Weekly Workouts!

Last week I was dealing with some heel pain and the beginning stages of plantar fasciitis. I usually get a case of PF once every three years or so.

When I feel it coming on, I stop running and go to my chiro for a couple sessions of ART. So that's what I did  and luckily, it hasn't turned into full blown PF. But I'm still nursing it!

Instead of a ton of running, I am doing a lot of lifting as well as the arc trainer. The arc trainer is boring but it's no joke. I can get my heart rate up really high and get in a good sweat session. It's not enjoyable but 
Lady Gaga videos make the arc trainer more fun...

Saturday- 6 hot neighborhood miles. I  just needed to run and I wanted to try out the 'ol foot. Luckily, I ran with no pain and experienced no pain the rest of the day. Hopefully I wake up tomorrow morning with no pain too!

Sunday- 60 minutes on the arc trainer. I woke up with no heel pain! I really wanted to run, but I am proud to say I played it safe and spent an hour doing intervals on the arc trainer while watching Lady Gaga videos.

Monday- 1 mile run, 35 minutes arc trainer in the morning, then 10 minutes in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I felt a little bit of pain on the side of my heel during my run this morning. My run was supposed to be 6 miles. I stopped short because I don't want to run with even a little pain. I didn't have much time before work so I was only able to get 35 minutes in on the arc trainer. Don't worry, I went back after work between therapy and my chiropractor session for another 10 minutes. I may be messed up in the head... Who goes to the gym for TEN MINUTES!? Me.

Oh, later that night I vacuumed and logged it on my Garmin, just for fun. I hit a vacuuming PR... My whole house in less than 15 minutes!!!

I went to the chiro that night and he scraped the shit out of my foot and really annihilated my calves. I think I will have bruising.

Tuesday- 60 minutes on the arc trainer. Again, Lady Gaga made it more bearable. I really like that song, Telephone!

Wednesday- 5 miles on the AT after school. I felt soooooo good. I parked at Sherwood and ran up to the overlook. More pictures and stories from that run here.

UP!

DOWN!

Thursday- 60 minutes on the arc trainer. I had a little heel pain in the morning but nothing too bad.

Friday- Lifting & 30 minutes on the arc trainer. My foot felt fine but I want to run some trail tomorrow so I wanted to take it easy. I went to the chiro at lunch. That will help things too!

How were your workouts this week?
Did you ever track your vacuuming?

Summer Goals!

My 14th year of teaching is in the books! Today is my last work day of the 2019-2020 school year. 

I'll be frank with you, this has been the most challenging year of my teaching career. I have never been more ready for some time away from school! (Note: It has nothing to do with the students! I love my students!)

Don't worry, I have some fun summer goals to keep myself busy!

1. Visit new trails. I'm a creature of habit, so I keep running the same trails near my house over and over again. In the summer, I have a lot more time to explore. I'd like to try a new trail once a week. Who wants to join me?

2. Run up Flat Rock by myself. Andrea and I hiked to this amazing view this past March. It was challenging and I think I would feel a great sense of accomplishment if I was able to run it alone.

3. Spend lots of time with friends. Come on, as adults, we all know this is easier said than done! But I mean it. Please friends, hit me up! Because I am going to hit YOU up!

4. Learn how to cook tofu. I've been in a recipe rut and I have been meaning to try to incorporate tofu into my diet anyway. I love cooking, so this will be a fun! I got a head start this past weekend...

5. Learn the Maple Leaf Rag on the piano. I've been wanting to learn this song forever, but every time I sit down to try to work on it, I get frustrated because it is HARD! I am going to have a lot of extra time on my hands this summer so I want to get better at the piano and learn this song. Perhaps I will record myself playing it at the end of the summer and then you can all see whether I practiced or not!

So far I can play the whole first section but not fast enough and not always on a steady beat. But I am amazed with my progress so far. I think I have worked on it for probably 3 hours total. Three more pages to go...

Yeah, that ain't nothin' but a thaaaaaaang....

Do you have any fun summer goals or plans?

Wednesdays are for trail running!

As you know, I'm definitely a morning runner. But if I am able to "sleep in" (7:00am) on Wednesdays, it's a good day to save my run for the trail after school. (Wednesday is one of those magical days I don't have piano lessons after school...)

As soon as my last class left for the day, I changed into my running clothes. When the 3:40 bell rang, I hopped in my car and headed to the trail. I guzzled back a seltzer water on the way. I really need to drink more water...

I parked at Sherwood and planned to run up the mountain to the Cumberland County Overlook. The trail was so lush and green. It's been raining a lot in Central PA, so that helps to get everything looking nice and grown!

The last time I ran this route was just a week and a half ago. It is amazing how much more grown it looked! The storms did I number on it too. There were several spots where large trees had fallen across the trail.

I didn't stop for pictures at all on my way up. I just chugged along. I was determined to make it up the mountain without stopping to walk, except for the huge rock steps. My heart rate was up so high and my legs were SHAKING! But I did it. Of course I did. Because when I decide I'm going to do something, I DO IT.

Up!

The way back down is tricky. You can't really fly because there are a lot of little to medium sized rocks. I always look forward to the down until I am actually doing it, because you really have to use your muscles in a different way to get you down those rocky hills without falling. Oh, and the rocks are slick. That doesn't help, either!

However, I stopped along the way to take some nice pictures for this post. I did stop my Garmin when I took my pictures.

Funny Story: I forgot to pack my running sunglasses so I had to wear the glasses I wore to school today. I was the fanciest girl on the trail!

Down!

I am so thankful I live near beautiful trails and that I am healthy and able to run on them! Life is good.

Ps. No snakes, but lots of bunnies who weren't expecting me... They were SHOOK!

Weekend Wrap Up!

 

Happy Monday! 

This is my last week of school before summer break! 

Wahoo!

Here's what I was up to this weekend...

What a glorious night of sleep I had! I woke up naturally about 3 seconds before my alarm went off. Isn't it weird when something like that happens?

Since I have been easing off the running a bit due to some heel pain (I don't want to get full blown plantar fasciitis), I headed to the gym. I had an hour long date with the arc trainer.

The arc trainer isn't fun but it's a good workout. I can get my heart rate pretty darn high. In fact, maybe I get it too high!

The best part of the work day was ripping the month of May off my calendar and finally exposing JUNE!!!!

Lunch outside with my friends was fun too!

Luckily, I had a lot of fun stuff lined up for the evening. First, I went to an open house my physical therapist was having. My friend Allison goes to PT at Pivot as well, so we went together.

I wrote a post several months ago about my experience at Pivot Physical Therapy, and I can't recommend it enough! It was nice to catch up with my therapist since I hadn't seen him in several months. (That's a good thing though, that means I'm healthy!)


Then Allison and I headed over to Sakura for some sushi! Sushi, wine, and girl talk. What more could one ask for on a Friday evening?

I tried a roll with fried banana in it! It was interesting, and definitely the weirdest item I ever had in a sushi roll!

I slept until 10am. Who am I!? I relaxed and drank some coffee as I contemplated what to do for a workout. I really didn't feel like being cooped up in the gym on the arc trainer. I wanted to be outside in the scorching heat! 

Also, I  just needed to run and I wanted to try out the 'ol foot. Luckily, I ran 6 neighborhood miles with no pain and experienced no pain the rest of the day. Hopefully I wake up tomorrow morning with no pain too!

That afternoon, my SIL and I had our joint piano and violin recital. The students did an awesome job! I only had 4 students able to perform this year.

After the recital, I went to get my haircut. My stylist, Karen, moved salons, and this new place was very fancy! Karen gives me the cute little punk cut I'm always rocking. She does such a nice job with my hair and she's fun to talk to! Hit her up at Studio NOVA on the Carlisle Pike! It's in the little shops beside Rite Aid.

Fannnnnnnncy!

They serve wine.

This is the before shot. Look at my poofy, long hair!

After!

I was so scared to get out of bed on Sunday. What if my foot hurt? Luckily, it did NOT! I was so happy!

I didn't have any big plans for the day. I ran some errands in the morning, including a much needed trip to Aldi.

Of course I wanted to run but I knew I shouldn't. It was hard, but I made myself go to the gym and do intervals on the arc trainer for an hour. 

I watched Lady Gaga videos the whole time and it ended up not sucking too bad.

Later that night, I did some cooking. I made...

Basic Bitch Quiche

(turkey bacon, broccoli, cheddar cheese)

Spiralized Sweet Potato Fries

(Well, I didn't cook them, I just have them all prepped for when I am in the mood for them.)

Tofu!

This was my first attempt at cooking tofu. It went well. I put it in leftover pad thai.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!
What's the weirdest sushi roll you ever had?