WRD: Week 19 2021: Short Work Week and (some) Sunshine

16 May, 2021 Off By Renée

Last week I left off my Sunday activities to publish the weekly run down early. The hubs and I got the bikes out and did our first “long”(ish) ride of the year! Though it was “only” 22.3KM it was lovely just to get out in the fresh air. We had about an hour and half to spare so we rode over to Meinerswijjk and then the Bakenhof before heading home.

The Windmill in Elden, south of the river
Up close and personal with a mare in Meinerswijk

I also then walked 7.65KM later in the afternoon and choose a hillier route to get some good work in on the the hamstrings and glutes. it was a truly beautiful day.

The view from Hoogte 80 – more proof The Netherlands isn’t all flat

This week it was another short work week, this time having Ascension day on Thursday and my regular day off on Friday. I love it when that happens! We have one more holiday this month which will again give me a four-day weekend! WOOT!

Oh and remember when I got dressed and made-up for my friend Gerrit’s surprise happening? The special event was Saturday evening! Miss Charle Sparkle didn’t win the contest she entered, but she did place 5th out of 13 which for all of us was a win, being that it was the first time she ever participated!

The Contest was called “Drag-My-Vision Songfestival” – participants choose songs that were all previous entries in the Eurovision Song Contest. Charlie’s entry was for Spain, “Eres tú” – and for her it was a play on words; in Dutch, “er is toe” (pronounced the same as in Spanish) means “there is more”, something you’d say after a lovely dinner when you announce there is dessert. Hence all the cakes, cookies, etc in the video. I found it very cute, clever and funny and loved supporting my friend. It should be noted she does all her own make up and makes all her own outfits as well.

All right. Enough of all that. Let’s get to the Weekly Run Down.

Weekly Run Down Blogger Linkup
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Deborah and Kim are the amazing hosts for the Weekly Run Down! Feel free to join in as well to wrap up your week in fitness!

Week 19 – yep, more walking

Monday – Bodypump 110, 7.7KM lunch walk
Tuesday – 8KM lunch run (intervals, incl w/u + c/d) RPM 88 after work
Wednesday – 10.1KM walk after work
Thursday – 9.65KM walk while the hubs ran
Friday – LM Tone 07 (new 30min cardio/strength workout), 7.3KM walk
Saturday – 7.9KM run (w/u notparkrun, c/d), Bodypump 108, 3.7KM walk
Sunday – 8.1KM walk

Walking

This week I walked a total of 46.55KM. I’m now down to needing about 6.1KM per day until the end of the month to finish the Illinois Criss-Cross Challenge. Much better than the 10 or so I had calculated about a month ago. To be honest, I like walking but things are starting to hurt now – ha! I have blisters on both pinky toes and let’s just say I’m going to be getting my money’s worth next Wednesday when I finally get my hamstrings and calves massaged. Next time I sign up for a challenge I’ll be taking it on less willy-nilly.

Monday Vibes
at least on Wednesday the sunnies were justified
Thursday together in Meinerswijk
The sunniest walk this week – and the most painful (blisters)

Ron told me it would be dry between 2:30 and 4pm, so that’s when I went. It wasn’t dry. First pic is right before it started bucketing down. Second pic is during the rain.

Running

This week I ran 15.9KM (this includes w/u, c/d and any recovery intervals). Most notably, we ran on Tuesday instead of Wednesday because the weather was pleasant and we wanted to take advantage at that moment. I ran on the main path in Sonsbeek and Ron ran up in the hills as he was keen for the torture challenge.

Tuesday was just sunny enough for shades and gray enough that there was hardly anyone in the park. A “win” in my book

Saturday was notparkrun again and there were 7 of us; a few runners from the group are back in their home country quarantining and getting vaccinated. (side note: don’t get me started because I don’t necessarily agree with this but maybe it’s just envy as my “home” country is way too far away to do such a thing). At least it was dry, but it was rather overcast. Can’t have everything, right?

Though it was overcast, it was dry and that’s all we could really ask for.

Total steps this week: 103,211 (avg. 14,744 per day)

Cross-Training

This week I did Bodypump twice, 110 and 108 and the 2nd time was with my LM workout friend via Zoom! We’ve had a few scheduling issues because of time zones (she’s in Pittsburgh and works in a hospital and doesn’t have a regular 9-5 schedule) but we finally got together on Saturday.

Still kind of amazed I can do this in the early morning

I also did RPM 88 this week which is a new release and it was tough! I tend to stick to releases I know because then I can get better at them, but a lot of people were raving about this release on the community group so I decided to go for it. Though it was challenging, I really liked it and enjoyed the music so I’ll be doing it again!

This is my “whoah what just happened here?” face

Les Mills also released another program called Tone recently to the on demand community; again loads of people raving so I thought I would try Tone #07. It was OK, I will probably try it a few times but I didn’t get why people LOVE it so much. This is a cardio/plyo/body weight/ strength training session where you are given a basic move and then shown advanced options as you improve and want to challenge yourself. Of course I only did the basic moves because I like to familiarise myself with the moves to avoid possible injury.

not quite catching the same amount of air the instructors are

That’s a wrap!

How was your week? More “spring-like”? Have you tried any new workouts lately? Something that got you out of your comfort zone? Do you workout with anyone via Zoom? What do you think of Charlie Sparkle’s entry in the Drag-My-Vision Songfestival? Of course this was my video debut as well – haha! I will not quit my day job just yet.