Holiday card swap, training week recap (Dec 7-13)

Good morning! I hope everyone had an enjoyable, restful weekend. The holiday season is definitely hitting overdrive mode. I've got a lot on my calendar in the next several weeks, so I am trying to relax as much as I can now.

Lacey and Meranda over at Fairytales and Fitness organized their second annual blogger holiday card swap. What a great idea! As soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to participate.

The way it works: Each participant secretly gets the name/address of another blogger to send a card and a little something. Then we each receive a surprise card and little something from someone else. It's basically a Secret Santa with holiday cards and mini-gifts.

Last Friday, I received a lovely card and Starbucks gift card from Deborah. Thank you so much, Deborah! There's something so special about receiving a handwritten note in the mail, yes? Deborah also co-hosts the monthly Ultimate Coffee Date link-up in which I've joined in the past. It was really nice to get to know her a little bit more through the card swap. Here's her fabulous blog header:

On my end - I mailed my card to my secret recipient last Monday. I am anxiously awaiting her to let me know she received it. After she does, I'll let you all know who my recipient was. =) In the meantime, I will share that I sent a sample of chocolate nut butter as the "little something." I hope she likes it!

OK - time to recap this week's workouts. Here's how things went:

MONDAY

Rest

After running a combined 19.3 race miles last weekend, there was no doubt in my mind this would be a rest day.

TUESDAY

Yoga class - 45 minutes

Even when I'm not running, my hips, glutes, hamstrings, and calves are almost perpetually tight. It felt great to stretch things out. I tend to hold my breath during the tough poses, so I'm trying to focus on maintaining a constant breathing pattern.

WEDNESDAY

Zumba class - 50 minutes

Due to various schedule conflicts, I haven't done any Zumba for several weeks. When I got back this day, I could feel the difference. I was out of sync and some of the moves felt awkward. It was a reminder to me that pretty much every type of fitness can deteriorate when left dormant for awhile!

THURSDAY

Warm-up - 10 minutes on the stationary bike

Lift - approximately 45 minutes

3 sets of 8-10 reps for each of the following:

Chest fly with dumbbells

Bicep curl with barbell

Tricep cable pressdown

Shoulder raises with dumbbells

Single-arm bent-over rows with dumbbells

Assisted pull-ups, first set focused on slow "negative" motion

Romanian deadlifts

Seated leg extension

Single leg squats with dumbbells

Squats with barbells

Hanging leg raises, front and side

Erin suggested more back work might be helpful towards my goal of doing an unassisted pull-up. Thanks to her expertise, I added the bent-over rows and "negative" pull-ups, e.g. trying to lower myself as slowly as possible.

Today, I tried to speed things up with the routine. Instead of full-out resting in between sets, I alternated upper/lower body sets.

FRIDAY

Yoga class - 55 minutes

Starting a few days earlier, my throat had been feeling a little scratchy. I was hoping it was just due to dry winter conditions, but unfortunately I did develop a cold. This was the first day the symptoms were apparent - I had a runny nose and felt lethargic in general. The inverted yoga poses are awkward when your nose is dripping. =( At the same time, I was sore from the prior day's lifting, so it felt good to stretch out. 

On top of yoga, I had considered activating my Pure Barre membership this day, too. Since I wasn't feeling great, it was an easy decision not to.

SATURDAY

Plan: Barre class - 55 minutes

Actual: Rest (but lots of walking)

Day 2 of my runny nose and general lethargy.

My mom came to visit. She, Adam, and I spent the entire afternoon walking around the city and enjoying the holiday festivities. The weather has been unseasonably VERY warm by Chicago standards, which helped a lot.

The annual Christkindlmarket
Source

SUNDAY

Plan: Barre class - 55 minutes

Actual: 30 minutes on stationary bike

Day 3 of my runny nose and general lethargy. At this point, I'm going to wait until next weekend to activate my Pure Barre membership. I still wanted to get some kind of activity in, though, so I did an easy 30 minutes on the bike. It was hard to get started, but once I got momentum going I felt better. 

Adam and I went to the Blackhawks game last night. I arrived at the stadium armed with four pocketfuls of Kleenex (no exaggeration - I thought I would draw suspicion when I went through security). However, my runny nose temporarily dissipated during the game! I'm sure it's all psychosomatic, but hey...

Flashback from 2013

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Linking up with HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap.