A Berry Good Start To May

I thought I went berry-picking early, but looking back on last year, it seems like I have a tradition of making a berry good start to May. 😉

13 lbs of fresh-picked sweetness!

A Berry Good Start To May

This was a weird week, with front-loaded work deadlines that had me working late Wednesday, followed by a calm after the storm with time to catch my breath. Thursday I had my orthopedist appointment in the morning and decided to take a “detour” on the way home to go berry picking! OK, the farm was 30 min further away, but I was still back home by 1:00 pm.

Last year I made amazing strawberry jam, but didn’t write down the recipe, so I had to search the internet again. Yesterday, I made pectin-free jam using this reduced-sugar recipe. With berries this ripe, I knew I didn’t need as much sugar as most recipes call for, and it turned out scrumptious again.

I learned from making cranberry sauce that lemon juice (and lemon zest) is key to pectin-free jam, because lemon is naturally high in pectin. I also read that underripe berries have more pectin, so next year I’ll pick a few of the half-ripe berries I left behind.

I used about 1/2 the berries for jam (making twice what is shown above) and made the classic Bisquik recipe for strawberry shortcake—my all-time favorite—and still have a ton of berries left for eating. The only downside of going so early in the season is that I might be tempted to go again!

Weekly Run Down

I planned my workouts around Week 3 of the Peloton Spring Cross-Training Plan. This week I took Monday’s class on Tuesday and Tuesday’s class on Wednesday, but was able to take the other classes on their designated days.

Sunday My legs were a bit tired from hiking, but I wanted to participate in Pelofondo for my BreakThroughCrew team. I pledged a modest 20 miles and got that in with Hannah F’s latest 60 min ride and a 10 min Lanebreak ride.

Monday I had to dig out my vest and gloves to take Scooby out for a run—it was in the mid 40s but overall felt good. It’s nice to have daylight on pre-work runs again!

Tuesday I paired Monday’s 30 min strength class with a 15 min treadmill hike.

Wednesday I did the Week 2 Day 3 core class (which added a 5 lb weight to many moves) before hopping on my treadmill for the Week 2 Day 2 run. I love the 30 second interval format and nudged my paces up a bit.

Thursday I was “working from home” because of my orthopedist appointment, so I could take the Week 3 Day 4 strength class live at 6:30. I did one of CDE’s 20 min sprint interval rides first to test out my knee and it didn’t act up at all.🤔

Friday I warmed up for the 45 min Week 3 Day 5 tread class by taking Wednesday’s core class again, and then doing some pre-run exercises from the list my ortho gave me (hello, clamshells!). I started with a 10 min warm-up run and finished that just in time for the live class which started at 6:30. The 45 min class was tough again, but that’s the point!

Saturday  I took my tired legs out for a run with Scooby and chose a 10K+ route, knowing that the Lawyer’s Have Heart 10K is just 2 weeks away.

I appreciate all your support for my
American Heart Association fundraising page!

So, how did my orthopedist appointment go? I felt a bit awkward keeping the appointment when I wasn’t in pain and didn’t even have a flare up after intense treadmill classes, but she didn’t make me feel bad. The x-rays showed a tiny bone spur that is probably the reason for the acute pain I feel kneeling. As for my other issues, she suggested—you guessed it—glute strengthening exercises including clamshells, side planks with leg lifts, and banded side steps. ~sigh~

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.

Do you like strawberry shortcake?