It’s been a while since I joined the Weekly rundown link-up. I was crazy busy the first week of March, then I enjoyed a week in Spain, and last weekend our fibre broadband was somehow disconnected during the rally that this year passed by our house so I didn’t have an internet connection until Sunday night.
The Weekly rundown is hosted by Kim and Deborah and it is to share your week of fitness activities. To me it’s a good way to document my training and fitness journey and I enjoy reading about what the other bloggers have been up to, and taking inspiration from them.
A super short recap of fitness & running in Spain
I sticked to my plan of keeping up some kind of fitness routine while we were in Spain, particularly running. And having this down the road, going for a morning run was an easy choice!
I went running on the Thursday, Saturday and Monday. I did the usual walk & run intervals, all about 4 km in total. I usually went out around 8 am, when the sun was up and I could enjoy a temperature of 18-20C. Totally my cup of tea!
On the Friday, we did a simple strength training session on the patio, mostly bodyweight for me with my plank variations, squats, lunges and pushups, but since my in-laws also have some dumbbells, I could do lateral raises with 5 kg dumbbells, the same as I lift in the gym. It was good to get at least one targeted shoulder exercise done.
Back in Ireland
The first week back in Ireland was St Patrick’s week. We came home on the Tuesday which is our normal gym day, and St Patrick’s day was on the Friday, also our gym day, so we had booked a training session on the Wednesday to get some proper strength training done that week.
I didn’t feel great – stiff and achy in my legs, but I did a great session! I did my most confident sumo squats ever, my best chest presses in a long time, and finally managed the overhead shoulder press with the barbell. I tried this a few months ago and couldn’t do them at all. Now I could only do a few proper reps, and a few more halfway up, but I could do them! That’s nice progress that makes me happy!
Friday was St Patrick’s day, and we enjoyed parades, followed by music sessions and good chats in the pub.
Saturday was all about the West Cork Rally. This year it would take place in our area and most roads, including just outside our house, would be closed from lunchtime, so I went out for some run & walk intervals in the morning. In the afternoon I braved the wind and found a hiding place in the garden to take some photos of the rally. My first hiding place felt extremely unsafe, in the corner of the garden, facing the road just after the bend – I felt like I was going to die all the time! I later moved to behind one of the gate posts where I enjoyed myself with the camera for a long time. I’ve never done this kind of photography before but it was so much fun! Perhaps I should try more sports & action photography when I get the opportunity.
On the Sunday, I did my usual at-home strength training with planks, leg raises, exercises for lower legs, step-ups, reverse leg lifts, and I did a few sets of Bulgarian split squats without weights.
My left leg has always been troublesome with Bulgarian split squats. Now they seemed to work a lot better all of a sudden! I think I know why – in recent weeks I’ve been doing a balance/stability exercise, you simply stand on one leg, and if you lose balance, you stabilise with your ankle only. I’ve been doing this while working, while brushing my teeth, even when we were waiting for the St Patrick’s day parade! I can’t see that I’ve done anything else that would have made a difference to my Bulgarian split squats. Now it’ll be interesting to see how they work in the gym with some dumbbells in my hands.
Monday
The weather wasn’t particularly charming, but Monday means running unless I’m sick or injured, so off I went. And it was mild and nice! Of course sunshine is more inspiring than this, but mild weather makes me happy. When I went out it was a pleasant 11C (51F). I’ve removed the third layer now!
My body was achy all over after my Sunday workout. But I warmed up and did 3,18 km walk & run intervals, by now I think I’m back to about 50% running. Fingers crossed it’ll continue to go well!
When I was in Spain I tried running barefoot on the beach, carefully of course and where the ground was even, near the water where it was soft enough but not too soft. Then I finally “got” how I should modify my running technique. My husband had filmed me running some day before, and I thought my technique looked awkward, like I was moving more up and down than forward. When I ran on the beach and sort of had to “dig” my toes into the sand to push off the next step, I understood what I should be doing. After that I’ve been trying to run with the same kind of technique on the road, and so far it feels very good.
Tuesday – gym day
Well, my friends. That was quite the gym session! All weights, except for chest press and shoulders, were increased. Some were increased a LOT. But heavy lifting is good for the soul!
- Squats, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Deadlifts with hex bar, 43 kgs
- Inclined chest press, 9 kg dumbbells
- Dumbbell row, 15 kgs
- Flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Tricep pullovers, 7 kg dumbbells
- Lateral raise, 5 kg dumbbells
- Upright row, barbell 17,5 kgs
My legs were shaky during the first squat set, but from the second set I was back to normal, and was happy with my performance throughout the session. I nearly didn’t believe it when I saw the weight of the deadlifts! I feel sort of proud, lol.
Wednesday – rest day
The DOMS! 🤪
I took the day off from any form of training, and had a lovely productive work day, followed by a camera club meeting.
Thursday – a good morning run
The weather has been ridiculous this week with strong winds, heavy rain, spot flooding, mixed with lovely sunshine. I guess it’s normal March weather. When I checked the weather forecast for Thursday morning, I thought that perhaps I’ll hop on the rowing machine instead of going out. But then… why not “do a Goggins”. If I want to become a runner.. I need to run, Thursday is running day, and the weather is irrelevant (except maybe Atlantic storms). I went out about 8.30 am and it was very windy but otherwise not too bad. I did a shorter distance of running and walking, about 3 km. About midway, the heaven opened up but it was a very short shower and we were soon back to this. And seeing that most of the US running bloggers still deal with snow storms, I’m grateful!
I’m beginning to feel more confident with running again, I feel stronger, and good with my new technique. But this time I’ll continue being clever, and ramp it up slowly no matter how good I feel. My plan is to keep these short distances but slowly increase how much of it I run instead of walk.
In my last post I talked about running apps for interval training. I tried Runkeeper just before going to Spain, and it was the best one I had tried. However, I realised that I focused so much on listening to the app that it took all the joy away from my runs. I focused less on my technique and the enjoyment of running, so I decided to ditch it and do my own intervals – either “running from this house until I’ve passed that odd tree” kind of thing or by counting. I’ve mostly used landmarks of sorts and it’s working very well so far.
Friday – gym day, and I conquered my nemesis
Some of you may remember that I’ve really struggled with Bulgarian split squats and been enormously frustrated over them. I could do them somewhat without weights, but in the gym I’ve mostly failed, especially with my left leg. Balance issues, strength issues, or both. Today my trainer had me do them with a barbell. Honestly I didn’t know what to expect. I could do them without weights at home last week, but with a barbell? I can barely do proper lunges with a barbell!
But, they worked – and not only that, I felt confident doing them. This is a BIG deal for me. Join me in a big celebration! I’ll continue my daily stand-on-one-leg exercise, and will also add daily “standard” single leg squats to keep up the good work. And I have a lot more single leg stability to work on.
This is today’s gym session:
- Bulgarian squats with barbell, 15 kgs – SUCCESS!
- Deadlift, barbell 30 kgs
- Tricep pullovers, dumbbells 12,5 kgs
- “Parachutes” on mat
- Push-ups
- Inclined flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Standing, overhead shoulder press, 5 kg dumbbells
- Shoulder front raise, 4 kgs dumbbells
Saturday
I was quite happy to not have stayed in the pub because I had enough effects of the Friday night event as it was! But I strolled around sports shops (you know how you always need one more running top?) and eventually found a bought pair of simple sneakers before taking the bus home. My Fitbit recorded a long walk but to me it was a rest day and I spent the afternoon and evening working on a better whiskey blog logo (FYI, it’s not ready yet but the blog is here if anyone is interested).
Sunday
Sundays are for light strength training, mobility and more. Now I’ve moved over from the total core focus to do more hip mobility, and lower leg & foot strength. I’ve also been making some videos for my mother-in-law who needs simple exercises for hip (and general) mobility and tips on lighter strength exercises. She’s 72 and in good form but has had some problems lately after she fell on the ice outside their house in Sweden. When we were in Spain I told her to see a PT which she did, and now she needs to move and get back on track. I’m happy to help although I’m definitely no top video maker!
I hope you are all doing well and I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s posts! This was a long-winding post and I’m sorry about that but I really wanted to mention something about our trip to Spain!
What was your fitness/training/running highlight of the week? Mine of course was my Bulgarian split squats!
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