Labor Day week

Monday

Todaybor Day is Labor Day!

Did: 6.6 mi rain run + 12-min bodyweight workout + 40 min bouldering

After 2 days of not running, I needed to get out so I went early over to the swamp rabbit trail and ran in the rain as the sun came up. Perfect! Felt really good even though it took the legs a little while to wake up. 

Post-rain-run coffee 

Got the bodyweight workout done mid-morning at home.

Accumulate an 8-min plank. Each time you rest, do 10 jumping jacks, 10 high knees, and 10 air squats = total 12:07

Then in the afternoon, the family went to projectROCK Easley, an indoor climbing gym, and I got to do about 40 mins of bouldering (rock climbing without a harness). I realized I was a little bit afraid of heights once I got more than ~15ft off the ground, so I had to repeat lots of the beginner walls before I willed myself to the very top a couple of times. It's tough but I enjoyed it!

Tuesday

Did: 6.3 mi run Track Tuesday + 10-min bodyweight workout

Back to the track for a Tuesday morning run. Lots of folks out at Furman this morning! Ran 5x600m for speedwork, all in the 2:35-2:40ish range. Not super speedy but not terrible. 

Did the bodyweight workout when I got to the work gym.

10 min workout. Workout is determined by the last digit of the stopwatch when you finish:
:00 - 10 pushups
:01 - 20 jumping jacks
:02 - 20 sumo squats
:03 - 20 Russian twists (1)
:04 - 20 reverse sit-ups
:05 - 10 up-downs
:06 - 10 one-leg squats
:07 - 10 Spidey abs (2)
:08 - 20 skater lunges (2)
:09 - 20 shoulder taps (1)

...I ended up with a lot of squats, up-downs, and Spidey abs!

Wednesday

Did: 2.8 mi walk + 12-min bodyweight workout + 9.4 mi bike ride

Went for a walk after morning school drop-off, a nice sunny morning and not terrible temps. 

Did the bodyweight workout midday at home.

12 min AMRAP: 7 jump squats, 5 pushups, 3 up-downs = 20 rounds completed

Storms in the evening cleared so that I was able to bike to and from D's soccer practice at the YMCA nearby. Took different routes on the way there and the way back, and was treated to a beautiful pink sky at sunset. 

When your bike shoes match your outfit 

Sunset over Paris Mtn

Thursday

Did: 5.6 mi @ 8:43/mi + 7-min bodyweight workout

Ran the Lakeview Lollipop route this morning and enjoyed some nice temperatures! The break in the humidity was very welcomed. 

Completed the bodyweight workout at work in they gym:

6 sets of 50 Russian twists (1). Between each set, do 10 pushups + 10 mountain climbers (1) = 7:12

Friday

Did: 2.7 mi walk + 8-min bodyweight workout

Walked around Furman after morning drop-off. Bodyweight workout midday. Loving the slightly cooler temps!

Sooooo pretty 😍

30 RFT: 5 fast feet + 5 jump squats + 5 skater lunges = 8:12

Saturday

Did: 10.3 mi @ 8:35/mi 

Rain runnnnnn this morning! Took a while for my legs to wake up and decide they actually wanted to run, but felt great towards the end.

A little moist!

Sunday

Did: 3.7 mi walk

Long afternoon walk... missing the nice fall temps that we had there for a few days! Come baaaaaaack.

The one where I biked twice!

Monday
Did: 30 min gym workout

Included bodyweight workout with some upper body weights in the gym.

50-40-30-20-10 shoulder taps (R+L=1) and air squats
10-20-30-40-50 skater lunges (R+L=2) and crunches

= 16:05

Tuesday

Did: 6.7 mi Track Tuesday + 8 min bodyweight workout

Track Tuesday on the purple track today and actually felt pretty good! Did 3x 1k repeats (4:) plus 400m finisher in 93 seconds.

Bodyweight workout was all core:

30-20-10 countdown to 3-2-1: Russian twists (1), crunches, Spidey abs (2) = 8:02

Wednesday

Did: 2.8 mi walk + 15 min bodyweight workout

Morning walk after school drop-off, added in a couple of super slow jogs when I felt like it.

Bodyweight workout:

4 rounds (15 min total): 3 mins repeating 6x jump squats, pushups, up-downs, shoulder taps (1) / 1 min rest = 16 rounds total

Thursday

Did: 5.94 mi @ 8:47/mi run + 11 min bodyweight workout

Early downtown run on the first half of "Best 10 Backwards" route. Felt really good again!

Bodyweight workout once I got to the gym at work:

50 reverse situps, 40 alternating plank toe taps (R+L=2), 30 tri dips, 20 pushups, 10 burpees, 1 min plank hold; then go back up = 11:16

Friday

Did: 3.1 mi walk + 20 min bodyweight workout + 11.6 mi bike ride

Walked again after school drop-off, beautiful temps this morning!

Bodyweight workout at home:

100 Mtn climbers (2), 90 Russian twists (2), 80 high knees (1), 70 air squats w side leg raise (one side only, do the other leg on the way back), 60s plank, 50 skater lunges (2), 40 shoulder taps (2), 30 push-ups, 20 chair dips, 10 burpees >> then go back up (but don't repeat the burpees) = 19:18

In the evening, biked from home to Barley's downtown for dinner and drinks with friends. Only got sprinkled on once and it was great to do the bike commute for the first time in a long while!

Was bummed to wake up Saturday and realize I'd missed the 10k step goal by less than 300 steps... biking doesn't rack up any steps! :( But I guess I don't feel too bad since I wasn't being inactive to miss the goal, just doing the "wrong" sport. Still broke the streak... sigh.

Saturday

Did: 20.2 mi bike ride + evening walk

Second bike ride in two days! Needed to go water Mom's plants at her apartment, so I decided to bike there and back. It was good to get out on the bike again, quite a pleasant ride despite the swamp rabbit trail being pretty crowded. In the evening after dinner, went for an impromptu walk around the neighborhood and regained the 10k steps goal :)

Sunday

Did: 1.3 mi hike + 2.6 mi walk

Took a short but fun hike at Isaqueena Falls and Stumphouse Tunnel with D and some friends. The kids played in the waterfall for about an hour and enjoyed the really cool tunnel in the mountain!

Isaqueena Falls

Tunnel

Darkness!

Went on a walk in the afternoon between rain storms after we got home.

Slightly altered schedule week

Scott traveling first part of the week, so the "normal routine" is interrupted a bit. Switching my WFH days between Tuesday & Wednesday.

Monday

Did: 30 min work gym

Got in the gym as soon as I arrived at work after doing school drop-off. Only could fit in half an hour before I had to get to a meeting, but was able to do the bodyweight workout + some weights.

30 RFT: 5 pushups + 5 jump squats = 9:51

Tuesday

Did: 6.23 mi @ 8:21/mi run + bodyweight workout

Got out on the trail after morning drop-off and pushed the pace a bit for the 10k... felt good on the first half, struggled a little on the return (uphill part) but kept a good effort. 

Completed the bodyweight workout later in the morning:

40-30-20-10 jumping jacks + sit-ups; then 10-20-30-40 mountain climbers (1) + tricep dips = 8:20

*substituted crunches for sit-ups (hurts my tailbone!)

Wednesday

Did: bodyweight workout + 1.35 mi walk

80 jumping jacks + 70 Russian twists + 60 glute bridges + 50 fast feet + 40 high knees + 30 situps + 20 pushups + 10 mountain climbers = 6:49

Took a walk on the Wellness Trail at work at the end of the day before leaving.

Thursday

Did: 5 mi run @ 9:06/mi + bodyweight workout

Opted for an easy run this morning on the Lakeview Lollipop route. Pretty sticky and humid still - quite unpleasant.

Completed the bodyweight workout immediately after the run before heading in to work.

15 RFT: 10 gorilla hops + 10 mountain climbers = 5:51

Friday

Did: 3.2 mi walk + bodyweight workout

Walk on the trail after drop-off was nice, though quite humid and foggy. 

Bodyweight workout at home midday.

12-min AMRAP: 5 pushups + 5 flutter kicks (1) + 5 reverse sit-ups = 28 rounds

Saturday

Did: 10.25 mi run @ 8:26/mi 

Had a small group from downtown today, ran the Urban Assault route and kept a pretty good and steady pace. It was tough for me but the conversations made the miles pass. Turns out (after looking back at Garmin) this was my first run of 10 miles since late May. Whewwwww #lazysummer. Whoops. Feeling excited to get back at it and make these 10-milers seem like nbd again!

Sunday

Did: 3 mi walk

Took an afternoon walk - man it was warm! Good way to round out the week. 

Routine :)

School has started this week and I've been sooooo looking forward to a more regular schedule!

Monday

Did: 2.5 mi walk + 12 min bodyweight workout

Took a walk during work, including part of it with my department, then completed the daily bodyweight workout.

20 RFT: 5 pushups, 6 mtn climbers, 7 air squats = 11:50

Tuesday

Did: 6.2 mi @ 9:03/mi

Felt sooooo sluggish this morning, ran around the track but didn't do hardly any speedwork. A few laps I did fast straights / slow curves but even that I petered out after a few reps. Not sure if it was poor sleep last night or what, but dang. Maybe I'm not getting enough fuel & hydration. BLEH.

Wednesday

Did: 2.6 mi walk + 23-min bodyweight workout

One of my favorite parts of the school year routine is the WFH Wednesday morning walks after I drop D off at school. I park at the TR History Museum and walk on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and it's just so peaceful - I listen to a podcast and do an easy walk or run/walk, whatever feels right that day, for about an hour. Today I did 40 minutes and there was a light sprinkle of rain, and it was perfect. 

So happy! 🥰

Got home and did a bodyweight workout (Tuesday & Wednesday) which was tough but good. Also very happy to be restarting this routine!

5 Days of Core:

1- 60s plank
2- bicycle crunches
3- reverse situps
4- Russian Twists
5- flutter kicks

= 7:50

2x 90s each, 30s rest between each 90s: shoulder taps, up-downs, high-knees, squat & pulse (hold low squat and pulse), Score is total of each

118 shoulder taps

55 up-downs

162 high knees

164 squats

Thursday

Did: 5.66 mi Altamont run + 5 min bodyweight workout

Second week of Altamont, and while it still sucks soooooo much I keep reminding myself that it will continue to suck and won't get better if I don't keep doing it. Whew. Tons of cyclists out in the dark early hours though! 

Did bodyweight workout when I got to the gym at work, and it turned out to be super quick and easy. Oh well, I'll take it!

30 single-leg glute bridge, 20 crunches, 10 side plank crunch (hold side plank, touch elbow to knee), 10 other side plank crunch, 20 reverse crunch, 30 single-leg glute bridge (other side)

Friday

Did: 1.75 mi walk + 12 min bodyweight workout + Sassafras Sunset hike

Started the morning with a nice walk after school drop-off. It felt quite pleasant out on the trail! Did the bodyweight workout when I got home before diving into the workday.

3x 30s each: jacks, fast feet, jump squat, mtn climbers, high knees, TD squat, forward kick (alternating legs), rest

Then, took the opportunity to hike up Sassafras with friends for sunset in the evening. It had been rainy or threatening rain most of the afternoon, but turned out to be a beautiful sunset for us!

Saturday

Did: Michelin 5k

Took D with me to the Michelin 5k. I'd planned on run/walking with him for the entire race, but it quickly became evident that he didn't feel up to going the full 3 miles. I left him to spectate at one of the turns, ran the next mile in a 7:22, then he and I run/walked the rest of the way back to the finish line together. He did pretty well overall!

Sunday

Did: 8.2 mi @ 8:37/mi run + 2 mi hike 

Ran on the Doodle trail early morning - not quite as cool as I would have hoped, definitely humid as ever. Felt pretty strong through the run!

In the afternoon, did an easy hike to Station Cove Falls with D. 

August... catching up and starting fresh

Alright, trying to get back into the swing of things here. Still not officially in training for anything but I guess this is the early base-building days for Boston next year. Registration is September 12th and race date is April 23rd, so we have a bit of time... but base-building is still a good idea. Starting again with the 10k steps per day goal as well. 

Week of Aug 1-7

Monday

Did: 1.8 mi walking

Took 2 walks around the Mountains House, one of which ended up with a bear sighting! I was walking along and looked over to one of the houses and there was a big black bear helping himself to the trash. We both were surprised but thankfully Bear was not interested in me and quickly went back to his trash consumption. Later I walked to BINGO night at the resort veranda by the lake. 

Bear eating trash 🐻

Sunset over the Rumbling Bald

A little later in sunset

Tuesday

Did: 6.2 mi @ 10:43/mi

Took a morning run to do my 10k while it was still below 80 degrees and tolerable humidity levels. Ended up weaving up and around through some very hilly (800+ ft elevation gain!) residential areas of the resort property, but thankfully didn't meet any bears. Plenty of stops and pauses for navigation purposes as well.

Wednesday

Did: 50 min weight training

Got into the office early to lift... missing lifting lately! Decided first thing in the morning was a good way to guarantee I wouldn't get overrun with daily stuff while in the office. 

Warmup x3
10 hand release pushups
10 air squat
Stretch

Set 1 x4
8 dumbbell curls (16, 16, 18, 18)
8 tricep cable pulldown (45)
10 Bulgarian split squats (20lb kb)

Set 2 x4
8 dumbbell overhead press (18)
4 bench press (75)
10 kb sumo squat (35)

Set 3 x2
10 chest fly (12)
Shoulder blasters
GHD back extension

Thursday

Did: 5.4 mi @ 8:24/mi

Morning run and shockingly cool temps (around 70F and low humidity!), ran the Lakeview Lollipop route and enjoyed a lovely sunrise at the end. 

Friday

Did: 7.83 mi hike to McAfee Knob

Girls' Weekend Trip! We chose Roanoke as our destination again and decided to complete the Triple Crown of Virginia by doing McAfee Knob Friday and planned for Tinker Cliffs on Saturday. We'd completed the Dragon's Tooth hike 2 years prior, which was amazing. 

Incredible!!

Saturday

Did: 7.82 mi hike to Tinker Cliffs

Though tired from Friday's efforts, we made it up the second hike of the weekend - this one was harder than McAfee but I'd say was even more breathtaking. We spent at least 20 mins just sitting up there enjoying the views, and I could have stayed for hours. So incredible.

Sunday

Did: 2.64 mi walk

I was amazed at how sore my legs were after the weekend, so a nice afternoon walk when we got back home was definitely needed. 

Week of Aug 8-14

Monday

Did: 1.4 mi walk

Walked at work, no time for gym. Sigh.

Tuesday

Did: #10kTuesday Track Day 6.25 mi @ 8:28/mi

Ran with the downtown crew and got in 4x800 + 400 finisher. Not fast by any means, but had to start somewhere. 

Wednesday

Did: 2.3 mi walk/jog

WFH day and though I was short on time, I opted for a very very slow jog through Unity park downtown before starting my workday. 

Thursday

Did: 5.6 mi Altamont Run @ 9:43/mi

Baaaack to the mountain... man that was painful. Honestly thought I was going to have to walk a lot, but only walked a couple of times when I needed to adjust my hair (it's so humid and my hair is so long it sticks to my back/armpits when I run 😖). Whew. Gotta stick with this one through the winter.

Friday

Did: 2.9 mi walk

Took a 50-min fast-paced walk at lunch during WFH Friday.

Saturday

Did: 8.5 mi @ 8:50/mi

Ran through Green Valley and areas to the south/west of TR (towards Dacusville but not all the way there). Tough hills but started out with nice cool temps at least!

Sunday

Did: 2.14 mi walk

Evening walk after a long day! Whew.

Yeti Ultra 24hr Challenge

Signed up for this challenge back in... idk, February? The deadline was end of July and I thought "I have months to do this, and I'm doing a marathon in March, this will be easy-peasy!"

Well, now it's July and I've gotta get this done! Kind of decided last-minute to do this mostly on Friday July 8th. I knew I had to do an 8am run and a noon run on Friday due to a training class at work from 9-11:30. Opted to start with a 4:00am run on Friday morning instead of leaving the 4am Saturday for the last run... definitely the right call.

Run 1 - 4:00am Friday

5.06 mi @ 9:15/mi

Ran from Roe Ford/SRT intersection and headed north to TR. It was SO HUMID like running through a pea soup cloud. Couldn't see any stars or anything! Super foggy but glad I chose to do this as my first run. 

Dark 'n' Sweaty

Run 2 - 8:00am Friday

5.22 mi @ 9:50/mi

Headed to Cleveland Park after dropping D off at camp in the morning. Followed a route that I thought was the "Friday Five" route but accidentally added some extra and ended up with a bit more mileage than I needed, so I walked the last little bit.

Run 3 - Noon Friday

5.35 mi @ 9:33/mi

Realized that The requirement was actually 5.2 miles per run, not 5.0 miles.... so I added some extra on this one to get caught up. The midday run was hot but manageable, though I chose a hard (hilly) route through Green Valley. Started off with good cloud cover but that only lasted about the first ~10 minutes. 

Run 4 - 4:00pm Friday

5.21 mi @ 9:55/mi

Took this one to the Swamp Rabbit Trail on my way to pick up D from camp in the afternoon. Tried to stick to shady sections as much as possible, but definitely had some parts that were sun-exposed. This one was even hotter than the noon run. Needed sustenance (aka choccy milk) afterwards.

Run 5 - 8:00pm Friday

5.21 mi @ 10:03/mi

Actually one of the most pleasant runs so far! Some storms and clouds rolled in during the early evening hours, which made things considerably more comfortable. Got to see the fireflies come out towards the end, and the katydids started singing their evening serenade. Quite lovely!

Run 6 - midnight Friday (i.e. Saturday morning)

5.21 mi @ 9:26/mi

Perfectly peaceful run at Furman in the middle of the night! VERY happy that I didn't have to plan on waking up again at 4am to run after this one. Whew. 

Purple belltower in the dark

Overall, I'm much happier with this event vs. 2 years ago! I physically felt much better even though it was quite hot during several of the runs. Only "injury" I would identify is a pretty gnarly blood blister on my right big toe... other than that, legs are tired but feel good! I also feel like I fueled and hydrated very well. Amazingly enough, I averaged just 2 seconds per mile faster than 2020 over the entire event (9:38/mi avg this time vs. 9:41/mi avg in 2020). Pretty good consistency!

Event Total:

31.26 miles

5hr 1min 40sec

Whoops

Well, there went a month and I didn't blog. I think not being on a specific training plan makes me less focused on exactly what I'm doing each day, kind of leave it up to whatever I feel like. Not saying it's a bad thing for anything other than blogging purposes! 

I've kept up with #10kTuesdays, usually at the track. Thursday morning runs, too. Getting to the gym at work once a week usually. Kept up with the bodyweight workouts but taking a couple weeks off just due to holidays and summer scheduling challenges. Been taking walks at Cleveland park several mornings after dropping D off at camp, too - those are quite pleasant.

Here's a big dump of workout selfies and random pics.

Took a bike ride with D and friends one weekend morning.

Post-walk selfie

The Big Dog Show

Voted in the primaries after a morning run

Work gym

Simpsonville Sunrise 8k

Conestee Run

From the last Pain Cave session...