Quiet December

This ornament was a late addition to the tree. I keep this one out year round in the kitchen. A Facebook memory reminded me of it and almost made me cry. Beth sent this to me after my Spot dog died. It was such a kind gesture. Looking at the 2017, I just thought how can it possible that Beth's date was only 2 years later? Just not right or fair! This ornament now means more to me than it ever did.

The last two weeks have been very quiet. No races on weekends. I've been all about the spin bike, almost daily. I did take one day off completely and then yesterday, I actually ran instead! So the Trochanteric Bursitis (hip) seems to be very close to healing. I've had zero issues on the bike. And I've been loving the spin bike even more since I started using the Peloton app that Joe Viger told me about. Oh my god. It's AWESOME. So many different classes and instructors to choose from. I've been doing anything from 15 minutes up to an hour. Before work is usually 30 minutes. Only 20-30 minutes while at work. And 45 minutes to an hour on the other days. So many different types of workouts. My absolute favorite instructor is Christine D'Ercole. She's fucking hilarious.

Screenshot I got of Christine

The others have been great, too, and they all know what they're doing. I've been so tired of horrid spinning instructors on most of the videos I found on YouTube. Peloton instructors do everything properly and they all have GREAT music to go with the workouts. I will definitely be keeping my app subscription when the free trial is over. $12.99/month is nothing. Plus they have strength training workouts, too. You don't need a Peloton bike for it, but a spin bike is a must.

Here's a list of what I've done on my bike with Peloton over the last two weeks. I've included average HR since that's the tool I use the most for every workout:

12/9- 20 min HIIT ride. Avg HR: 137bpm
12/10- 60 min Heart Rate Zone (HRZ) ride. Avg HR: 137bpm
12/11- 30 min HIIT ride. Avg HR: 129bpm
12/12- 60 min After Burn ride. Avg HR: 149bpm (the most difficult ride I've ever done)
12/13- 45 min HRZ Threshold ride. Avg HR: 143bpm
12/14- 45 min HRZ Endurance ride. Avg HR:125bpm
12/15- 30 min HIIT and Hills ride. Avg HR: 138bpm
         - 20 min Low Impact ride. Avg HR: 125bpm
12/16- Day Off
12/17- 60 min Hills. Avg HR:142bpm
12/18- 30 min HIIT ride. Avg HR: unknown; didn't upload properly
12/19- 30 min Speed ride. Avg HR: 137bpm
12/20- 45 min HIIT and Hills ride. Avg HR: 142bpm
12/21- 20 min Climb ride. Avg HR: 146bpm. Ran on treadmill.
12/22- Day off, but ran on treadmill.

Post workout on my work spin bike

Post workout at on my spin bike at home. This was after Denis's class. See photo below.

Denis. Hardest class I've ever taken.

So you might have noticed at the end of my list of rides was the mention of RUNNING! I did my first test run on December 13th. I chose the treadmill since I didn't want to get all dressed up in cold weather gear, go outside and only make it to the end of driveway. I ran a very easy 2 miles in 15:46. 7:53 avg pace. Felt ok...but there was something still "there" in the hip. Like not pain exactly, but just a feeling. So I stopped at 2 miles. Decided I would try to run outside 2 days later. This time, I did actually put on all the cold weather gear...and only made it just past the end of the driveway before turning around. That was a huge nope! Felt the hip immediately. Almost talked myself into continuing, but I let reason take over. Only .15 miles. Changed into bike clothes and got on the spin bike instead.

I gave it almost a week (12/21) before another attempt, but this time I was just sticking to the treadmill. The only problem with the treadmill is that I have it propped up at ~2% grade so this was tough being out of running shape. Gave me quite the challenge and a huge spike in HR for the first half mile of the run. BUT...I had zero hip pain!! Struggled through the run, but made it 5 miles with only a split second niggle in the hip at mile 4.6. I'm really hoping it's the uphill running that is making this feel so challenging since I only took 3 weeks off, but you lose fitness quickly. Still happy to be running again, even if it's not every day. 5 miles in 38:00. 7:36 avg pace.

Disregard distance... although I'm impressed the watch got 4 miles (GPS is turned off). 

Since this went so well, I decided to attempt another run the next day (12/22). Pushed it to 6 miles and ran this one a little slower. Still felt wicked out of shape. If we do get these raises from the new company, I might splurge on a foot pod to wear on the treadmill. Too bad the raise won't be enough to "splurge" on a Peloton bike and treadmill. Haha. But anyway, got the 6 miles done with zero pain in 46:03. 7:41 avg pace.

The HR drops were from stopping when my bluetooth headphones died and then again when I lost the wire connection on my replacement headphones. Super annoying. Haha.

I haven't gotten outside much recently, but I did do some things. I worked 72 hours the second week so that cut back on my free time. And not only that, I ended up eating something bad that made me sick this past Saturday. I had showered and dressed to go for a walk, but became suddenly sick to my stomach. Finally vomited 2 hours later after lying down. Felt great after that but it was dark so I bagged a walk. The following day (yesterday), I had to drive John down to Braintree, MA to meet his grandfather. He's spending 4 days with them for Christmas since I have to work my regular schedule today (24 hours) and Christmas (24 hours). Spent a long time in the car so my whole weekend was killed of outside activities. Boo. But things I did do...

Upper Body and Abs and Glutes 3 days a week, as planned, except skipped arms and glutes one day but did abs. Amazing how quickly this strength comes back.

12/23- Conway Rec Path walk with Phoenix. 1.7 miles.

Phoenix blur

12/11- 2 miles on the trail out back at work. No snow!! Yay!

12/12- Freezing cold and late in the day after John's parent/teacher/student conference. .7 miles on the Flat Mountain Pond Trail.

12/13- Hurricane Mt Rd walk with Phoenix. Road was clear of snow with some ice patches...and then it wasn't. A snow storm suddenly blew in covering the road so much that I could no longer see the ice underneath the snow. Didn't bring microspikes since it wasn't supposed to snow until later. I ended up turning around short because it became too risky with hidden ice. Despite this I still slipped on some ice and fell right on my left hip. Yeah, the exact place with bursitis. Might explain my "Nope Run" 2 days later. Still walked 2.8 miles total.

12/15- Boulder Loop Trail Hike with John and Phoenix. It was warm-ish at home but once out on the trail, it was frigid. The wind was gusting so we were on the summit for less than 5 minutes. Luckily we went late in the day and only saw a few people. The trail was mostly clear on the way up. Quite a bit of ice on the way down, but it was easily avoidable. We brought microspikes but didn't use them. Phoenix fell in the water at one point so I thought we might have to turn back, but she kept running and dried quickly. No issues there. 3.1 miles total.

12/16- Walked for 30 minutes in the ambulance bay.

12/17- Snowing all day, but it was just another day running errands. Took Phoenix on a short walk 1.1 miles in the Dahl Sanctuary while we were out.

12/18- Ambulance Bay walk 30 minutes.

12/20- Conway Rec Path walk with Phoenix. 2.2 miles today.

Other stuff! Well, I've been eating this very low carb/beer once a week thing now for 3 weeks. I'll be honest that I'm shocked how much it's grown on me. With each week, I feel better and better. And my one day to eat whatever and have a beer...I've felt worse. My body has literally gone back to the body I used to have in 2014-2016 in just 3 weeks of eating better. It's been way more expensive so this upcoming pay raise couldn't be better timing. I'm amazed at my body's transformation in just 3 weeks. Down 6lbs to 117.5. (I go by an avg for the week.) I'm not really one to jump on a scale every day; it's usually months, but right now, I'm just really curious to see how all of this is working out for me. And remember that post I wrote a year ago about my ass (I had to change the title of that post because I was getting way too many hits)? While my ass doesn't quite look like that, and that 114lbs I weighed in those photos is too thin, I'm seriously almost there with my ass. Haha. But I'm actually far more full body fit than I was thin. I think I actually look better. Just too bad my running isn't that fast anymore. Haha. But anyway, I went from being absolutely disgusted with my body 3 weeks ago to now finally being happy with it. I feel REALLY GOOD! And I'm not starving myself AT ALL. Just not eating a bunch of crap. I was literally eating nothing but carbs and sugar on a daily basis just a month ago. And while I love beer A LOT, it was just too much. Too heavy. One day a week right now is hitting the spot. So I did take some photos of myself now...but I did it for myself. Haha. So no ass photos this time around. But let's just say the ass looks good-ish. Haha.

Going forward with this, though, I need to be careful and not get completely obsessed. When I do start putting in the miles again, I'm going to need more carbs, so I need to be careful I don't get neurotic about it. I also don't want to get so strict that if I go out with people I'm not being weird about what I'm eating or drinking. I think this is definitely at a happy medium right now. Luckily, it's been nothing but a positive at this point. So much so that it has me cooking again. Last week, I made this awesome soup that was so good, I made it again last night. I also found a recipe for low-carb "bread". With this stuff, the bread craving is totally gone, and I'm only having one piece a day.

Bread made basically of almond flour and whey protein.

Other stuff for these last two weeks. John's school had a Holiday Fair on the 14th. It POURED rain all day so the turnout was less than usual. I worked the cookie walk all day which was fun. We had so many cookies leftover. I spent hours the night before making cookies for it (meringues) only to burn 3 dozen of them. I had 17 cookies to bring to the cookie walk. Haha. Didn't matter since there were plenty. That was tough sitting there staring at cookies for 4 hours. I did end up eating one.

That night, I looked to my left to find Phoenix had wrapped herself in a blanket and was staring at me. Haha.

Friday, the 13th, I decided to stop in at Tuckerman Brewing to try their new Imperial Stout. While the beer was good, the 4oz limit was super disappointing. Not sure why they did that since I know you can get more than a 4oz pour for that abv in NH. I happened to crash a KHS teachers' Christmas party since I knew 4 of the teachers so I joined them for 2 hours and ended up getting another beer. One of the teachers was Jess Tilton, Kevin's wife, so Kevin eventually showed up, too. Ended up being really fun even though I wasn't technically part of the group. Haha. And needless to say, this was my one beer day of the week.

Jess Tilton and Kathleen Murdough

Other random photos from the two weeks. The only way to wash ambulances in the winter is when the temps are above freezing. We had a meeting with our soon-to-be new company leaders the following day so I wanted the truck to look somewhat decent. Mid-40s and pouring rain, but it was the only way to get it done.

Pretty sure Phoenix pushed John off the couch...

What mom can resist taking a photo of her teenage son when he's sleeping. I still see his baby face.

I spotted this behind me while I was on the spin bike...

Found this in my photos. John and his schoolmate while they were working on a group project.

Got a warning on my phone for a snow squall. Looked outside...they weren't kidding!

Broke 2 nails so I had to get them redone. Went with something more subtle this time around. Hard to see in the photo. Also cut them shorter.

To end the week, after dropping John off in Braintree, I drove back north to Rollinsford, NH for a holiday open house. I finally got invited to a Christmas get-together!! I don't even remember the last time I've been invited to anything for Christmas. And it worked out perfectly since I was driving right by anyway. Some Six03 friends put on the party at their home. Roxanne and Chris Serrecchia. I've known them for awhile through Six03. It was awesome because I knew about half or more of the people there so it wasn't awkward. I ended up staying for 3 hours since it was nice hanging out with all of the Six03 people I hadn't seen in a long time.

Me, John Sheedy and Maureen Gillispie

I SO want this in my house!

In general, a good two weeks. I would have preferred more hiking instead of working 72 hours last week, but overall it's been good. The Brewster Ambulance thing is coming along slowly, but it was confirmed my pay will be what I thought. How are we going from one of the worst paid jobs in the Valley to one of the best?! I still won't believe it until I see it, but it seems to be happening. We had a 2-hour meeting which I thought went well. Another meeting today at 5pm. The ball is rolling.

Trying to think if I'm missing anything from the last two weeks. I usually have so much to talk about, but it's just been so low key that there isn't much. Goals for the next two weeks, alternate biking and running. Hopefully get out for more hikes. Do the first Friday Night Vertical Race this coming Friday. John is going to join me so I'll do the first lap with him. I hope he likes it, even though the transitions can be tough at first.

I guess I'll leave this here at the end. Watched most of the last day of the impeachment hearing at work, and I was especially glad to listen to Steny Hoyer's closing speech in full. Not once did  he attack anyone. I thought it was brilliant. Too bad Trump won't be removed from office, but it's still a victory in my book.

I've been a new-to-me music kick the last few weeks so now I have to choose one to share. None of the songs are new, but they're obscure so I only find them randomly.