This was THE week of good weather, and subsequently good walking. Some days this week felt like summer. What a difference it makes for the mood after this long, cold, dreary winter! I’ve done some lovely hill walks, purchased yet another pair of walking shoes (!!), and good gym workouts happened too.
In these posts I join a weekly link-up to share my weekly fitness routine and the ups and downs during the week with barbells, walking shoes or else. This is good for accountability, for my own documentation, the fitness/running blogger community is lovely, and I hope these posts might inspire someone to start lifting weights and generally getting more active. I usually also add in some bits from everyday life as well as some photos. Let’s get into it!
This was the best week, in terms of walking, in a long long time. Here’s the summary:
Monday – gym + walking, 4 km
Tuesday – walking, 4,8 km
Wednesday – gym
Thursday – walking, 3,7 km
Friday – walking, 8,4 km
Saturday – gym
Sunday – rest
The weather was quite odd this week. We had 3-4 degrees (37F) and almost frost in the morning, then up to about 14C (57F) or more during the day, and some days it was WAY warmer than that. I’ve been out in shorts and tank top during the day, and then in the evening going into town I was wearing two layers and a fluffy jacket. But we got some hints of summer and I loved it.
Monday – gym + walking
I stayed inside in the morning, but my husband went to test his new bike, a gravel bike he bought a while ago that will work better on our rough roads than the road bike he’s been using. He came back absolutely frozen! But at least I think he liked the bike.
As soon as the temperature was up to around 10 degrees I went out for a walk, on my favourite new route, the rocky road up the hill. It’s lovely here when the gorse is in bloom.
And the cows are back!
I walked 4 km and it was lovely. I wore leggings, my warm-ish runner’s top and a thin wind jacket, and felt very overdressed. Isn’t that a good feeling, already in the first half of April? Of course I know it won’t last, but anyway!
Then in the afternoon it was gym time.
3 sets x 12 reps
- Sumo squats, barbell 50 kgs
- Lunges, barbell 35 kg
- Chest press, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Renegade row, 9 kg dumbbells
- Good mornings, barbell 30 kgs
- Straight arm pullovers, barbell 20 kgs
- Upright row, barbell 20 kgs
- Lateral raise, 7 kg dumbbells
This was a good workout and I have nothing new to comment about!
Tuesday – walking
I took the same route again, with some lighter clothes this time, and went a bit further up the hill. There’s an abandoned house up there that I like to photograph, but realised it’s much prettier in the late summer when the montbretia in front of it is in bloom. It was a lovely walk of 4,8 km, up to the top of the hill and back.
Wednesday
Today I was stuck with a coding problem and stayed inside to figure it out. But at least I went to the gym.
3 sets x 12 reps
- Romanian deadlifts, barbell 45 kgs
- Back squats, barbell 55 kg
- Inclined flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Chest press, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Straight arm pullovers, 9 kg dumbbells
- Barbell row, 30 kgs
- Shoulder press, barbell 15 kgs
- Forward raise, 7 kg dumbbells
I felt really good doing these RDLs. After these, the squats were a bit lighter than usual which I was very happy about because my legs felt like toast. My knees were shaking and I barely made it through the third set! Everything else was quite straightforward, I’m happy to (FINALLY) see that I’m making some progress with the barbell shoulder press and now manage to make it to 10-11 reps on the last two sets.
Thursday
I had decided to make it a soft day to give my body some TLC so I went for a smooth walk without steep hills. I walked 3,7 km and it was lovely and warm.
In the afternoon I decided it was time to take the outdoor furniture out, and voilà…
Friday – walking
Today my trainer needed to be somewhere else so we moved my session to Saturday. The weather was fantastic again so I took the opportunity to go for a longer walk. I went down to the next village and around a loop with some massive hills to get back. It’s 8,4 km and I was happy about all my leg work in the previous months because those hills didn’t seem that hard at all.
And, did anyone ask for more cows?
During this walk it was so warm that I only wore shorts and tank top, and occasionally a thin jacket. It really felt like summer, and when I came back my husband was working in the garden (he’s making a walled patio) and after he finished we sat outside for a long time. We only went inside because we were hungry, not because it got cold. How amazing for April!
Saturday – gym
It’s so out of my habit going to the gym on a Saturday, and earlier than usual too. I have my food and pre-workout routine (or ritual, if you prefer!) to fit my usual workout times but that doesn’t work on a Saturday when I get up later than usual and take it very easy in the morning. I only had a quick simple pasta for lunch with some bits of turkey rashers. It must have been enough, because I did a decent session in the gym.
3 sets x 12 reps
- Hexbar deadlifts, 48 kgs
- Bulgarian split squats, barbell 30 kg
- Dumbbell row, 17,5 kgs
- Chest press, 12,5 kg dumbbells
- Push-ups
- Wide grip upright row, barbell 15 kgs
- Lateral raise, 7 kg dumbbells
- Bent-over lateral raise, 7 kg dumbbells
Bulgarian squats, yay! It seems I’m ok-ish with them nowadays. I stayed with my strategy to start on my left (most problematic) leg. I don’t feel stable with them but I don’t have any big problems either.
I didn’t feel great with the dumbbell row today, particularly on the left. I had to leave it to 10 reps in the last set. Do you remember my gardening injury to my right elbow/tricep last May? I’m having something similar in my left arm this year. This is not due to gardening, I actually have no idea what caused it. I’ll go with the flow, give it some TLC, keep doing what I can do and see how it develops.
Sunday – rest and photo app testing
The weather is a lot less stable today and instead of the nice summer-like temperatures we had on Friday, it’s not even up to 10C. I’ve decided to take a day of rest and do some computer work. I’m trying to solve some spam problems, but also something more pleasant – I’m testing some new photo editing apps to see if they can be viable replacements for Lightroom and Photoshop.
I’m increasingly annoyed over Adobe for all the random AI tools they keep throwing in my face (what about just putting them as options in the menu like with everything else?), and in addition, the current price tag of the Creative Cloud subscription makes my hair stand up. I’ve found a good alternative for InDesign, so if these new photo apps work well enough for what I need to do, I only need to keep Illustrator which would cut the cost with at least 50%. Wish me luck!
And a few words about walking shoes
So, the elephant in the room, walking shoes. My more minimalist shoes I bought some month ago are LOVELY. So comfortable that I want to kiss them. But my feet haven’t agreed with walking longer distances in them. It can very well be that I generally need to get used to walking longer distances. It can also be that I need arch support and/or more fluff to walk longer than 3-4k. The arch support in the insoles I bought recently is a bit too rigid and haven’t helped a lot. And when I’ve used my old Altras like on Friday, my feet haven’t been happy, and I believe they’re a bit too worn out after all. I tried my old running shoes, standard Asics with 8-10 mm heel drop and they felt SO awkward and uncomfortable after all this time in zero drop shoes! The only shoes that have felt 100% good recently have been my new, colourful Altras meant primarily for hiking.
So I gave in and bought a second pair of new Altras, Escalante 4, to use for road walking. I’m sure when I’m back to where I used to be with walking, I can probably walk happily in the Bahé shoes too, but for now I just want to walk and be comfortable and not think so much. As Jenny said in a comment a while ago, Altras for the win!
Runners can own 5+ pairs of running shoes without shame, so why not?
That’s all for this week. I’m glad for all that walking, sunshine, good lifting (despite the new elbow bummer) and cow sightings. I hope you’re doing well and have enjoyed a good, spring-like week too. If you’re a runner, how many running shoes do you own, and use somewhat regularly?
Thanks to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly rundown link-up!
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