What Happened to My Cycling Mojo?
What a productive week… on two feet because my two wheels are currently collecting dust! I’ve been reflecting a lot on my complete lack of motivation to ride my bike outside lately. Ever since coming back from the beach, the desire to get out on the trail just hasn’t been there, so I’m honoring where my head is at and keeping my movement focused elsewhere. Between early morning strength sessions, plenty of walking, and wrapping up more home remodeling errands, it was still a pretty good week despite my lack of cycling mojo!
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
Walking: 3.0 miles
• Average pace: 15:57 minute/mile
• Surface: treadmill
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:16 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in the basement, 62° (feels like 56°) and drizzly outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra
Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Post-Run Stretch with Marcel Dinkins
I held off on my morning walk thinking the rain was going to start any minute, but it ended up holding off until early afternoon—starting as a light mist before turning into a steady drizzle. I ended up getting in a much-later-than-planned walk on the treadmill instead, followed by a quick stretch!
Monday
Strength training: Peloton 45-Minute Full Body Strength: HiLit W3 D4 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: 16 minutes of core and stability (crunches (straight, with feet up, and oblique), Pilates swimmer, birddogs, bridge pumps, dead bugs, straight-arm plank)
Walking: 3.15 miles
• Average pace: 15:23 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 143 feet
• Start time: 10:16 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 64° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Even though I’d had trouble falling asleep the night before, I still woke up early and made it down to the basement gym before 5:30 AM to knock out my strength workout before 6:30 when my client sessions started. Once client time was wrapped up, I was treated to a delicious breakfast prepared by my husband—two fried eggs, smoked salmon, avocado, and blueberries! Fueled up, I headed out for my morning walk. And yes, an afternoon nap was 100% required later!
Tuesday
Walking: 3.08 miles
• Average pace: 15:01 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 113 feet
• Start time: 8:56 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 65° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Core: Peloton 10-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell
Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Full Body Stretch with Joslyn Thompson Rule
With only one early morning client on the schedule, I got out for a walk, even though I really should have gone for a bike ride instead. I haven’t ridden outside since our trip to the beach, and I’m honestly not sure why I’ve had zero desire to get out on two wheels lately.
Wednesday
Strength training: Peloton 45-Minute Full Body Strength: HiLit W4 D2 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: 18 minutes of core and stability (bicycle crunches, Pilates swimmer, birddogs, dead bugs, side plank, side plank with reach-unders, single-leg balance on pad)
Motivated by how great it felt to finish my strength workout so early on Monday, I set an early alarm and hit the gym. But in true unpredictable fashion, my first two clients canceled, so my 8 AM client ended up being my first session of the day (even though I’d been up since 4:45 AM). On the bright side, I put that unexpected bonus time to great use and knocked out a ton of little projects.
Thursday
Walking: 4.26 miles / 3.0 miles
• Average pace: 15:38 minute/mile / 16:43 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 192 feet / 132 feet
• Start time: 6:05 AM / 9:08 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle / neighborhood trails
• Weather: 60° and cloudy / 65° and cloudy, climbing to 70°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and slouch beanie / shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
The weather was wonderfully comfortable for my virtual walk with Kim. Later in the morning, I headed back out for another walk with my friend Betsy. Even though I’d already gotten a walk in earlier, I will always take advantage of any chance to hang out with her. Double the friends, double the fun!
Friday
Strength training: Peloton 45-Minutes Full Body Strength: HiLit W4 D4 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: 21 minutes of core and stability (crunches (straight, with feet up, and oblique), Pilates swimmer, birddogs, bridge pumps, dead bugs, forearm plank, bear plank with alternating shoulder/knee taps)
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Before teaching my weekly balance and stretching class, I took care of business by starting the morning with a Peloton strength workout—and boy, did it kick my butt! I was pretty wiped out for the rest of the day, but I still had a few remodeling errands to run. I will definitely be glad when this project is finally behind me!
Saturday
Peloton 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch with Emma Lovewell
With the exception of stretching, I took an intentional rest day from organized exercise, which turned out to be perfect for a mostly dreary, drizzly day. I spent the morning getting house cleaning done before spending the afternoon playing doctor to a couple of my houseplants that seem to have acquired aphids. Fingers crossed I got the little buggers before they spread to any of my other plants!
Garmin Badges Earned
Two Garmin badges made their way to me this week…
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
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- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: September 20 – 26 / Listening to My Body, National Weightlifting Day, and a Step Streak Milestone
- • Tuesday – Cycling the Spokane River Centennial Trail: A Scenic 25-Mile Out-and-Back Along the River
- • Thursday – Catching Up Over Coffee: A Hummingbird Rescue, Autumn Flags, and eNewton Stacks
Questions:
- • Have you ever taken a pause from a favorite activity (like biking or running) and found it hard to restart? ~ Weather permitting, I am going to make myself ride on Tuesday!
- • Is it starting to feel like crisp fall weather where you live yet? ~ occasionally
- • How was your week in fitness? ~ very good, just wish I’d ridden my bike…
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!
The cycling mojo will come back for sure, Debbie! You’re still getting plenty of movement through strength training and walking. And walking has the added benefit of being weight-bearing, which is great for maintaining bone strength!
That breakfast your husband made sounds AMAZING. Eggs, smoked salmon, avocado and blueberries? Perfect!
I’m sure you’re correct, Catrina, it just feels weird that I’ve been so blasé about riding lately. That’s so not like me! The forecast looks sunny, but cool on Tuesday so I’ll try to get out for a quick ride. Stay on the lookout on Strava! 😉
And you’re correct, one of the reasons I prioritize walking is because of the weight-bearing benefits. I have a bone scan scheduled for Thursday. It will be interesting to see where I am five years later and without the running.
That breakfast is my husband’s speciality which he makes a couple of times a week.
You were really riding a lot over the summer and maybe you needed a break. I completely understand–I feel that way right now about everything! Like you, I allow myself a break, but not for long- I push myself back out there! You got this!
Thanks, Wendy!
Maybe your body just needed a rest from cycling you logged so many miles this summer. You. Had a really busy fitness week. Maybe we will get that fantastic fall weather back and it will motivate you. I did lots of walking this week as well. Looking forward to chatting this week
You’re probably right, Deborah. Also, as I’m sure you remember, getting ready to go out for a ride takes a lot more time than heading out for a run or walk and it takes longer to get a good workout completed. I think that’s part of my problem, too.
Yes, looking forward to catching up later this week!
TBH, I feel like I’ve lost my mojo for skiing! We had such a long ski season last year, which I thoroughly loved. I’m sure my lack of interest is also tied to my fear of having a wonky knee (which has also killed my motivation from getting weeds in my yard pulled!). Hopefully that will all change when the snow starts to fly!
Boo on running errands, but that’s exciting you have a remodeling project. I really want to update our house but I don’t see that happening any time soon.
We had a HUGE amount of fruit flies in the house due to some overripe bananas. Getting rid of bugs like that and aphids is a big task. Hope yours were removed!
Oh wow, an yes, you had a fantastic ski season last year! Hopefully, your excitement to ski will return with the snow. 🙂
Ugh on the fruit flies!
It’s so hard to restart an activity once you stop! But, I have faith that you’ll get back to cycling when the time is right. You love it too much to stay away for long.
No crisp fall weather here- as a matter of fact, “soggy” really sums up our week. That’s okay! Beautiful weather is coming… hopefully soon.
Thanks, Jenny! Hopefully, the right time will be this week. I’ve got to take advantage of the warm weather while it lasts, right?
Here’s hoping you get your beautiful weather soon!
It IS so hard to restart an activity after you stop! I agree. But you’ll get there. After having my kids and injuries, I have LOVED getting back to running but also hated it at the same time – it’s so hard. And it’s hard when the weather is dark and gloomy in the winter. We’ve had some beautiful fall days here! It was 80s a few days ago but we’re back to 60s today and it’s great!
It really is such a mental game to restart! Enjoy every bit of that gorgeous 60s fall weather!
Sounds like you had such a good week! Don’t we have “seasons” with certain activities? I’m sure you’ll feel the urge to get on the bike when the weather gets colder (although then it might be the indoor bike). And strength training and walking are such great things for the body. Looks like you have some fantastic walking weather too!
We haven’t seen any crisp fall weather here yet, it’s very warm and nice and I’m all for it.