Weekly Sweat: Hanging with the Cool Kids

22.5 miles of running this week and SO MANY THINGS to talk about!

• I became the Last Person on Earth to try the Peloton app.
• On a related note, I got a wake up call that slacking on strength training and stretching has not been great for my body.
• We had our first winter storm of the season.

I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out.

Let's start with Peloton, the app that you have heard about even if you live under a rock like me.  I have zero interest in spin bikes, but even I had picked up that that Peloton is much more than biking.  It's what all of the cool kids are doing for fitness.

I've been kind of at a loose end with fitness lately.  I've had to cut back on running, partly because I'm burned out and partly because it's December and the weather is not in my favor for outdoor fitness.  Toward the end of last week it dawned on me that there were about 30 days left in the year and the free trial for the Peloton app is 30 days so...it seemed like now is the time to try it.  I was specifically after strength workouts, but also thought that the treadmill workouts would be useful as I transition back to treadmill running.

Revelations after one week of Peloton membership:

• I've taken at least one class a day without even meaning to.  A class is anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, so this isn't a high bar.
  
• I like the strength classes.  My goal is only to do strength twice a week, but I did three this week.  Although I've kept up with a basic body weight routine, I haven't touched a dumbbell in months so I've had to go very slow, with very light weights, and with much modification of movement (more about that in a minute).
• I tried a treadmill class and it was a dud.  I didn't understand the instructions and watching someone else run on a treadmill while I run on a treadmill...well, let's just say I don't see it as being a good fit for me at this time.  But I also picked a 45 minute class at a time when I can barely run on a treadmill for 45 minutes, so I think it's a case of me biting off more than I can chew.  Once my "treadmill legs" are further along I plan to try a shorter class.
  
• I came for the strength and the treadmill classes, but what's got me is the...yoga???  According to this blog's search bar, this is the first time I have used the word "yoga".  I'm naturally pretty flexible, ex: not only can I touch my toes I can put my palms on the floor while doing so, so yoga always felt pretty pointless.
• ^^Oh hold the phone.  I used to be pretty flexible and I used to be able to touch my toes.  At some point recently I casually bent forward and found my hands dangling above my ankles.  I didn't think much more of it than huh, and yes my legs are often stiff from running ==>nice try but no.  I'm not stiff, my range of motion has gotten more limited.  The number of strength moves that I had to modify due to not having full range of motion in my legs was eye opening and not in a good way.   I mean, who knew that between being 45, making my living by sitting in front of a computer, running 1000+ miles a year, and eschewing strength training and doing minimal stretching would lead to this, total shocker right?

So at any rate, I started with some of the stretching classes but found that the yoga classes are really good and just what the doctor ordered.  I don't think that anything is wrong that won't be fixed now that I'm aware of it and working on it.  Special shoutout to Aditi Shah 10 minute focus flow hamstrings class from Dec 1st.  I feel like my body is in a better place today than it was at this time last week, and I can't ask for more than that.  My prediction is that our monthly expenses will be going up by $12.95 a month in January.

Now let's talk about the weather.  Have you heard that snow days are a thing of the past now that schools have Zoom?  Not true.  We had a snow storm this week that was so bad that school was cancelled before one flake of snow hit the ground.  The kids have a staggered schedule where they alternate in person/remote days.  But the teachers are in school full time, so they weren't ready to go remote at a moment's notice so that's why we had the "old school" snow day.  Apart from the foot of snow, there was so much ice that our dog could barely maintain traction on our walks.  Indoors was the only viable fitness option this week. 

BREAKING NEWS: looks like our snow day might be the last one in existence after all.  Over the weekend an emergency decision was made to switch over to 100% remote learning for the rest of 2020 due to rising COVID cases in the schools (actual cases plus the number of kids in quarantine due to exposure).  We had a good stretch of "normal life but with masks", now it's time for "hunker down until the vaccine gets here".

Anyway, here's what I did for workouts this week:

Monday: Runner's strength workout followed by a 4 mile treadmill run (1.5 miles with a class, 2.5 miles on my own with good ol' TV).

Tuesday: 4 mile treadmill run, assorted stretching workouts later that night.

Wednesday: unplanned strength workout because why not, more stretching.

Thursday: 4 mile treadmill run, gold star for being my best treadmill run lately.  Using the word "best" loosely.  I did a quickie stretching workout afterwards and my legs felt like glass that was going to break (lesson learned, stretching right after a run does not work for me).  After lunch I found 10 minutes for yoga (the hamstring focus with Aditi Shah) that proved to be a miracle cure for my body

Friday: an off day.  We forgot to set our alarm and barely woke up in time to get the kids on the bus and the morning was a scramble from then on.  I did a strength workout at lunch and the idea of running just seemed unbearable.  So I didn't.  Yoga at night.

Saturday: the first day of the week where going outside was feasible.  I seized on it and got 6.25 miles.  The first three were incredibly difficult with a strong headwind.  I felt more like myself on the back half of the run (uphill but mostly tailwind).  Yoga at night.

Sunday: planned rest day...but another storm is rolling in tonight so I changed my plans and got a 4.25 mile run.  All signs point to more yoga tonight.