The Little Chemist That Could: Hello 2024!

Monday

Did: 5.2 mile mountain bike, 30 min strength, 1.9 mi ruck walk, 1 mi run

Started the year off with a bang - 4 different workout activities! Didn't really intend to do all that much, but had plenty of free time so why not. First thing was a family mountain bike ride at Yo Mama's House trails. Such nice trails and time in the woods!

Saluda River views

In the afternoon, I did 30 mins of strength training with the sandbag (from the GoRuck WOD on 12.30.23)... this one was tough but not as bad as the 12 Days of Christmas.

Afterwards I took the pup on a ruck walk for about 2 miles with the 30# ruck, and finished off with just 1 mile around the neighborhood (for the streak!).

Tuesday

Did: 4.2 mi ruck hike + 6.2 mi run

Got out for a last vacation day hike with D and the pup at Blue Wall Preserve. Never been there before but it was so nice! Really well maintained trails, pretty views, and not too crowded.

He was trying to look mad but kept laughing...ended up looking adorable.

Blue sky!

"It's warm right here."

Pup + waterfall

lunch break!

I did my 10k around the neighborhood in the late afternoon and ran just about every road in the neighborhood. Missed a few tiny sections but was hard to get without lots of overlap/doubling back.

Wednesday

Did: 1.2 mi run + 60 min Power Vinyasa

Oh boy do my legs need a break! Work from home day today, so took the opportunity to go to a lunchtime yoga class which felt so nice. I guess I haven't been to a Power class in a while - more upbeat music and such, and wasn't sure I was in the mood for that at first, but it ended up being a great class. Had done a short loop around Unity park beforehand to get in the daily streak run.

Thursday

Did: 5.1 mi @ 9:02/mi avg

First day back in the office since the holidays, so met the early group downtown and had a lovely run in the darkness. Ran with a few folks I haven't seen in a while which was nice. I do miss these runs and need to do more of them - I've been lazy and running from home much more than I used to and I need some fresh scenery!

Friday

Did: 2.4 mi pup ruck + 8.65 mi @ 8:20/mi

Lunchtime pup ruck with 30# around the neighborhood, then decided to get out for a long-ish run at the end of the day since the Saturday morning forecast looks yuck (cold rain). I started out super strong, finished the first 5 miles averaging under 8 minute pace. Then things kind of came unraveled after that with stomach issues and I had to seek out several restroom stops to make it back to the car. Even with those issues I still managed to keep the paces sub-9, and was quite thankful to get to the car.

Saturday

Did: 1 hour sandbag workout + Hare of the Dog 2-mile run

Spent some time with the sandbag in the basement doing a workout I made up on my own. I wasn't sure how long it would take or how tough it would be, and I don't think it was as hard as the Xmas workout I did last week, but still was a solid session!

In the late afternoon, I took Ivy over to Double Stamp Brewing for the Hare/Hair of the Dog 2-Mile run. I wasn't sure what to expect since she has never really run before, so I was totally planning for a nice run/walk along the out-and-back course on the trail. Boy, was I wrong! We started running and she just wanted to chase down everyone in front of us! It was a little chaotic with the crowds of people but she did well once things thinned out. She basically ran the entire way, stopping only for a couple of pee and poop stops.