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If Washing Dishes Counted as a Workout
In last week’s recap, I mentioned that on Saturday I’d spent over 12 hours starting the process of taking everything out of our kitchen cabinets and drawers, washing the contents and purging items I hadn’t used in years. I spent another 6 hours on Sunday and 1-2 hours each day this past week. Finally by yesterday morning all cabinets in both the kitchen and butler’s pantry were empty and their contents were boxed or stacked in our family and living rooms.
I’d hoped to share more about our kitchen project while catching up over coffee on my blog on Friday, but didn’t get a chance to work on my blog (every spare second was spent in the kitchen). Once the project is finished, it will be a lot more fun putting items back into the freshly painted cabinets and I promise to share before and after pictures at our next coffee date.
I may not have sweated a lot during all that work, but I certainly got in a lot of steps as I carried items back and forth throughout the first floor!
Overview of the Week
Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 25 miles
• Average speed: 17.0 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 64°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra
I knew that if I didn’t get on my spin bike (affiliate link) early, it wouldn’t happen. I’d missed my workout the day before thanks to our kitchen project and with another full day of cleaning ahead of me, I needed to get my workout behind me early.
Monday
Strength training : 1 hour of total body
Tuesday
Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:09
• Start time: 8:04 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 21° and sunny
• What I wore: long tights, s/s shirt, mesh lined jacket, gloves, mittens, and ear warmer headband
Foam rolling: 10 minutes
Stretching: 10 minutes
I’m rarely able to wear my 2010 Boston Marathon jacket while running because it has a mesh lining and is too hot except under very cold conditions – I normally wear unlined shells – but at 21° I was comfortable wearing it over a short sleeved shirt. I took my mittens off for the picture so I could show off my colorful gloves.
Wednesday
Strength training : 1 hour of total body
Walking: 2 miles
• Average pace: 14:41
• Start time: 3:21 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 47° (feels like 43°) and cloudy
• What I wore: capris, l/s shirt, down vest, gloves, mittens, and ear warmer headband
Thursday
Cycling: 25 miles
• Average speed: 16.6 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 1:18 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 68°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra
Friday
Strength training : 1 hour of total body
Stretching: 15 minutes
I always thought my shoulders and arms were my best feature, but age is taking its toll making my arms look frumpy when they’re not flexed. Seriously, my arms look like they belong to two different people when they’re flexed versus just hanging there. Despite my best efforts of religiously lifting three days a week, I don’t have the tone and definition I used to have; however, I know my efforts are keeping them looking pretty good for my age.
Some of my favorite shoulder and arm exercises include upright rows, lateral/forward raises with pizza cutters, flys, reverse flys, push-ups, skull crackers (shown below), triceps press, dips, and biceps curls.
Reaching full range of motion…
Saturday
Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:21
• Start time: 9:23 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 26° (feels like 15°) and sunny, 15 MPH wind with gusts up to 23 MPH
• What I wore: long tights, s/s shirt, mesh lined jacket, gloves, mittens, and ear warmer headband
Foam rolling: 10 minutes
Stretching: 10 minutes
Notice in the picture below that the second toe on my right foot crosses over my large toe. As a result, I had a lot of rubbing resulting in blisters until I discovered Injinji toe socks (affiliate link). Each toe is encapsulated in its own little cocoon keeping it from rubbing on its toe friends and voilà, no more blisters!
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions:
- • Have you tried toe socks?
- • Runners, are you better at doing dynamic warmup exercises before your run or stretching and rolling after your run?
- • Did you run in a race this weekend?
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.
I have made a serious effort to focus on warm ups and recovery stretching and it makes a huge difference for me. I have not tried the toe socks but I do have one of those toe separators that is supposed to help with bunions. I have a small one that sometimes rubs. I am sure you really needed to know that! LOL
LOL, a lot of what we share on our blogs is probably TMI, but we learn from each other on how to remedy lots of little running issues. 😉
I like Injini toe socks, but I don’t wear them all the time. I thought they would bug me, having something between my toes but they are so comfortable! Glad they work for you too.
I think you look great! But I understand those changes you’re seeing in your skin as it’s happening to me as well. Sigh. There’s only so much we can do, but strength training is definitely the secret sauce!
I only wear my toe socks when I run or go for a walk (if I plan to walk fast); otherwise, my toes don’t run together too badly. I’m sure that’s coming though! LOL
Yes! Strength training is the secret sauce to helping with many things!
The kitchen. Been there. So much work and stress.
Yes on the toe socks. Didn’t solve my neuroma problem so I ditched them while running.
Yes. Negative windchill most days. But yesterday I got my 8 miles done.
Next weekend is another half. I’m ready. I think.
Nice active week for you.
The kitchen is the heart of the house and when that’s not working everything else seems out of whack. It’s almost finished and I LOVE it!
Have so much fun at your half – I can’t wait to read your recap!
I love my Injinji’s, but I don’t wear them as often as I should. I almost always do some kind of dynamic warm-up (even if it’s just 10 flightsof stairs) before running. The stretching and foam-rolling (afterwards) is a bit hit & miss in terms of lenght of time I have. I do try to at least do a few minutes of stretching and save the muscle rolling for later if need be. I was just thinking, it’s been awhile since we’ve “ridden” together…maybe we need a reunion 😉
Yes, let’s plan an early morning ride “together” soon!
That’s a whole lot of work! And that is exactly why our cabinets aren’t painted, although I’ve always wanted to because they’re really dated. Nice job!
Fighting time & gravity is a losing battle. Just sayin’. I’ve thinking about that since I turn 60 in roughly a week. We’ve got to appreciate what our body can do, not as much the way it looks!
Not always easy, though, of course.
The kitchen cabinets are almost finished and I LOVE how they look! It looks like a different kitchen.
I guess I’m vain enough to still want my body to look as good as it’s functioning. LOL
I think your arms look fantastic! I have so many runner friends who don’t strength train- I probably need to get off my soapbox, but I think it is so so important for injury prevention and long term health. My first love is running, but I love strength training.
Anyways, that 2010 Boston jacket is so fun! I love the colors. My problem with those jackets is that they don’t actually breathe all that great- they’ve improved a bit (my husband’s from 2021 is much better) but they aren’t my favorite to run in, no matter the temp!
I agree 100% about strength training and running. I always felt that it helped me run pretty much injury-free for years while my friends were constantly getting injured.
I noticed that my Boston jacket has a label saying it’s “Climaproof” and that explains a lot – it just doesn’t breath like my other jackets. I love it, though!
Thanks for including some of your strength routine! I know what you mean about arm definition- from a certain angle and when they’re flexed, my arms can look really good. But let’s just say I should be doing those skull crackers for my triceps.
I’ve recently added a great warmup routine before my runs, including walking lunges, banded squats and lateral squat walks and reverse lunges. I’ve really noticed a huge difference when I start my runs. But I’m TERRIBLE about any kind of cooldown routine- I usually do nothing. I guess I should take that more seriously.
I do plan to write some posts describing my strength training workouts, but I’ve just been so busy recently and haven’t had time to blog more than once a week. Stay tuned!
I like your pre-run warmup routine. I’m terrible about doing that and just head out to run. I need to get back to warming up better again.
My second toe also crosses over my big toe! On both feet. Thankfully, no blisters but it can get very uncomfortable especially on long runs. I will need to look into those socks!
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Oh, I hope the toe socks help you as much as they’ve helped me. Good luck!
My wife always says that by doing housework she consumes more calories than me when i go to run!
Indeed it’s hard to be a teacher and a … wife/mom/grandma!
The Boston Marathon jacket is very beautiful. When I started to run (1985) I read about the Boston Marathon and I put it at the 1st place of my wish list. Unfortunately it remained only a dream!
Never give up, perhaps someday you’ll run Boston!
I can’t handle toe socks! They make my toes all crazy. That being said, I never get blisters, so it doesn’t matter.
Age is such a jerk. Sigh.
I DID race this weekend! I took on my first half marathon since I broke my leg! Yay!
Age is a jerk and aging certainly isn’t for sissies! 😀
How awesome that you ran the half and got that behind you. You proved to yourself physically and mentally that you can do it!
I feel you on the arms. Mine look great when I’m flexing and chubby when I’m not (and no matter how much I lift, I’ve got a bit of the “wave” going on with the skin under my arms, sigh.)
I totally suck at warmup and stretching…
MCM Mama recently posted…Training for Back to Back to Back Half Marathons
Yep, that pretty much describes my arms, too.
I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures!
I used to do a bit of stretching after every run, but it was never anything I took seriously. I read a lot about the benefits of stretching and dynamic warmups last summer. Since I slowly implemented them before and after my workouts. Now I do dynamic movements and stretching every day, and my body has never felt better.
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That’s great! I need to get better at the warmups…