Running With Perseverance

This week I had my second trip to Chicago of 2024. When I was packing, the weather forecast called for wind and rain, but it mostly cleared up when I was there, although I did have one run that reminded me I was in the windy city.

Simply stunning!

Back To The Windy City

When I arrived on Monday afternoon it was gorgeous—sunny and in the upper 60s. The stars aligned to meet up with Erica for dinner, and we lucked out and got a table at Cindy’s Rooftop restaurant at the Athletic Club. 

After dinner, we enjoyed the pastel sunset with views over Millennium Park and Lake Michigan.

My best sunrise run was on Tuesday. When I stepped outside, I immediately saw the sunrise was going to be gorgeous, and chased it down the Riverwalk and out to the Lakefront path.

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What a way to start the day!

Weekly Run Down

Between recovering from that core class from hell, and prioritizing running in Chicago over the hotel gym, I didn’t do much strength this week, although I took the same body weight strength class as a warm-up three times.

Sunday: Full body strength + 3.25 Tread Miles
I managed Andy’s strength class with a few modifications and a tread run with Alex.

Monday: Upper body strength + Climb Ride
I had a mid-day flight, so I could do a full workout Monday morning.

Tuesday: 4 mile Chicago Lakefront run
After the stunning sunrise, the sky was bright blue for the rest of my run along the Lakefront trail. I was wearing long sleeves and shorts, but probably would have been OK in short sleeves because it wasn’t very windy.

Wednesday: 20 min Climb Ride + 3 mile Chicago Lakefront Run
I started off in the hotel gym, where I used one of the Peloton bikes to take a climb ride. I tried to do a Lanebreak class to cool down, but it seemed like the wi-fi wasn’t strong enough and the bike froze. Instead of messing around with it, I decided to go outside where I was lured to the Lakefront path for another short run.

It was warm—upper 60s—but very windy!

Thursday: Walking
I had an early flight home, but took time to take Scooby out for a walk before I logged in for a few hours of work.

I borrowed my neighbor’s flowers for this photo.

Friday: Lower body strength + Climb Ride
Trying to catch up with the Breakthrough Crew Ascend April classes, since I mostly did my own thing in Chicago.

Saturday: 5 Scooby Miles
Back home, but showing my love for running in the windy city with one of my Chicago  tees. It was in the upper 50s but humid—definitely t-shirt weather.

Don’t let all this running fool you. My hamstring was bothering me after those runs in Chicago, and I am pretty bummed. 🙁 I’m going to do a course of meloxicam (a strong NSAID) and see where that gets me.

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up. And thanks to all of you for putting up with my hamstring saga!

Whelp, as the saying goes, if it’s not one thing it’s another. This week I overdid it in a core class and ended up incredibly sore to the core.

Literally, I can’t get up!

Sore To The Core

It was a 15 minute class that felt easy in the moment that did me in. I think I must have engaged my core too much when I did the knee fold taps, because that’s what I absolutely can’t do now. It also is uncomfortable to walk, running hurts, but cycling is fine. While it sucks to be sidelined from running just as my hamstring is healing, I am honestly not stressed about it. I know this will pass soon.

I wish the app had an ☠️ option so I’d remember to avoid this class! 

At least I was rewarded with the 8K Minute badge.

The class was part of the Breakthrough Crew Ascend April challenge. Luckily I had done the other hard classes before the DOMS set it. I did have to modify a lot of moves in Olivia’s bodyweight class—for some reason even lunges hurt.

Weekly Run Down

I took that core-crushing class on Wednesday, so the first half of my week was strong. The highlight was the 45 min Peloton Ride taught by pro-cyclist/NBC commentator Christian Vande Velde that I took live on Sunday. Apparently CVV used to be a regular guest instructor in pre-pandemic days, and he promised more classes to come.

Sunday: 45 min Peloton Ride with Christian Vande Velde
I have not worked so hard in a class for ages. He cued long, hard sustained intervals that really got my heart rate up.

Monday: 3.7 Scooby Miles
Headed out in the dark with my headlamp, but finished in broad daylight. It was in the low 40s but felt really good.

Tuesday: Upper Body + Climb Ride
I can’t believe how many classes I fit in before going to the office—it’s amazing what a difference not hitting snooze makes!

Wednesday: Evil Core Class + 3.0 Tread Miles

Thursday: Upper Body + 20 min Climb Ride
I took Scooby on a very slow walk, but was pleased to figure out that cycling doesn’t both whatever I’ve done to my core.

Friday: Upper Body Workout
I was feeling better, but not better, so I opted for a super light day with some upper body classes.

Saturday: 30 min Peloton Ride
I tried a few steps on the tread, but that was a no-go. Matt’s pop punk playlist made it a fun class even though I can never keep up with his metrics.

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up. And thanks to all of you for putting up with my hamstring saga!

What’s the craziest DOMS you’ve experienced?

It’s hard to believe it’s April when I had to bundle up a few times this week, but the calendar doesn’t lie even if Mother Nature likes to trick us.

A flowery kit for my Easter bike ride

A Solid Start To April

This week was boring in a good way. I got in a solid set of workouts and my hamstring was pretty well-behaved. The Breakthrough Crew challenge for April has an “ascend” theme—i.e., climb rides and tread hikes. My hamstring isn’t ready for steep incline on the tread, so I did the cycling options.

Monday: Short strength workout at home before heading to my office gym. I took Leanne’s  15 min funk ride to warm up for Emma’s climb. I was glad I had time for a short cool down ride and stretch, because that climb was non-stop!

Tuesday: It was a rainy morning, so after walking Scooby I did an upper body strength workout and then hopped on my tread for a 3 mile run.

Wednesday: Another short strength workout at home before heading to my office gym. This time I took Camilla’s Machine Gun Kelly ride as a warm-up. Peloton has an option where you can track your previous performance on a ride (sort of like me vs. me on the leaderboard). Since I’ve taken that class before I gave it a try, and was surprised when I couldn’t keep up! Granted, I didn’t want to push too hard before Tunde’s climb, but still.

Thursday: 3.75 Scooby miles.
Finally a dry morning for a run! And a work-at-home day, so I could wait for daylight to head out.

Friday: Corepower Yoga with my fav instructor!
I was stalking the Corepower schedule looking for another instructor to try when I saw that Ann was subbing for the 6 am Friday class. I signed up and set that 4:40 am alarm. It was so worth it—her programming is so good!

Saturday: 5.0 Scooby miles
This time I did plan for 5.0 miles. My hamstring was whispering towards the end, but mostly fine!

I’m glad I didn’t put away my winter gear,
but the sunshine balanced out the wind.

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up. And thanks to all of you for putting up with my hamstring saga!

Is Mother Nature playing tricks in your neck of the woods?