A Productive Week
It has been such a productive week! My husband and I both got on a roll with cleaning out the house, and it feels incredible to have made so much progress. There is something so therapeutic about clearing out the “mental weight” that comes with physical clutter.
We spent our spare time going through closets, the office, and a few forgotten corners of the house, ruthlessly evaluating our prized possessions. We ended up throwing away or donating items that hadn’t seen the light of day in years. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate without realizing it, and seeing those empty shelves and organized spaces is the best feeling.
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 25 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.4 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:41 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 63° in the basement, 36° (feels like 25°) and mostly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Walking: 3.06 miles (Peloton Rebecca Kennedy Intro to Power Walking)
• Average pace: 15:24 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 142 feet
• Start time: 2:58 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 41° (feels like 36°) and partly cloudy
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, down coat, visor, and gloves
I didn’t immediately get on my spin bike when I got up which is pretty unusual for me. Instead, I boxed up the Christmas items that I’d carried to the basement the day before. Eventually, I got on my spin bike and then waited until later in the afternoon to go outside for a walk. I quickly realized the Peloton walk I’d chosen was geared for walking on the treadmill, but it was interesting to get tips for proper form when power walking and I liked the music. Once the 15-mile class was over I put on a podcast for finishing my walk. Obviously, I still have a bit of a learning curve with Peloton classes.
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
It was the first day in two weeks where I was back to my normal work schedule after many very light days. By the time I wrapped up seeing everyone my feet were exhausted from non-stop standing and I chose not to go out for a walk.
Tuesday
Walking: 2.99 miles
• Average pace: 15:28 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 94 feet
• Start time: 11:55 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 43° and cloudy
• What I wore: capris, l/s shirt, puffer jacket, visor, and mittens over gloves
Cycling: 17.16 miles
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Average speed: 12.9 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 545 feet
• Start time: 2:10 PM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Sterling loop
• Weather: 46° and cloudy
• What I wore: fleece lined bike pants, l/s shirt, down coat, ear-flap bike hat, and mittens over gloves with hand warmers between the layers
Because I only see one super early client on Tuesdays, I had plenty of time to get a lot of stuff done around the house and go outside for both a walk and a bike ride! The weather was quite cooperative; however, I was afraid I’d be too cold on my bike so I wore my recently tried-and-true down coat instead of my winter cycling jacket. Even though I had to unzip it, I never got terribly hot, but would have been more comfortable in the appropriate jacket.
Air traffic was crazy busy over the W&OD Trail and I’m lucky I didn’t crash with all of the head movements I made while watching planes fly over!
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Even though it was a busy day with seeing five clients and teaching a two-hour class, I rallied when I got home and completed the last of our Christmas undecorating. With the epiphany behind us, I took down our main nativity in our living room and took down the Christmas tree (which I’d undecorated on Monday).
Thursday
Walking: 4.17 miles
• Average pace: 15:48 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 195 feet
• Start time: 6:13 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 33° and clear
• What I wore: tights, s/s shirt, down coat, knit hat, and mittens over gloves
It was the first time is ages that Kim and I were both walking during our virtual cardio hour and I’d almost forgotten how much I love being outside in the dark so I can bring up the sun.
I was happy to get in a good walk because later in the day I had a procedure on the second toe on my left foot and ended up with a bandage the size of a walnut on it. Surprisingly, it only hurt a little bit when the numbness went away and Tylenol worked to keep the pain at bay (I haven’t needed Tylenol since Friday).
About that procedure… let’s just say I’ve officially inherited my father’s gnarly feet. My feet have decided that ten toes are simply too many for the available real estate, and things are going downhill rapidly with a full-blown overcrowding crisis. My left foot’s second toe, apparently feeling the squeeze, decided to express its claustrophobia with a permanent ingrown nail that was getting more painful by the day (it started while we were in Glacier). My doctor permanently removed about a third of the nail on the medial side – I was unbelievably relieved when she offered to take care of it while I was there.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Stretching: Peloton Adrian Williams 15-Minute Stretching for Longevity
Being a good patient, I skipped doing a cardio workout per my doctor’s recommendation, but had no problems doing my regular strength training session – I did have to skip doing reverse lunges, though. Also, I had no problem teaching my balance and stretching class.
Later in the afternoon, I did Adrian Williams stretching class and loved it. I can see this being a regular go-to class for me.
Saturday
Cycling: 8.03 miles (Peloton Cody Rigsby Pop Ride)
• Bike: Peloton Bike+
• Average speed: 15.7 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:30 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in the basement, 46° and raining outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Stretching: Peloton Cody Rigsby 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch
Walking: .97 miles (Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 15-Minute Intro to Power Walking)
• Average pace: 17:06 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 11:37 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in the basement, 47° and raining outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra
Stretching: Peloton Olivia Omato 5-Minute Holiday Post-Run Stretch
Free to do cardio again, I was looking forward to hopping back on my Peloton bike. My new bike shoes weren’t comfortable on my recovering toe so I wore sneakers and kept my ride on the shorter side. I retook Sunday’s walking class, this time on the treadmill and it worked out a lot better and made a lot more sense. 😉
The only time all day that I ventured outside in the rain was to go to 5:30 PM mass.
Winter Warrior Challenge Outdoor Workouts
The second week of the Winter Warrior Challenge is complete and I met the challenge…
Number of outdoor rides (goal is 1) : 1 (Tuesday)
Number of outdoor walks (goal is 2): 3 (Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday)
Number of strength training sessions (goal is 2): 3 (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
Garmin Badges Earned
My Garmin collection of badges was pretty low this week. I received badges for simply wearing my watch to bed and for doing five yoga activities. I feel like I’m being a little disingenuous when I record my stretching classes as yoga, but for some reason there’s no stretching category on Garmin or Strava and yoga is the most similar…
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: December 28 – January 3 / A Light Work Week with Plenty of Time to Work Out
- • Tuesday – Quality Over Quantity: My 2026 Exercise Motto
Questions:
- • Does your fitness tracker have a stretch option? ~ no
- • Is there a particular time of year that you do major cleaning/purging? ~ not really
- • Which workout did you enjoy most this past week? ~ I loved being outside walking before the sun came up with Kim.
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
Nice job getting outside! I didn’t get outside but the past few weeks, but was happy to get in a few outdoor workouts finally this week as our snow melted. But don’t worry, I think it’s coming back today lol. My Garmin does not have a stretch mode either. I would probably try yoga for that also.
Wow, it sounds like you guys have gotten a lot of snow recently. We’re watching something that might develop next weekend so I’ll be sure to get my outdoor workouts in while I can.
Yay for purging! I absolutely love decluttering and making space. Clearing out forgotten corners is incredibly satisfying, and the mental lightness afterward is so nice!
A great, balanced week of work and workouts, Debbie. It’s a good reminder that progress doesn’t only come from training plans, but also from creating a calmer, more intentional environment.
Thanks, Catrina! We’re still purging and I feel lighter with each item I toss or donate.
I really need to do some purging. I keep asking my sons to clean out their closets, but I think I’m going to have to do it myself. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years.
Glad to hear your foot procedure didn’t slow you down!
Thanks, Wendy!
When each of our sons purchased their first homes, we showed up with boxes of their “stuff” and I still need to get rid of some more that’s still in their closets.
Ooh ouch on the toe situation!! I do the walking classes outdoors all the time and just pick one that I like the music or Marty’s weekly walk and talk to entertain me. Adrian has a few good stretches and I also like Hannah C and Kira for those. So much to explore in the Peloton library! Can you come organize my house??
Thanks for the stretching class suggestions! And yes, I have so much exploring to do in the Peloton library. 🙂
Nice job on the cleaning! Now if you could just make your way down to Florida and clean my house… lol.
Sounds like you had a great week despite the toe situation (ouch!) Yes, sometimes ten toes is just too many : )
You are nailing that Winter Warrior challenge! I love it- a great way to embrace the wintery weather.
So far we’ve only had cold weather, not winter precipitation. That will be a game changer.
It does feel good to get all the holiday decs down and stashed away for the next 11-ish months. I always think I’m miss the color and glitz, but after a few days I’m alright with the lack of clutter. Besides, I still keep a few of the snowmen-type objects out, LOL
Same here, but once everything is down, the house feels so clean and fresh! I, too, have a little winter display on the mantle of the basement fireplace that I’ll leave up until March. I change out the Christmasy cardinals and red berries with a “Let it Snow” wooden plaque.
good week for you even with the procedure happening. I always find it difficult to know what sort of jacket I need when the weather is transitioning. and often I get it wrong as well.
will you have more procedures or was that what you needed done? I have always had bad feet, they just happened to go on strike and I ignored them for too long!
we’ve been purging and decluttering since probably May of last year. We started renovating our bedroom and that’s when we knew things had to go. I put a ton of stuff on vinted (do you have vinted in the US) I’ve donated to charity and I’ve given things away to my neighborhood free stuff group. I would like to eventually move to Spain, so we need to have less stuff by then. Even cleaning up the Christmas decorations I got rid of all the stuff I keep dragging out and not using. I’m also selling my hug, beloved but no longer needed in this house cabinet (from New Mexico). But it’s all good because I’m embracing my space with less stuff.
I potentially could have surgery on each foot to fix bunions which are causing hammertoes on my second toes on each foot, but I’m really hoping to avoid that. The ingrown nail was a result of that bunion and hammertoe on my left foot. I really want to avoid surgery because it would be a 3-month recovery for each foot.
Good for you for doing so much purging and decluttering! I’m not familiar with Vinted so I don’t know if we have it here in the US (just checked and a quick Google says we do). A possible move to Spain sounds exciting!
I so need to purge… I keep postponing it.
My left foot is a mess too, My bunion caused a neuroma, the cortisone shots (that didn.t help) caused a hammer toe…
The pain is gone and I wear toe separators at night… surgery could fix it perhaps but I refuse to do it (and not be able to run).
My favorite workout was the 10k fun race I did today.
I’m sort of in the same boat – my doctor said I could have surgery on each foot to fix the bunions which are causing hammertoes, but I’m really hoping to avoid that. I can’t imagine a 3-month recovery for each foot and there not being a guarantee that it would even work. 🙁
I’m glad your toe procedure went well and that you’re recovering quickly. Sometimes it takes a while for me to be able to wear anything but sandals and running shoes after any foot issue!
Maybe you’ve figured it out now, but all the classes under the Running and Walking tabs on Peloton are coached for the tread, but I take them outdoors anyways. The classes under the Outdoor tab are coached for outside and include walks and runs.
We just took our tree down today and have a donation pick-up schedule later in the month, so next weekend we’ll be looking for more to donate.
Thanks for the Peloton running and walking versus outdoor tabs tip. I hadn’t dug that deeply into the library yet so that’s very helpful!
Oh! Your poor feet! I hope this helps take care of things for a while!
Honestly, I purge when my husband is gone. I like to take everything out, clean the space, and then purge as I’m putting things back, but he gets super edgy with “clutter” so it makes it challenging to do when he’s around.
Thanks, Jenn!