Thank you for joining my weekly wrap. Actually, I am going to begin my week with last Saturday so I can tell you about the three-hour timed trail run I did with my hubby Bill and my friend Nancy.
CJ’s Resolution Challenge is a race that I have done each of the past four years. Obviously, I really enjoy the race. The challenge is to run a 1.5-mile loop as many times as possible in 3 hours.
This year, Bill and I ran together; Nancy was ahead of us. The weather at the start of the race was 40 degrees with light rain. The light rain was preceded by a downpour the previous night, which was preceded by the wettest year on record for this area.
That’s a long-winded way to say that the trails were a muddy mess. I have taken many showers after the race, but mud is still ground in around my toenails, even though I scrubbed them with an old toothbrush.
Muddy trails are a playground for true trail runners, but Bill has an aversion to dirt. Poor guy! He never once complained when we hit the unavoidable puddles.
Bill thinks the course is about 2/3 gravel park road and 1/3 trails, but I think it is more like half and half. Let’s compromise and say that 5/12 of the course is trail and 7/12 is road. You have no idea the convoluted math I did to calculate those fractions.
My hip held up for about two hours of the three-hour run, then started hurting pretty badly. I was happy with my results, however; we ran the same number of loops as last year, nine. Our finishing time was 2:57.
After the race, we headed for the aid tent for homemade vegetarian lentil and chicken corn soup, along with homemade cookies, chips, crusty bread, and piping hot coffee or cocoa.
I did not run on Monday, but I did do my plank challenge. I slacked on the planking over the holidays, so, after getting my plank time up to 4:45 before Christmas, I was back to 4:30 this week. After 4:30, my arms began shaking and my midsection felt the inexorable pull of gravity. I called it quits. I also did an hour of Body Pump with one of my favorite instructors, Theresa.
On Tuesday, I did a pool workout. Bill got me new training flippers and a new cap for Christmas, so I had to try them out. My workout includes a warmup of 10 laps, 14 laps of just kicking with my flippers (no arms), and a 10 lap cool down. That takes me a little over half an hour, and at the end of that half hour, I was beat!
Wednesday began with another plank. This time, I could hold the plank for 4:45. I was happy to be back to my pre-holiday planking time.
Bill and I did an hour of trail running with our friend Al. I have not run with Al since he had an allergic reaction to some hornet stings in a trail race last summer. His summer trail-running days are over, but there was little chance of hornets this week, so he felt comfortable hitting the trails with us.
On Thursday I did a short run beginning from our local rec center. The wind was crazy. I started my run amid farm fields, running directly into the howling gale. This made a very difficult start of the run, but by the end, I was the beneficiary of a ferocious tailwind.
Friday was my birthday and I had a birthday fitness goal. Before going to the rec center for a Body Pump class, I wanted to hold my forearm plank for five full minutes. Five minutes has been my goal ever since I began planking months ago.
I turned on the TV for distraction, got down on our bedroom floor and began planking. The first two minutes were easy. I didn’t look at the time, instead, I counted to 30 in my head, very slowly, with my breath.
I counted to 30 once, twice, three times, then looked at my watch – it was already at 3:50. “I can do this!” I thought. I counted to 30 one more time and looked at my watch again – 4:30. My arms began shaking, but I held my form. I watched the clock count up – 4:45, 4:50, 5:00. I did it!
I won’t hold a plank that long every day, but it was gratifying to do it once. I notice a big difference in my core strength since beginning the challenge.
And, that’s a wrap.
What were your fitness highlights this week?
I am linking up with Holly from HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking the Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap.
It’s always great to complete a challenge. Congrats on the victory, wish you many more! 🙂
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Thank you! Now my friend has issued me another challenge – 10 minute plank!
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You’ll ace that one too! 🙂 Looking forward to the posts. It’s an inspiration to us all.
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Your how-many-laps-in-three-hours reminded me of an experience I have in every 5K I run. Before my little accident, I was always in contention for the top three in my age group. That usually means finishing in 24-25 mins. I start our fast and am pretty happy with my speed, and than, invariably, I’m passed by some sixteen-year-old girl who finishes in seventeen minutes. It’s always a race again yourself! Take good care of your hip.
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Yes, racing is against yourself except for the overall top few runners (and that’s not me!). Thank you. I am trying to take care of my hip, but sometimes it doesn’t cooperate! 🙂
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I’m here to sneak in a Happy Birthday wish! I hope the year ahead brings much happiness and continued success! I am hiking almost every day now. It’s even hard to take a day off but I need one today! Enjoy your Sunday. Birthday hugs coming your way, Diane
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Thank you so much, Diane! Today is a break day for me too. Rest is as important as activity. Tomorrow you will probably be hiking! 🙂
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Hello,
I know that I don’t have to be a runner to take away inspiration from your blog. It’s your attitude and zest that is appealing; the way you look at life in a deeper way. One bloom of a flower brings a story that you share with us and that flower becomes the universe.
I love planks but I have yet to give myself a goal of doing it past one minute, but we build up slowly and I do try to do a plank… and a balance pose each day. Balance is super important as we age.
My fitness goal this past week was to take a mid day break of 20-30 minutes for myself: I do 5 minutes plus of yoga stretches which include: child’s pose, cat-cow, down dog, plank, cobra, spinal pose; and then I do 5 minutes of alternate nostril breathing, followed by sitting in silence for as long as I want. I put the timer on for all of this. This is FITNESS AND NUTRITION FOR MY SOUL. It has been my goal in retirement to make this a daily practice, but I do everything in baby steps, and if I start out once a week, well then that’s a beginning! I’ll build from there. I have had this practice for a long time; it’s just been hit and miss, but as always, my intentions are good, ha ha.
Great for you achieving that 5 minute plank!
Cheers,
Susan Grace
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Your fitness regimen sounds wonderful! I should look into some balance poses too. “Balance” is my word for the year. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I will look into some balance poses right now! Blessings to you, Susan.
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Now, if balance is your key word for the year, it definitely calls for a balance pose! I do about a minute on each side. Doesn’t matter what kind of balance – it can be a beginner, intermediate or advanced pose. Anything will do, even simply coming up off the heels and balancing on the ball of the foot.
Balancing is good for bone strength. I’d love to hear about any progress with this, should you take up this challenge! hee hee
Bless you,
Susan Grace.
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I will blog about my progress! Thanks for the inspiration!
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Belated Happy Birthday
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Thank you, Anita!
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This looks great fun. Good luck with the plank. I’m at 8 minutes, but then the shakes kick in….
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8 minutes is awesome! Congratulations. Maybe one day….
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I found it a relief when you turned on the TV for your (admirable!) five minute plank. I was wondering what you did with the inside of your head during that time 🙂
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Ha! Usually listening to CNN. 🙂
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Oh, inspirational music is so much better! My two cents 😂 but then I am not a tv person.
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Thanks for the continued reminder of the planks. It is something that is convenient (not easy) to do at home. I am not a fan of exercise! You have given me something to strive for.
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Yes, you don’t need special equipment or clothes to do planks. I began at 30 seconds.
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I thought of you as I did a 30 second plank on the floor of the office I am working at to take a break from sitting and typing for 4 hours. Think I’ll try to make that a daily deal.
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Happy birthday! It’s always nice to hit goals.
I am not at all fond of mud so of course the name of my trail half was “Mud & Chocolate” and it totally lived to its name!
You definitely got in a variety of workouts this week. And that food after the trail run . . . sounds delish!
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Oooh…”Mud & Chocolate” sounds right up my alley! Thanks for the birthday wishes, Judy.
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Well, it’s near Seattle, so check it out. I thought the course was ok — not super exciting — or maybe it was the mud and the fact that the sole of my shoe came half off in the last mile!
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Five minutes!!! Congratulations!
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Thank you!
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Happy belated Birthday! CJ’s does sound interesting and it is such a pretty area, I will try and remember for next year. I don’t mind the state forest roads, it sounds like a safe mix for me. lol.
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I would definitely recommend CJ’s. It’s kind of semi-trail, but the trails are easy, not too technical. You are never more than 1.5 miles away from an aid station, either! 🙂
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My gosh – those are some real accomplishments! Well done you!
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Thank you!
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Happy Birthday! That’s a heck of a way to celebrate! 😉 I’m glad my PT has assigned only 3 second planks. Although doing 3 sets on each side takes a while. Yay on that trail race. I remember you telling us about that guy getting stung. Glad you could run together.
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Yes, I am going out with Al again tomorrow. He will only run trails until the warm weather, so we have maybe 3 months of trail running left this year!
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I like the sound of the trail race with loops. That way, you are never alone on the course and you can stop for snacks and bathroom breaks. I miss swimming since I dropped my gym membership. I don’t have a pool until summer again
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Yes, you are never more than 1.5 miles away from a (heated, indoor) bathroom and the aid station. Trail races have great food, too! I would miss the pool in the winter. I just went again today.
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You are totally rocking the planks!!!!! I usually have to have a distraction, too…like my phone, so I can scroll through FB or Insta and periodically check the timer. Sometimes, I try to read an entire magazine article. If I focus on the (stupid) clock, it takes forever LOL Great job on your timed trail run! And, a very happy (belated) birthday 😉
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I need a distraction too. I used to scroll FB, now I watch the news. I think maybe I will try FB again. Thank you!
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Happy Birthday!! You should have seen how fast I read the last few paragraphs to see if you managed the 5 minute plank!! Yay, you did it! Well done. That’s sheer will power AND a very strong core! I have started a plank challenge and I am still at 35 seconds. I think I can hold a 1 minute plank if pushed but not much more. I’ll keep practicing!
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Thank you for the happy birthday wishes! Practicing is the key to increasing core strength. I had to increase on my own schedule – very slowly!
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The Resolution Challenge seems like a really fun event. Bummer about the muddy trails but it seems like it was kind of fun overall? Awesome job on your planking – I need to more of those to help with my core strength.
Also, happy belated birthday! 🙂
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Resolution Challenge is a really fun event. And because it’s to raise money for autism awareness, I feel good contributing to the cause. It was definitely fun overall. I will do it again next year if I can! 🙂
Thank you!
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I hope you had a great birthday! Congrats on making your plank goal!
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Thank you! I did have a great birthday.
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Am I reading that correctly that you ran over 9 miles of trail in under 3 hours? That’s awesome! I will side with your husband in hating dirt. My high school cross country teammates always teased and called me “Princess” because I was the only one who loathed running any muddy courses and complained about getting my shoes dirty. To this day wet feet is a top pet peeve of mine and I tend to reschedule runs based on forecasted rain for that reason.
Great job on the planking! I’ve never timed myself to see how long I can hold one. The other week at track a kid mentioned to another one about challenging me to which the kid responded I’m not challenging her, she’ll kick our butts. Haha I tend to do more core than they do, but they’re learning to enjoy it more.
Hope your hip continues to mend as the year progresses!
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I ran 13.5 miles (9 loops; each loop was 1.5 miles) in just under 3 hours. Thank you, Tracy. The trail run was very mild, compared to many trail runs. I can’t imagine a cross country runner who hates to get dirty! 😀
Haha! Your track kids think you are a bad a$$!! That’s awesome! I’m hoping my hip continues to heal too!
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That is a long run for sure especially doing the same loop! I think I would get bored haha
Are you planning any future races or waiting to see how the hip behaves?
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I am doing Phunt 25k in Elkton, MD this weekend, then I am going to stick strictly to short stuff until the hip mends. I am thinking about signing up for a Pretzel City 5k – Chocolate Frosted Buns. I kind of regret not doing the York Winter series.
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Happy Birthday (belated)! Looks to me like you had a pretty good week! Congrats on the 5 minute plank. I don’t think I could do it!
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Thank you, Wendy. I have not been able to repeat the 5 minutes since my birthday! 🙂
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Happy Birthday Laurie. What a great idea to coincide your fitness goal with your birthday! I will probably have mini fitness goals throughout the year, all pertaining to walking. I’m off to a great start this year with our nice weather … it helps to balance out how crummy most of our weekends were from spring through Fall. We had our third rainiest year in history – we’ll both vouch that many days were downright ugly.
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The plank was just a fluke. I happened to feel good that day and decided to go for it. Yesterday, I barely made it to 4 minutes.
Yes…so much rain! I am so ready for some nice sunshine.
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After your run this Saturday you can look forward to some nice warm weather in your upcoming travels. We have some ugly weather coming in tonight – freezing rain tonight/overnight and tomorrow morning – sigh, so there goes the walking tomorrow for sure, maybe longer. And snow on the weekend – maybe they’ll be wrong again.
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We can keep our fingers crossed!
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Now I hear we not only have this whopper snow storm on Saturday, we will get a six-inch snowfall next Tuesday – Winter comes back with a vengeance!
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Ugh! We have some snow in the forecast too.
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Hopefully it happens after your run, ours begins Friday night – I had to hire someone to take care of the snow but they won’t show up under two inches – no problems there, since we are having two big snow events. I’m ready for April.
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I’m ready for April too! Or Florida! 🙂
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Happy belated birthday and congratulations on your 5-minute plank!
That’s great news about the hip pain holding off during your trail run. Just don’t overdo it with too much too quickly.
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Thank you, Deb. I have been known to overdo it! 🙂
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HEY! happy birthday and congrats on your 5 min plank!!! I just started a beginner plank challenge and I don’t think it goes up that long 🙂 hopefully I’ll get there soon too though!
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Thank you for the birthday wishes. I started at 30 seconds too. I just had to follow my own schedule for increasing the length of plank time.
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Happy Belated Birthday!
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Thank you, Carol!
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Does your planking challenge have rules? Structure? Or do you hold as much as you can every day?
It’s good to see that you could run for 2h. But still, take it easy. Doctor’s orders.
Also, Happy Belated Birthday!
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Nah, my planking is just for me. I hold a forearm plank for as long as I can. the longest I have ever done (recently) is 5.5 minutes. I never do less than 3.5 minutes. I plank every other day and on the days I don’t plank, I do push ups.
Thank you for the birthday wishes!
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