Enjoy the Journey

my training blog my training calendar my training reports Planned training log

inspire me (4)

Thursday - December 24

Bike

1h 10m
21.00 miles
18.00 Mi/hr

Zwift

Kind of a low key Christmas Eve. I did some food prep and had one last gift to wrap. Tried to track a gift that is lost in USPS limbo --- it may be here by New Years but that's anyone's guess.

We went to Steve's sister's for dinner. It was a very small group and we've all been around each other from the start.

inspire me (3)

Wednesday - December 23

Sport

Aerobics
30m

Another Jenny Ford step video -- I kind of stunk at this one, it was a bit more of an advanced workout and the cues did not make sense to me in some sections.

Tossed and turned much of the night for no reason other than going over mental checklists as far as work and Christmas preparation.

Still have one Christmas package out floating around in the USPS black hole.

Went in the office and brought home a box of personal stuff from my desk. I'm about ready to make the break!

inspire me (3)

Tuesday - December 22

Bike

2h 20m
28.50 miles
12.21 Mi/hr

Rode with Steve and our friend, Steve S, who is retiring at the same time I am. Really nice day, low 40s with lots of sunshine but wow, that wind from the southeast was brutal. I tucked in behind the guys shamelessly.

Sport

Kickboxing
40m

BOD - TurboFire
Fumbled all over with this but I do like Chalean's energy and positive attitude

inspire me (2)

Monday - December 21

Sport #1

Aerobics
30m

Jenny Ford Step - "Hawaii"

Sport #2

Yoga
30m

Yoga with Adrianne

It was a gorgeous day with sunshine and temps in the 50s, but that wind...jeez.

inspire me (1)

Sunday - December 20

Bike

1h 20m
10.00 miles
7.50 Mi/hr

Another cold mountain bike ride. Only other person out today was a guy running with 3 dogs -- a boxer, a lab mix and a huge shepherd mix that was aggressive and seemed like he wanted to bite. The guy was apologetic and was able to call the dog off but my heart was still pounding

Strength

Morning Meltdown - Total Body Badass
Really nice, short workout

Sport

Yoga
45m

Yoga with Adrianne

Kind of a quiet day --- we got out and rode the lake trails again but had to go early to beat the freeze-thaw. I felt kind of clumsy and didn't ride particularly well, but it was still good to get out. Afterwards I hung out in the hot tub for while and let my toes thaw out.

inspire me (3)

Saturday - December 19

Bike

2h 10m
24.00 miles
11.08 Mi/hr

Met Brenda and Joe at Centennial Park on the gravel bikes. It was 38 degrees and sunny and felt great. Wind was fierce out of the west. I hung shamelessly behind Joe. The return trip was fun with the tailwind

Sport

Yoga
30m

Beachbody - Pure & Simple Yoga
Meh. Lots and lots of time and variations in plank, so more like an upper body workout than yoga. About 15 minutes in, the music changed to some fast belly-dancing type stuff, which was really distracting.

After riding in the morning, we went over to Hannibal to Steve's granddaughter Eleanor's 7th birthday. Her birthday isn't actually until December 23 but she gets a little shortchanged with having to share her birthday with all the Christmas goings-on. This was also the night for her dance recital, which was held at a big church next door to their house.

As these things do, the recital was a long affair. I think there were 23 different songs and about 6 different groups of kids. The dance teacher made a very nice announcement about how they were glad to be able to perform even though it had not been a good year for this type of thing. Katie had said that most of the classes were held via Zoom. Interestingly, the 3/4 year old kids seemed to have picked up their dance routines very well and there was even a tricky baton twirling number that amazed me.

Most of the the other kids just kind of got up on the stage and shuffled their feet. It was really cute but after nearly 2 hours, it was good to get up and head for home.

inspire me (4)

Friday - December 18

Bike

1h 20m
10.00 miles
7.50 Mi/hr

Bundled up and hit the mtb trails with Steve

Strength

Morning Meltdown - Core Inferno
Basic core stuff, crunches, bicycles, windshield wipers, side plank, etc.
Liked that this was short enough to keep me engaged

Sport

Aerobics
1h 20m

Back to back -- did a Gin Miller "Everyone Steps" and then a Youtube video that had better music

Got out and walked this morning. It was about 26 degrees and there was frost on the grass and on rooftops. It's very pretty out but man, the bundling up that is involved with getting outside in this stuff is insane.

I would have wimped out on mountain biking but Steve was going either way and the thought of riding on the trainer AGAIN just sounded rough. It took a while to find all my cold weather gear. Layers go as follows:

2 pairs of Smartwool Socks
winter weight cycling tights
fleece lined tights over the top of those (in a cheerful holiday print!)
Cuddle Dud shirt
Firewall jacket
knit gloves + lobster claw gloves
neck gaiter
beanie hat
helmet

I felt like the little brother in A Christmas Story. It was cold riding down the paved trail but once in the woods, all was well. The local club built a new trail to reroute a badly eroded section on a steep hill and it was fun to ride. The ground was frozen and crunchy today. But my toes were pretty cold afterwards and I was ready to be done.

Went to Scheels later and did some last minute shopping. I'm in pretty good shape and just need to get stuff wrapped.