Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, the countdown to Christmas is on! Luckily I caught the Christmas spirit this weekend. I decorated our tree, did what little Christmas shopping I plan to do, and bought stamps for holiday cards.
One of my favorite neighborhood decorations.
This is the top of a shed peeking over a fence.
Countdown To Christmas
The countdown to Christmas got real when my husband hauled out the boxes of Christmas decorations and we put up the tree. Some years I’m selective about which ornaments I use, but this year I squeezed in as many as I could.
I felt extra sentimental about the ornaments we got when our children were little–the Bert ornament that reminds us of my daughter’s favorite Sesame Street character still makes me smile.
I felt extra wistful about all the ornaments we bought as souvenirs–I’m so glad I picked up a silly ornament from Rehoboth Beach last year.
I haven’t had a real advent calendar to countdown to Christmas in years, but I enjoy participating in the Advent Word global advent calendar on Instagram. I don’t always post a picture, but I enjoy contemplating the word of the day and seeing what others share. This year there’s a podcast too, with very short meditations (usually 2 min. running time).
I probably haven’t participated in a #RunChat Twitter chat in years, but I still like to participate in the #RunChatHunt scavenger hunt every December. To play along, share a photo of one of these items on Twitter, tagged with #RunChatHunt and tagging @TheRunChat.
Yes, there are great prizes, but I do it for the fun!
Weekly Run Down
So far our December weather hasn’t decided whether it’s hanging on to fall or sliding into winter. I wasn’t in the mood to bundle up, so I planned my runs based on the forecast. I kept up with my daily core workouts–I’m really hooked on them as a way to wake-up and warm-up.
Monday: 45 min Peloton Cycling + 20 min Peloton Strength
I did my second 45 min ride, taking the second All For One (More) Ride that has a different instructor every song. You can tell from my cadence data that most instructors cued one the heavier/slower side, which I like. I thought it was kind of mean to have Alex’s intervals as the last working song, but I pushed myself to the end.
Tuesday: 5.2 Scooby Miles + 30 min Peloton Strength
Started December with a 5 mile run, 10 min core workout, and 20 min upper body strength workout.
The line of clouds make the sunrise look like the world’s on fire.
Wednesday: 30 min Peloton Cycling + 40 min Peloton Strength
I am sort of following a strength workout calendar from one of my Peloton Facebook Groups, and it had a killer lower body combo on Tuesday. I broke up the classes with a 30 min ride, but my glutes were toast when I finished the second class.
Thursday: 30 min Peloton Bootcamp + 20 min Peloton Treadmill
I did my first 30 min bootcamp and it was a fast and furious core burner: 5 min treadmill–10 min core–5 min treadmill–5 min core–5 min treadmill. I wanted more running, so I tacked on a 20 min treadmill run afterwards.
Friday : 3.5 Scooby Miles + 45 min Peloton Strength + 10 min Yoga
I got up early with my alarm because I had an 8:00 am conference call, but I had more time than I expected so I did a 20 min strength class and 10 min yoga program after my run.
I love these multicolored lights!
After my conference call, I sneaked away from my computer to take Jess Sims first new “Flash 15” class live. The format is 2 min warm-up–1 min demo–12 min EMOM–2 min stretch (yes, that’s 17 minutes total). The EMOM had an A-B-C pattern, so we did each set of exercises 4 times with enough variety for it to be fun. Jess Sims is a favorite because she doesn’t waste your time, and this workout was efficiency at its best.
Saturday: 7.1 Scooby Miles + 10 min Peloton Core
I had to talk myself into this run, and my new InkNBurn top was a big motivating factor! It was in the low 40s, but windy, but also sunny, so it ended up being a much nicer run than I expected–which is why I ran longer than I planned.
Sunday: 60 min Bike Bootcamp + 10 min Core
I tried my first Peloton Bike Bootcamp, and now I know why Deborah loves them so much. Like the tread bootcamps, you alternate between the bike to the floor. There’s enough time to quickly change your shoes between blocks, but I just slip out of my Tiems and leave them clipped in, and do the floor workouts in my socks.
Thanks to Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down link up. It’s always great for motivation and encouragement, but now it’s especially important for distance socializing. We may be physically apart, but we are in this together!
Are you joining the #RunChatHunt?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
Way to kill it with your workouts last week! And I LOVE that InkNBurn top! Glad you got into the Christmas spirit- life is just more fun with a little bit of sparkle.
I’m getting my Christmas on too–I’m watching the Bears right now but will be putting up the rest of the decorations. Last week I did the tree and it’s kind of a happy/sad thing. Like you, I’ve been collecting ornaments over the year and there are a lot of memories on that tree. Sigh.
Love the INB top, but I didn’t buy it this year. I’m definitely scaling back on my clothing purchases this year. I’m feeling FOMO every time I see it, tho!
I messed up my order last year — never hit submit! — so I was on it this year! 😉
We have the same post title this week! Ha! I’m really just trying to get in the Christmas spirit even though this year is weird. We were able to go to an outdoor Santa today at my husband’s work so that was fun! And it’s not like my son would want to sit on his lap anyway, so waving at him from 6 feet away worked out just fine.
LOL, I noticed that too! I bet socially-distanced Santa is better for a lot of little kids — and more consistent with what we tell our kids about stranger danger. 😉 It was a great idea for his work to arrange something.
We did a bunch of the same Peloton classes this week. I am trying to follow the schedule from our group. Missing the bike a bit. cannot complain at all though! Don’t you just love that ink burn top? it is not too heavy so I think I will wear it often. Have a great week and enjoy your decorating
I do love the schedule, but it also means you aren’t taking new classes, so then I get FOMO or diverge from the plan. There’s a lot of live :holiday” workouts this week, but I might look for last year’s since the timing doesn’t work for me. Next time you need to find a place with a Peloton. 😉
I still need to take Jess’ Flash 15 workout. I heard it was a doozy! That British Rock Run sounds cool – I’m gonna check it out! There is a new bike bootcamp badge that starts tomorrow (take 4 bike bootcamps in 2 weeks) so it’s the perfect time to try a few more 🙂
My parents still have ornaments from when my sister was a baby so the ornaments are 47 years old – and they actually still look pretty good! It’s always fun to see those every year.
I actually have two from my childhood. One from when I was a tot, and one from high school (my soccer team). They’ve made it through a lot of moves.
The Flash 15 will be a great add-on I think. I’m signed up for the bike bootcamp challenge!
Glad you’re feeling the Christmas spirit! I hadn’t read about the Run Chat Scavenger Hunt, that sounds pretty fun!
It might be the nudge I need to break out of my rut. There’s a few things I’d never see in my ‘hood.
I totally love that INB top! I sent a screenshot to the hubs and told him how MUCH I loved it (that was a couple weeks ago)…we shall see if it shows up at my house LOL In recent years, I have scaled back on the ornaments on the trees. I used to put almost every one of them (including all the handmade “kiddie” ornaments from school) and ones from vacations, etc. All three kids are out of the house, now, so I keep debating when I should give them all of their ornaments (they all have collections their grandparents gave them each year). Kind of tough to let go of those…
I think my Mom gave me “mine” when we started hosting Christmas at our house — so not until I had kids. The INB tops sell out, so don’t blame your husband if it doesn’t show up under your tree. 😉
As always a nice mix of workouts! I haven’t done a bike bootcamp yet. I’ve done several tread bootcamps. I really like Pahla B for ST though, so I’ve been sticking with her lately.
We are definitely sliding into Winter next week. Some snow possibly but I don’t think any accumulation. No snow December works for me!
Sounds like you’re putting in some fun things with the Scavenger hunt and the Advent word of the day.
I think our meteorologist said people in our northern suburbs might be able to see a snowflake if they squint hard enough. It’s just not in the cards —or the clouds—here.
I’m quite happy to have missed out on the snow from the nor’easter. It means I can still trail run & hike! Even if it’s really cold right now.
Oh man, I have barely dipped my toe in the Peloton waters. I did my first Jess Sims class this week and will be coming back for more.
She’s my favorite by far, but I like many of the others too! So much variety to choose from!
ooh I might have to do RunChatHunt, thanks for the reminder. The Rehoboth ornament is adorable. I don’t have a tree but have a box of ornaments at mom’s in the event I ever do. So any memories.
In my imagination of NYC, the hardest item to find might be an inflatable? But maybe they’re everywhere there too.
You sometimes see them in front of brownstones, or at the tree stands.
Great week!! I really need to try one of those bike bootcamps. I also want to try the Flash15 – there’s just so much great content!
I love your InkNBurn top – so fun!
You have a beautiful tree! It’s been years since I’ve put one up. One is because I don’t have room and two is that my cats will knock it down. My sister has ornaments that her son made when he was a kid. Over the years I’ve made some with my students but this year not sure what I will do.
Great mix of workouts this week! And I also love that top!
Well, when the tree comes out, the game is on!
I love all the old ornaments. This year, we went for a more generic tree, because I thought Luna would terrorize it. As luck would have it, she didn’t touch a thing.
Your tree looks very pretty! I was a bit bummed this year when I realized we didn’t get an ornament from our trip out West this year. We always buy them from our trips. I’m not sure how we missed that. Unless maybe we really did buy one and we all forgot and put it somewhere… these things happen! We’ve been having a battle with our cat though. She terrorizes our tree and has broken one ornament so far.