Week whatever out of ?? ambiguous training for something or not

This week...Eh...

Monday: REST

Tuesday: Progressive 4 miles followed by 6 miles on the stationary bike

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: REST

Friday: 3 Miles

Saturday: 4 Miles with the pup, followed by a half assed speed sesh of 2 miles.

Sunday: 5 Miles, 36:50. Finally a speed sesh! Alternated one song fast, one song at 8:00 pace. (Speed songs were at 6:48, 6:48, 6:39, 6:39, 6:31)

6 miles cycling
18 miles running

Tuesday morning I woke up and my neck was hurting a lot. I must have slept funny since I do not recall any specific trauma. My neck was quite uncomfortable during work Tuesday and even more so during my run Tuesday evening. Wednesday and Thursday I was going out of my mind with the pain in my neck, and aleve wasnt helping it at all. I could barely function at work so running was absolutely out of the question.  A few epsom bath soaks later, Friday I woke up feeling much better.

Saturday I ran with CB then went shopping. I bought some nice stuff to wear in Paris and Copenhagen as well as springtime here, whenever it gets a bit warmer.

Sunday I did a moderate speed sesh since my neck was still a tad janky & because CB wasnt feeling well. I called the vet to see if I could take him in, but they were only accepting dogs with flu symptoms (which he does not have thankfully) but I have to keep an eye on him and hopefully not have to find another vet. He does seem much better now (Sunday evening) than earlier Sunday.
                                         
Me and my bear. I love him so much. Monday I got to see some wonderful ladies for a nice chat and dinner. It was awesome catching up with Anne, Emmers and Erin. Tuesday I voted. CB said he voted many times earlier in the day while I was at work.
Sunday I bottled my Russian Imperial Stout which has been fermenting for 2 months! I had to open one of my old IPAs for the bottle (because I only have 12 total!), and surprisingly it tasted much better than it did in January. I also bottled one bottle of the Belgian stout I made 3 weeks ago. The rest of the Belgian stout will be seconday fermented with coffee. I just need to cold brew some first.I think this Belgian stout is going to be amazing.
Looking forward:

Since there are no "good" 5ks that fit in my schedule before my vacation, I am unsure if I want to continue focusing on 5k prep- or maybe change it up and start running longer since the weather is nice. I'd love to smash my stagnant half marathon PR this year (it's been nearly 2 years since my last 13.1!!!).On top of that, I am really enjoying running/cycling/lifting weights and my continued PT exercises and am not really excited to race. At least right now.. I'm sure that will change soon. I want quality performance over quantity races this year and know post vacation, I'll be itching to take advantage of the good weather and let my legs fly.

Up next:

Throw back posts of my trip to Europe 2002, because my daad found some photo cds I had of half of my pics from the trip. And because I found my journal from that trip. And because I am super excited to return to Europe after 13 years!!!


-Xaar

Another weekly recap of things that happened

Life is good, really really good. Work has been busy (read: our busy season+ regular month end close) and this weekend was chill, exactly what I needed because soon I will be all GO GO GO "do all the things, see all the people, eat all the foods, and DRINK ALL THE CAIPIRINHAS" while in Rio and Sao Paulo.

CB has been wild again. Maybe it was the full moon, but more likely it is because I hadn't taken him on a decent walk or run in ages due to the cold and it being dark outside when i get home.
I saw some micro flowers near my office this week which made me smile. With even cooler temps arriving this week, i'm sure the sightings of colorful living things will diminish rapidly in Chicago.
We voted on Tuesday. I mean, it was a choice of the lesser of 2 evils, or choose which one might not F*ck up Chicago/Illinois the most. I voted because I can. It's my civic duty. With the amount of distrust in the government and anger towards the people in charge, I would have thought there would have been more than 36.4% voter turnout in Chicago. It is just ridiculous. People want change, but don't want to do anything other than bitch about shit on social media- which does not produce change. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
On Friday night I noticed a bight light shining on my balcony. I went outside to investigate and saw the perfect opportunity for a cool silhouette photo. The light was coming from many blocks away. It was for the filming of the new "Batman vs Superman" movie. I couldn't believe how bright the light was. I was tempted to go check out the sets, because it was being filmed in the Loop, but decided i'd rather stay in my nice warm apartment, than brave the cold.
Saturday the CB dog and I went for our first run together in ages. It was a crisp 40 deg, with some winds. I really struggled with what to wear for this run, since i've been staying inside at the gym. But some tights, a long sleeve Nike hyperwarm shirt, a wind breaker, hat and gloves was plenty. While going south on the path, I actually felt hot. BUT when I turned around back into the headwinds, I was super happy to be layered up.
I hope we have more "warmish" days like this so we can run together again. The ankle/cankle/crankle is feeling good these days. I've done some progressive runs which have not aggravated it at all. I also take 2-3 days rest between runs and cycle during that time. I have no motivation to increase mileage too fast, or even train for anything specific at this point. I like the mix of cycling, running, core/hip/strength workouts I am completing each week.
Watching the NYC marathon got me jazzed about running for a hot second, but that quickly faded. When I am in Brasil, I am not doing any races- mainly because I won't do a race under trained for the "fun of it" but also because it's our honeymoon/vacation, and I feel it would be super selfish to drag L to another event. Plus, with no race in Brasil = I can eat all the things, drink all the caipirinhas and not worry about a damn thing.
CB dog was happy for this run. We even "pop corned" the Chicago Perfect 10 race, which was happening on the lakefront. CB spent the rest of the weekend sleeping, and being less wild.
Sunday I took the time to clean up the apartment, and finish packing my suitcase for Brasil. My goal for only taking a carry on suitcase was accomplished. The secret: Dresses. Yep, I'm taking 8 dresses for this trip. It will be Springtime after all and warm and sunny and rainy and the polar opposite of Chicago weather (see what I did there? lol) .I'll have one pair of shorts and jeans + some shirts, and some running stuff too.But dresses are where it's at for packing light.
AH time is flying so fast and before I know it, I'll be in SP and Rio seeing loads of friends and family and eating/drinking delicious things. I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED.