t hoping for a snack.

 

Much later in the day, I spent just over 15 minutes doing core strengthening exercises.

 

Monday

We spent much of the day driving home from the farm. Just before bedtime I lifted weights for 45 minutes.

 

Tuesday

I didn’t get up early enough to finish my 5-mile run before logging on to train my 6:30 AM client, but at the last minute I decided to try to get the first half of my run completed before our session and the second half after. It was 39° at 6 AM when I headed out and since I was rushed, I pushed myself and finished with an average pace of 8:52. By 7:35 when I headed back out for part 2 of my run it was 41° and breezy. I pushed the pace again, but not too much, and finished those 2.5 miles with a 8:29 average pace. To say I was thrilled to see those numbers in an understatement!

 

Wednesday

After hearing the weather forecast for over an inch of rain coming our way on Christmas Eve, I opted to head out for another run rather than waiting a day for either a wet run or a forced treadmill run. I tried to keep it at more of a recovery speed after Wednesday’s speedy runs, but felt great and finished a little faster than intended with a 9:13 average pace. On my final lap I stopped long enough to take a picture of two of my friends who cheered me on, lap after lap.

 

Thursday

Before I starting cooking and baking yummy things to enjoy later, I hoped on my spin bike (affiliate link) for a quick 10 miles (16.8 MPH average speed). I had agreed to train only one person, my 6:30 AM client, because I knew that would get my morning started early!

Christmas Eve was filled with mass via Facebook Live, carryout dinner from our favorite seafood restaurant, cocktails, and lively conversation! A very tired Pablo slept with us while visions of sugarplums danced in his head…

 

Friday

Because I had prepped meals, desserts, and even cocktails in advance, Christmas Eve evening and Christmas day were relaxing without a lot of fuss cooking. We were lucky to have all four of the kids and Pablo join us for the holidays which were filled with love, laughter, and mask wearing.

 

Saturday

Since it never got above 30° and I don’t like to walk in the cold, I decided to walk 6 miles on my treadmill (affiliate link). I set the speed to 4.0 and kept it there finishing my walk at a 15:00 average pace.

 

Here’s What You Might Have Missed

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

 

Questions:
  • • Do you (or how do you) fit exercise in around busy family time? ~ I work out first thing in the morning.
  • • Do you ever have to split your workout into segments to fit it into your schedule?
  • • Did you run in a race this weekend? If so, was it live or virtual?

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.