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Memorial Day Weekend

It’s Memorial Day weekend, a time to honor those who fought and paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we might live freely in this beautiful country. The corona virus has put a damper in the celebration of the lives of men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Parades and fireworks have been canceled due to the need to limit the gatherings of large groups of people, but the virus can’t squash our private salute to those heroes.

Photo credit: Bill

It’s easy to think of the Memorial Day weekend as the official kickoff to the summer. In fact, my husband and I normally dress up our deck in red, white, and blue to celebrate with an annual Memorial Day barbecue on Sunday afternoon and evening, but sadly, for obvious reasons that won’t be happening this year.

I’ve been texting with some of my friends this morning during the time that I would normally be rushing around putting the finishing touches on the party. We will still grill out and the kids will join us for a socially distanced get together on the deck. It won’t be the same, but hopefully by this time next year we will have regained some sense of normalcy…

 

And Now on to a RunDown of this Past Week’s Workouts…

 

Sunday

My back was quite stiff from our longer walk on Saturday (seriously, who gets a stiff back from walking?) so I took the day off from all workouts except for my McKenzie press-ups. That’s right I did zip, zilch, nada in the exercise department.

 

Monday

My Monday work schedule was the exact opposite of what I prefer – clients scheduled every other hour so the length of my work day was twice as long as it needed to be. I like cranking out one session after the next so I can move on from working, but hey, at least I’m still able to work; albeit virtually. I got up and knocked out an hour of my own strength training before training my first client and then did my physical therapy homework after wrapping up that session.

 

Tuesday

It was 66° and delightful, albeit very breezy when I headed out at noon for a 4-mile walk. My back has been tight and stiff for a couple of weeks and my body told me to slow my pace and I listened, keeping it at an average 16:27 pace. I stayed in the shade of the trees in our neighborhood trails to keep out of the sun.

 

Wednesday

I fit in lifting and my physical therapy homework between clients and then masked up and headed to Costco – they were out of toilet paper. While there I bought a flat of peach New Guinea impatiens which I planted in pots on the deck Wednesday afternoon (gardening is good for my soul). I’ve never planted the exact same plants in all of my pots before, but drastic times call for boring flowers… or something like that.

 

Thursday

To mix up my cardio from just walking, I hopped on my spin bike (affiliate link) early Thursday morning. I kept it short at 10 miles because I tend to overdo things and since I haven’t been on my spin bike in a month or two so it seemed like a smart idea.

After spinning I even pulled out my foam roller (affiliate link) and spent about 10 minutes rolling out my legs for the first time since my last run in late December.

 

Friday

I woke up early to a dreary rainy morning, but since it wasn’t a cardio day I didn’t really mind. My back wasn’t at all stiff which makes me think walking really is the culprit. My clients sessions were spread out across the morning, but I easily fit in a strength training session, my PT homework, and about 15 minutes of stretching in my open slots.

 

Saturday

Yesterday’s walk was an experiment to see if walking is causing my back stiffness. We stopped after 4 miles because, well, you know, I tend to overdo things. I woke up this morning with a slightly stiff back, but it’s not too bad. I’m hoping to get to the bottom of things this week with an MRI and follow-up doctor’s appointment.

 

Overview of the Week

In addition to the workouts I mentioned above, here’s a complete rundown from this past week (completed either outside or in our home gym)…

 

It’s on the Blog

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

 

Questions:
  • • Do you enjoy totally down days where you just chill, read, or watch tv?
  • • Do you tend to overdo it and have trouble reining it in when working or working out?
  • • Did you run in a virtual 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.