Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links

 

Last DIY Project… For a While

I’ve done it again… While I don’t love painting, I love a good challenge and certainly enjoy the refreshed look a good paint job can give furniture. The past two weeks found me starting two new projects: my little table and two chairs from my childhood and the built-ins in our master bedroom. 

The entire time while painting our kitchen table and chairs two weeks ago I couldn’t stop thinking about how great the honey oak stained built-ins in our bedroom would look if I painted them the same color as the trim. And with a forecast of rain last weekend, I took the plunge and started the project!

 

Overview of the First Week: April 24 – 29

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from the first week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…

 

Sunday

Cycling: 18 miles
• Average speed: 17.0 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 9:20 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 64°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra

Sanding and painting: 4 hours

I waffled on joining friends for a gravel ride, but ended up on my spin bike (affiliate link) since I had a busy day ahead and our gravel rides always end up with a group lunch and a later arrival back home.

I also started another DIY project, this time painting my little table and two chairs Santa brought to me when I was about four years old. I’m painting them to match the kitchen table and chairs that I finished last week.

 

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Painting: 5 hours

 

Tuesday

Cycling: 9 miles
• Average speed: 17.5 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:28 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65°
• What I wore: bike shorts and tank

Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:59 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 72 feet
• Start time: 10:50 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails to W&OD Trail
• Weather: 54° and sunny, climbing to 56°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

Stretching: 10 minutes

Painting: 1 hour 50 minutes

I headed out in search of a pretty tree with magnificent blooms that I could take take a running picture in front of, but didn’t see any so I took a picture on the W&OD Trail. On the way home, I saw a beautiful snowball bush in full bloom that I’d somehow missed on the trip out. I was in too much of a rush to take a picture and hoped it would still be blooming on my next run.

 

Wednesday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Painting: 40 minutes

I stand on one leg and use the Swiss ball rather than a bench to add balance and stability when doing bent-over single-arm rows.

 

Thursday

Cycling: 16 miles
• Average speed: 17.3 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:00 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 64°
• What I wore: bike shorts and tank

Sanding and painting: 5 hours 50 minutes

I have to be honest, if Kim and I weren’t planning to meet for a ride, I probably would have slept in a little bit. I’d awaken at 3:05 AM the day before and couldn’t go back to sleep so I finally just got up at 4:15 (15 minutes before my alarm went off). It’s nice having  a friend to keep me accountable even if she’s 953 miles away!

Annnd… I started working on the build-ins in our master bedroom.

 

Friday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Balance and stretching: 45 minutes

Painting: 7 hours 15 minutes

 

Saturday

Caulking, sanding, and painting: 12 hours 15 minutes

Sadly, I worked on my project all day and didn’t have time for anything else.

 

Overview of the Second Week: April 30 – May 6

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from the second week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…

 

Sunday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Painting: 6 hours

 

Monday

Painting: 5 hours 30 minutes

I finished the built-in unit, but it will take another couple of weeks to paint the fronts and backs of the doors, and tops and bottoms of the shelves. Fortunately, those items will only take a an hour or so each day.

 

Tuesday

Cycling: 9 miles
• Average speed: 17.4 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:29 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 63°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra

Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:19 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 95 feet
• Start time: 11:00 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 52° and cloudy
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, and visor

Stretching: 10 minutes

Painting: 2 hour 45 minutes

I was pleased to see that the weekend’s heavy rain didn’t destroy the snowball blooms I’d discovered on the previous week’s run and I finally got a picture running past them. I also dodged the intermittent rain and got home just before another shower came through.

 

Wednesday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Painting: 45 minutes

My clients hate when I have them do panther shoulder taps, but they’re great for strengthening the core, arms, and shoulder. Focus should be on keeping the hips level and core engaged while moving only the arms, alternating touching the shoulder with the opposite hand.

 

Thursday

Cycling: 15 miles
• Average speed: 16.2 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:00 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 63°
• What I wore: bike shorts and tank

While wearing my Tequila Squad tank in celebration of Cinco de Mayo eve, I realized that it was May 4th, or for Star Wars nerds, May the Fourth. Once on the bike and riding virtually with Kim, I asked if she was a Star Wars fan. Unfortunately, neither of us are so my idea of a meme celebrating both “holidays” went down the drain. Not to worry, I stuck with the Cinco de Mayo theme and doctored up the collage, Kim made.

After my ride, my husband and I hopped in the car to drive to the farm for an early Mother’s Day visit with my mom.

 

Friday

Strength training: 10 minutes of core

Walking: 2 miles
• Average pace: 14:46 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 122 feet
• Start time: 8:37 AM
• Location: country gravel roads
• Weather: 43° and sunny, climbing to 49°
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, and nylon shell

The weather was too perfect not to get out for a quick walk on the country roads at the farm to loosen up my body after sitting in the car for so long the previous day.

 

Saturday

Cycling: 41.5 miles
• Average speed: 10.7 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 4,042 feet
• Start time: 9:02 AM
• Location: Rockbridge County, Virginia
• Weather: 54° and sunny, climbing to 64°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

We kicked off cycling season with our first gravel grinder event down in the Shenandoah Valley. The scenery was beautiful, but many of the roads had a fresh layer of deep loose gravel making it extremely difficult to ride. More on that on my recap in the next week or so… Despite the difficulty level, we had a fantastic time with our Gravel Rat and VeloPig friends.

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

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

 

Questions
  • • What’s your favorite core exercise? ~ I like being creative and adding core into other exercises that might not engage the core when done on a bench or in a chair.
  • • What was your favorite workout of the week? ~ It was great getting back outside on my bike!
  • • Did you run in race this weekend? ~ No

 

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.