Rainbows

Steep, Steep-er, Steep-est: 5/25 – 31 WRD

~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 31 Comments

I started the week with my virtual Freihofers’ “race”, and ended it dragging myself through a longish run today — despite really great weather. I think my body was protesting having to go up and down hills again, rather than just downhill.

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Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and finishing out my 5ks.

Workouts update

  • Monday:  Virtual Freihofers 5k + .9 warmup, Yoga (60 min)
  • Tuesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (60 min)
  • Wednesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (60 min), Full Body ST (20 min)
  • Thursday: 3 miles easy, Dogwalk, Yoga (40 min)
  • Friday: Dogwalk, Bootcamp  (cycle + weights — 30 min), Yoga (60 min)
  • Saturday:  Dogwalk, Yoga (60 min)
  • Sunday: 6 miles LSD, Yoga (30 min — maybe more later)

Mileage: 13 (+.8)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

A different starting line this year!

Monday
After practicing my 5ks last week, I ran my virtual 5k today. It was a lovely day to run — cloudy, breezy, almost perfect weather and I nailed my running outfit, too! It was also a slower 5k (due to nasal breathing), but my fastest 5k of the 4 I ran in the last week. 

I knew it wouldn’t be fast since nasal breathing is still slowing me down, but choosing a downhill course — and the weather — helped a lot. I had nice negative splits (due to the steep, steep-er, and steep-est hills on the route), and the last mile was the fastest I’ve seen in some time.

And nailed the outfit

I set out to make it hard-er training run, but not really trying to race. Somewhere in between. Mission accomplished. It also was not my slowest version of this race ever, so there’s that, too!

So many rainbows in the neighborhood!

Thursday
Just like that, what used to be our highs has become our lows. I got out early, although it never seems early enough. I went out with the intention of a recovery run, and that’s pretty much what happened.

Still haven’t finished cataloging rainbows in the neighborhood!

Sunday
The weather was really great for running today. It cooled off significantly from the earlier heat of the week. For whatever reason, though, my body was just not having a long run today. I finished, because who wants to walk back 3 miles, but it wasn’t pretty.

I tried really hard to concentrate on the beautiful day, but the reality was I just wanted to be done. Some runs are like that.

Bandit’s been a bit clingy lately. No idea why. He usually only climbs into my lap when he’s scared. He goes through periods like this though. You just have to be patient.

Favorites of the week
I didn’t want to join my friends in their social distance run/brunch — I’m sure it’s fine, but it’s just too big a group for me. I got “together” with a friend of mine — first time we’ve seen each other in person in a couple of months — just sitting and chatting in my backyard.

The hard part was that both dogs wanted to investigate her. It was nice catching up with her — as usual, I’m better in a small group. Or one on one.

Love my new Yoga mat!

New Yoga mat! I bought this one on Etsy. I’m forever carting my Yoga mat up & down stairs, so it’s nice to have one on each floor. It’s really pretty (and hand painted), it’s thicker than the one I already own — which means it doesn’t bunch up at all during my practice. The store on Etsy is TheArtofAnsel — I definitely recommend them!

You can see the fountain Mr. Judy is working on for me in the back.

Are you comfortable being in larger groups again? As I said to someone else recently, I have my mom (we plan to visit her next week, but it sucks that I can’t hug her) and others in my life that are at higher risk.

Would you travel by plane to run a race right now?  

What are you looking forward to in June? 

Coming up on Tuesday: It’s time to wrap up May. Then it’s time for the virtual Coffee Date next weekend. Don’t forget that Skirt Sports is selling off its inventory, so check out the sale here.

My Week of 5ks: 5/18 – 24 WRD

~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 41 Comments

We had a string of beautiful days this week, and trust me, we all needed that for our sanity up here! I love the freedom of living in Skirt all Summer long (with temps going up to 90 next week, yup, looks like unofficial Summer has arrived).

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Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing my string of 5ks in prep for a virtual 5k — this week, or maybe on Memorial Day.

Workouts update

  • Monday:  Dogwalk, Yoga (30 min)
  • Tuesday: Dogwalk, 3.1 miles easy, Bodyweight + Kettlebells (30 min)
  • Wednesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (20 min)
  • Thursday: 3.1 miles easy with 7 x 20ish strides, Core (15 mn)
  • Friday: Dogwalk, Yoga (35 min)
  • Saturday:  6 miles (maybe not so easy), Yoga (60 min)
  • Sunday: Dogwalk, hopefully Platform Yoga and ST

Mileage: 12.2 (+3.2)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

Another neighborhood rainbow

Tuesday
I kept thinking I needed to do my virtual Freihofers this week, but luckily realized I don’t need to do it until next week. I ran 3.1 anyway, just to have something to report if things don’t go my way next week. Another nice day to run, but I really need to start getting out there earlier.

Today I had to walk the dogs before I ran, as Mr. Judy was waiting for a delivery. Lola, who is 14, just can’t take temps much over 60F, so she needs to be walked earlier now.

Now violet is everywhere it seems!

Thursday
Another great day to run! Of course I stopped to take a photo and while I thought I’d paused my Garmin, I hadn’t. No matter what, nice negative splits. Still slow but those strides always help; I cheat and run down a slight incline in front of my home, pause the Garmin while I walk back to my starting point, and repeat. Maybe not so kosher but that’s how I roll.

A washed out rainbow

Saturday
I decided to try to tackle a 5k as part of my long run. I warmed up with .9 (because 3.1 + .9 = 4 miles). Then I ran down the road on one side of my neighborhood for 3.1 miles. I did stop a couple of times to take photos (and paused my Garmin) so this probably won’t be my official 5k. The pace was decent because it was almost entirely downhill, which the race isn’t. I’m sure the stops helped the pace, too.

Although in typical fashion of this particular race, it was suddenly hot! I got out a bit later than I wanted (but earlier than the race starts). By the time I finished it was in the mid 70s. I haven’t run in those temps in many months. I’ve been lucky if it’s in the 50s!

One of the weirdest things I’ve seen on the run (but not the weirdest)

Of course what goes down must come up. I walked up the very long, very steep hill after I’d finished those first 4 miles. I had zero desire to run up a hill that steep, intervals or not. I ran some more on the flatter parts. Then walked up the final hill, too. I did run it in.

I’d thought I might add a mile to my long run this week, but with the sudden increase in temps, I really just had no desire to. I must’ve gotten in a good couple of miles walking uphill in addition to my 6 miles running.

Lola joined me for a little Yoga

Favorites of the week
I’ve been teasing what Mr. Judy was building for me for a while. Lola and Bandit helped me to christen it after my run.

It’s a Yoga platform in my backyard!

Bandit continues to be my Yoga partner

As much as I love my deck Yoga, platform Yoga is even better! It’s shaded by our pine trees (although those pine needles get everywhere) and there’s a nice breeze back there.

Apparently he’s also my construction partner (he just needs thumbs)

I helped just a smidge: carrying over most of the top boards and tightening up most of the bolts on the corners.

This is where I plan to be teaching my Yoga student — I’m not sure if she’ll be on the ground or maybe with me on the platform. I think there’s enough social distance between us if our mats are turned the other way.

My friends are getting ready to social distance run and brunch (also outside). I wasn’t quite ready, and they decided to run today anyway — I’d already run Saturday. I want to join in, but I’m not quite sure it’s the right thing to do now. I have several people in my life that are at higher risk.

One is my mom, and of course it’s been months since I’ve been in contact with her — but I’m hoping to see her soon. Others are ones I’m in contact with more often. I shared a post on my FB page here this morning on the risks of various gatherings, written by a runner who is also a virologist.

Of course it’s also not great to be isolated. As I said on FB, difficult times and difficult decisions.

Wouldn’t you love to join me on my platform? I can definitely envision filming some videos out there! Too bad the wifi isn’t strong enough for Zooming.

Are you handy?  Me, nope. Good thing Mr. Judy is.

How much of your exercise do you take outdoors? I thought about strength training out there, but lugging the weights out — and back! — didn’t seem enticing. Of course it’s more exercise, but I use different weights.  Although I’m sure ultimately it would feel great!

Coming up on Tuesday: I’m sharing some of my running hacks that make running go smoother. Of course Friday it’s time for runfessions; we all love getting those out there, don’t we? Don’t forget that Skirt Sports is selling off its inventory, so check out the sale here.

Zooming around: 5/11 – 17 WRD

~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 44 Comments

Finally Spring has arrived! Although in typical Northeast fashion, it looks like we’re going to skip right over Spring and go into Summer. I am not complaining about that at all!

bwrd

Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing what little movement there was this week.

Workouts update

  • Monday:  Dogwalk
  • Tuesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (30 min)
  • Wednesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (20 min)
  • Thursday: 3 miles easy
  • Friday: Dogwalk, SB (15 min), Bodyweight + Kettlebells (20 min), Yoga (20 min)
  • Saturday:  Dogwalk, Yoga (60 min)
  • Sunday: Dogwalk, 6 miles easy, Yoga later maybe, maybe some ST, maybe both . . .

Mileage: 9 (-3)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

Kind of a rainbow . . . 

Thursday
Body wanted lots of extra rest again this week. The good news is that after all that rest, my runs felt better than any of  last week’s runs. Maybe that was also because I decided to bring back structured run/walk intervals as I continue to struggle|work on nasal breathing. The weather was again perfection, so worth the wait!

Even a pandemic can’t stop Memorial Day prep

Sunday
Running in  skirt. Living in a skirt. I’ve missed that! Cloudy, but great running weather. This run felt hard at times, but that may have been due to the incessant hills. I did both roads that lay on either side of my neighborhood, and they’re both hilly. I think run/walk is the way to go for now.

Not sure why he looked so sad, he loves his walks!

Favorites of the week
I don’t Zoom as much as a lot of people — it’s totally a verb now, right? There was more zooming for me this week than usual. My brother’s 60th birthday call (we did get my Mom on it), blogger Zoom, the Yoga Zoom with friends last weekend. I did miss the Zoom with my local running friends, but what can I say? Evening doesn’t work well for me and I was just especially tired this week.

I made an ecard for my brother’s 60th with a collage of family, too (it was my third in about a week!) but it was fun.

img_7874-1
Auto balancing my chakras below me as I practice Yoga on the deck

There’s been quite a bit of deck Yoga, which has been lovely, especially with the rainbow chimes chiming below me.

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Although I may be teaching my private Yoga student again in the near future — outside in my backyard. Let’s hope I can find all the dog poop. 🙂

Is it Spring or Summer where you live (or worse, not even Spring yet)?

Any Memorial Day plans?  Not here. Unless we can work out the bathroom situation going to my Moms.

Do you think your furkids will be upset when things get back to normal? Although we’ve both gone out, not at the same time and not as often. I had already said to Mr. Judy that we’ll have to recondition them to us being gone longer eventually.

Coming up on Tuesday: What I can’t wait to experience at a real race (which probably isn’t going to happen for me this year). Friday I’ll talk about the pros of running near to home. Gotta try to stay positive here! Don’t forget that Skirt Sports is selling off its inventory, so check out the sale here.

S is for . . . : 5/4 – 10 WRD

~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 56 Comments

. . . Spring or . . . Snow????

Yeah baby, it snowed yesterday. Multiple times. No real accumulation, thankfully.

bwrd

Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing staying cool. Literally!

Workouts update

  • Monday:  3 miles easy, Dogwalk, Bodyweight/Kettlebells (20 min)
  • Tuesday: Dogwalk
  • Wednesday: Dogwalk, SB (10 min), Bodyweight/Kettlebells (30 min), Yoga (20 min)
  • Thursday: 3 miles easy with 5 x 20ish strides, Dogwalk
  • Friday: Dogwalk
  • Saturday:  Dogwalk, Taught Yoga on Zoom (30 min)
  • Sunday: Dogwalk, 6 miles easy, Yoga later (maybe, if time between Zooms)

Mileage: 12 (+2)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

The Magnolias survived

Monday
I may often miss a Monday, but glad I managed to get out there this morning before the weather went South (or is that North?). It was a beautiful morning, but the clouds moved in, the wind picked up, and the temps dropped. Thankfully it was nice during my run, which was slow, but I knew that’s what my body needed today.

Are you EVER coming back (before I’ve even left)

Thursday
Today was a beautiful day. A bit windy, but nothing too bad. I wasn’t quite sure how strides would work with nasal breathing, which still seems hard. I do my strides at the end of my run, sprinting from my mailbox to a neighbor’s fence, then pausing my watch and walking back to my starting point.

More neighborhood rainbows

That walk back gave me enough time to recover from the harder effort — while still continuing to breath through my nose. Without the strides this run would have been on the slower side, but glad to see I could still incorporate some strides. A girl’s gotta run fast sometimes.

A rainbow AND a letter for Liz @ Librofulltime

Sunday
I was really optimistic about this run. I just had a feeling it would go well. Unfortunately, it was a slog. I think my body was saying no thank you to running long today, but I still finished 6. Not sure why. I spent the last couple of miles in a sort-of fartlek. Maybe I need to go back to run/walk intervals until (if?) nasal breathing feels easier.

Quite a few takes to get a decent photo

Favorites of the week
We mugged for the camera to get the photo above to use in the ecard I made for my mom today. Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate! Let’s just say it took multiple takes over two days, but since we don’t have any photos of all of us, glad we persevered.

Not quite as happy? I thought my mom could phone into my brother’s 60th Zoom birthday call tomorrow. Turns out you only get dial in numbers on a paid account — as far as I can tell. Let’s just say Zoom’s support docs leave a bit to be desired.

By the way, Zoom is also now requiring passwords for all meetings.

We haven’t given up, though. She does have a laptop. I’m going to try another test and see if she can actually manage to click through. She’s not tech savvy, it’s hard when you can’t see her computer while trying to help, plus she has a significant hand palsy. If she could manage it, then she could even see us!

bsnowmay20
There have been a lot of times over the years we’ve lived here when I’ve wondered if somehow we got transported to VT. Yesterday was on of those times!

Almost forgot to share our snow yesterday. I mean, it was just a dusting — although we had flurries twice more during the day. I have never seen snow here this late in the year. The good news is it’s slowly going to warm up next week — and it looks like maybe Spring will arrive — and stay.

To end on a happier note, I also taught a Yoga class to Running Buddies D&J yesterday on Zoom. They gave two thumbs up to the Airpods, which stayed connected well the whole time. Zoom also let us chat after for a long time, so win-win! I will probably offer to teach a donation based Yoga class for the Humane Society now that I can communicate effectively. I still need to test them out on FB Live, so I may be starting back there, too!

Real cards or ecards? I hate to slaughter trees for cards

Are you parents hopping on the Zoom craze? 

How often to you go grocery shopping now? Every week I’ve been saying I really need to physically go to a grocery store. Every week I decide not to. Well, this week it was finally time. In fact, I went to two. I should be good for another month or so. Grocery deliveries are always an adventure — let’s just say substitutions can be interesting, and sometimes there are substitutions for no apparent reason.

Coming up on Tuesday: The topic is your worst race experience, but I went with my biggest race pet peeve. Any guesses? Friday I’ll a surprising benefit from good hydration. Don’t forget that Skirt Sports is selling off its inventory, so check out the sale here.

Making God Laugh: 4/27 – 5/3 WRD

~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 44 Comments

You know the old saying, man plans, God laughs. I had plans for this week. Nothing earth shattering, basically trying to take advantage of the handful of nice days we had.

bwrd

Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing how God laughed at my plans.

Basically, my body told me it needed more recovery days this week. So much for my plans to run on the nice days. I only ran twice, so I missed out on some nice weather, but I did get to run Saturday, which was basically perfect running weather.

Workouts update

  • Monday:  Yoga (8 min), 4 miles easy, Dogwalk, Yoga (60 min)
  • Tuesday: Yoga (7 min), Dogwalk, Yoga (40 min)
  • Wednesday: Dogwalk, Yoga (20 min)
  • Thursday: Dogwalk, Yoga (40 min)
  • Friday: Yoga (90 min), Dogwalk
  • Saturday:  6 mile LSD, Yoga (30 min)
  • Sunday: Dogwalk, Film Yoga Video (60 min)

Mileage: 10 (-7)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Update

Flowers brighten even gloomy days

Monday
Cloudy, windy, chilly. Back to what passes for Spring in the Northeast. Got out for 4 miles & managed to stay dry. Gotta take your wins where you can find them.

This was Yoga on the deck earlier in the week — I may not have run, but I love my deck Yoga sessions! Hoping for one today, too

Saturday
Picture perfect running weather. It would have been a great day for a race! I chose the hillier route since I wasn’t running as long. Yes, the June half is officially cancelled. I had to get off & wait for some wrong siders, but I guess the rest did me good. The pace wasn’t bad.

So not a whole lot of movement this week, but today I’m feeling back to normal so it’s what I needed.

A rainbow in my backyard every day

Favorites of the week
Mr. Judy surprised me with the rainbow wind chimes above. Yes, he reads the blog sometimes.

You can never have too many digital options!

He also managed to revive his old laptop (he recently got a new one). We share our desktop; there’s a lot I can do on my Ipad, but not everything. Not that I can do everything on the laptop, either, but I can do some things I can’t on the Ipad. I spent some time blogging outside yesterday afternoon.

Mr. Judy was my hero this week — he also worked his magic to get me a good deal on  AirPods 2nd Generation. I may look dorky, but it should improve my audio (while I continue the hunt for a wireless microphone at a decent price). I’ll be testing them out on a FB Live soon!

Do you have a YouTube Channel? I’ll subscribe to yours if you subscribe to mine. 🙂

What do you do to make treadmill runs more fun (if you run on them)? 

A long shot, but does anyone have reasonably priced but good quality wireless microphone recommendations? 

b5.1_Social_FinishLine_Split

Coming up on Tuesday: Your race is cancelled. The weather’s no good or you have young kids to keep an eye on. How will you entertain yourself on your treadmill? Friday I’ll be writing a love letter to Skirt Sports; if you haven’t heard, there’s a good chance they’re going out of business if they can’t find a buyer. Skirts (and so much more) are selling out, so check out the sale here.