Wow the luster of this bright, shiny new year sure faded fast, didn’t it? The recent events in our nation’s capital make me sad. Since the election I’ve made a point to watch as little news as possible so I didn’t hear about the “incident” right away. I don’t even know what to think anymore. Just when you think it can’t get worse, it does. Our gloomy weather matched the somber mood.
As per usual, I leaned into my workouts for sanity.
Monday: Walk 4 miles, Treadmill intervals cuz the track is pure ice
Tuesday: Walk 4 miles, Standing Strength & Abs workout, 30 min. Bike
Wednesday: Walk 4 miles, Trail Run 3 miles
Thursday: Walk 4 miles, otherwise rest
Friday: Walk 4 miles, Treadmill 4 miles
Saturday: Walk 4 miles, 40 min. Bike Workout
Sunday: Walk 4 miles, Heavy Strength, Thing 1 flies back to Atlanta
My track streak came to an anticipated end. Our recent snow/freezing rain affair did it no favors and I wasn’t about to chance it. It was great while it lasted, but I don’t mind speedwork on the mill either.
My trails weren’t too icy so snowy trails it was for the win. It really is quite beautiful and mid 20s-30 degrees feels mild.
My bike workouts still feel hard. I used to attend hour-long spin classes that felt way easier, and I’d struggle to make it into zone 3. Now I can hit zone 3 and even zone 4 pretty easily. Have I lost that much fitness? Or is it my bike??
Vitamin D? What’s That??
I was a good girl and knocked out all my doctor, dental and eye appointments for the year. All that said, I was not thrilled to hear my Vitamin D level is at an abysmal 16. A “normal” level would be around 30 and ideally in the 40-60 range. Low vitamin D is a perennial issue for me and I seem to struggle mightily every winter. It’s especially frustrating because I take a 5000 iu supplement along with 2T fish oil daily. Clearly I am not absorbing it. Read all about why Vitamin D3 is important for optimal health here.
Kitchen Update
Two weeks in to our project and I’m already feeling overwhelmed. I’ve lost count of how many designers, contractors and the like that have been here. We’ve been on two field trips so far and we saw one preliminary design that was a hard no, because the design, while attractive, was less efficient and afforded us less storage than what we have now. I don’t get it. It’s apparent the Caveman and I have different ways of approaching the project, because we’re already butting heads. He wants to tell the designer exactly what he wants. I’d rather tell the designer my issues with our current kitchen and let them come up with the solutions. I’m kind of surprised the Caveman has so much input since he does not cook at. All. Let the record show I suspect much of my overwhelmed, stabby mood can be attributed to the aforementioned Vitamin D deficiency.
She Runs It Podcast
I was a guest on the She Runs It podcast this week, hosted by Sarah Ratzlaff and Nicole DeBoom. We had fun talking all about a topic that’s near and dear to my heart: Post-workout recovery. I’ll be sure to let you know when it airs later this month. Until then you can check out their other podcasts here.
New on YouTube
Standing Abs & Strength Workout. This one is for those of us who’ve fallen off track over the holidays, or maybe have lost our fitness mojo during the pandemic. There’s no jumping and no getting up and down to the mat. Try it!
How was your week? Does the lack of daylight wear on you? Have you schedule your appointments for the year?
I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down. Join us!
I’m actually having an easier time with the lack of light this year. I think that not having to drive home in the dark every night is helping. I just need it to start getting light earlier in the morning so that I can start my workouts earlier and I’ll be good. Looking forward to hearing your podcast!
Glad to hear it isn’t just me. Mike and I just butted heads over a grocery order, lol. Everyone is crabby these days.
Interesting that your Vitamin D level is so low in spite of the supplement. Have you taken the 50,000 IU weekly dose to try to boost it? I deal with this a lot in my practice, so I am interested to learn why this is happening. Please keep me posted.
I know you’ll miss Maddie. Hang in there!
I ditched work to walk with a friend on THURSDAY because it was our first sunny day of the week. It’s sunny this weekend, but windy and cold. My husband had input on our kitchen but knew well enough to leave the final say to me. We did rely on our contractor for ideas. One thing he figured out was that the wall against the family room was deep enough that he could cut into it to provide a slot for the “wine fridge” without taking away from the kitchen footprint.
Looking forward to your podcast interview!
Over the past few weeks I’ve been outside (in the daylight) alot less because of the weather and not having a stroller. It’s tough! I’m hoping to start getting outside more now. I know it helped me through the first month of the pandemic when it was still pretty cold and dreary.
My Vit D level is a little better than yours, but it’s not great, and yes, i do struggle mightily at this time of year (and it may be behind my current not feeling great, I’m guessing). I also supplement.
So sorry about the butting heads. We didn’t completely redo ours when we moved here, but we did knock out walls & install new cabinets. It ALWAYS takes longer than they say.
I also didn’t initially know of what was going on until Mr. Judy got home with Bandit on Wed. Ahem, he was walking Bandit, so why did her know? The darkest day I have ever seen for our nation, and there have been a lot of dark days. 🙁 I am hopeful for a peaceful transition and that things will begin to get more organized. I know it will take time, and there’s so much that needs to be done to heal our nation.
We had a nice 5 stress-free days in 2021. It was nice while it lasted 🙁 Like you, I jumped into my workouts even more to escape all the craziness.
Sorry to hear about the frustration with the kitchen remodel. Hopefully you can both settle on layouts and designs that you both like for the kitchen.
Looking forward to listening to the podcast once it’s available!
Kitchen remodels are intense- good luck! Do you have an idea of when it will be done?
Interesting about the Vitamin D!
yes let us know when your podcast airs! Nicole is great 🙂 Great job keeping up your walks and runs this week with lots of chilly weather. It was much colder here but at least we have had a lot of sunshine. My vitamin D was low last time I checked (2 years ago) I finally have some bloodwork coming up again so I am anxious to see how it is. I have started splitting my supplement and taking half in the morning and half at night. I am wondering if that will help w absorption?
With our kitchen, I designed one and took it with me to the showroom place (in a big DIY store) and hid it and then they designed something awful and I got out mine and made them put it in the computer and we’ve been happy with it ever since! Beware of them upselling crap though – ours tried to add £40 liners to the drawers that had shapes in them for tools of only exactly that size and shape. Um no. Best thing was a tall cabinet with no shelves except the fixed one, which gives us room to store mop and bucket, ironing board, etc.
Great work in general, too, of course! I did a gentlish week but still on track given the weather!
The only thing that keeps my Vitamin D at a healthy level is taking 50,000 IUs once a week. I do take more through a multivitamin, but this is the only way I could bring mine up and keep it there. You can get a prescription for it, which is super cheap, or buy the OrthoMolecular brand online (not as cheap).
Good for you for knocking out all of your appointments already. I promised myself I’d get everything scheduled last week but have yet to get one on the books…sigh.
I’m looking forward to hearing your podcast when it’s available!
I’ve heard how challenging a kitchen remodel can be — so many options and things to consider! Hope things go smoother in the weeks ahead.
Wow! Great job on all those appointments. The hubs and I finally got our first doses of the shingles vax LOL I need to get my buttocks in for my annual (#joy #not). Ironically, I have already noticed a substantial increase in daylight. I usually don’t see much of change until later in January. I’m also trying to get out for noontime walks when possible (not that there’s been much sunshine in recent days). The podcast sounds fun…keep us in the loop 😉
So even though it’s freezing cold here (no, really), the days are usually pretty bright and sunny. I don’t get a lot of blood work, but I can’t imagine my vitamin D suffers any with how much we are outside. Silver linings, I guess.
So we should be getting our kitchen done in a few months, and it’s going to be so ugly. Mr PugRunner is interested in one thing (cost), and I am interested in collaborating with the contractor to get the most gorgeous kitchen ever. I pretty much know what I want, and our contractor is excellent at seeing my vision and helping me get to the next level.
Congrats on the podcast interview! Yes, please let us know when it airs, I’d love to hear it.
That photo of you on the snowy trails is lovely. Despite all the sunshine we have here I do miss running in a snowy forest.
Have a beautiful new week (despite Thing 1 being gone) and good luck with the kitchen remodel. You’ll be so happy when it’s finished!
I don’t like it when it is gloomy outside. It does not help with how things are going right now. I need sunshine!
Ugh, bummer on the kitchen update. Hopefully soon you can get some answers/final designs and you can get the kitchen you want. 🙂
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I do not miss those dreary winter days in Chicago. Hoping you get some sunshine soon!
I’ve been out of the loop so didn’t realise you were doing your kitchen! I feel you on the reno stuff! our next big construction isn’t that big (the WC upstairs) but due to the lockdown we can’t even start looking at materials…
I’ll be sure to listen to the podcast later! cool!!
We have been lacking in the sunshine department. Glad that yesterday was finally sunny and I went for a hike.
I try to get outside everyday even if I don’t run. It’s hard when it’s cold and gloomy.
We are do for a kitchen make-over….postponed until summer at least. My hubby doesn’t care about anything indoors so I’m good. I’m with you. I know what I hate about our current kitchen.
Definitely putting the new podcast on my list. Gotta listen to you!! that’s exciting.
I just started taking vitamin D with the assumption that mine is low. I haven’t had it tested but it’s also one of the recommended vitamins to fight COVID so there’s that.
Good luck with the kitchen remodel. That was THE most stressful time of my life. I vowed to never do it again.
Come down to Florida! We have plenty of sunshine to share. Weirdly, my vitamin D levels are also low, even though I live in Florida and run outside without sunscreen (only in the early mornings- if I’m going to be outside later in the day I do wear sunscreen). So what’s up with that? Something strange is going on that so many of us have a vitamin D deficiency- and you’re right, it’s really important to so many aspects of health, including mood.
Ugh, I’m not envying you with the kitchen remodel but I will be VERY envious when it’s finished! Good luck with everything.
I’m having an easier time with the lack of daylight this year as I work outside a majority of the day so I see plenty of sun. When I worked in retail I absolutely had winter depression because when I went to work it was dark and when I got off it was dark again. I thought it wouldn’t be possible in Florida because Florida is so sunny all the time, but it can happen! Supplements for sure helped.
When we finally saw the sun last week I wondered what the heck that glowing orb was! Winter in Ohio can be so gloomy when we don’t have any snow. I saw a funny video this week which would totally be me during a kitchen renovation. You have to watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHweN7K_P2w
It would be overwhelming for me. We have built new houses twice now and I was very thankful to just have a designer lead the way!