Weekly Review January 17-23

Taking a look at the week that was, in fitness, farm, and life. If you missed last week's review, you can check it out HERE.

Sunset over the Sweetgrass Hills Friday evening while skiing.

Fitness
Jeff and I started the week on skis as we trekked over the mountains for double duty skiing on Sunday and Monday. Sunday was Nordic at the Izaak Walton in Essex, MT, where we also stayed the night in their historic hotel.

Izaak Walton Inn, Essex, MT

Sunday we hit up Whitefish for downhill skiing in thick fog. It wasn't the most fun day of skiing ever because it was a bit difficult to see, but we made it our mission to get better at moguls and I think we both definitely saw some improvement. Plus, my legs felt super strong the rest of the week after that day of skiing!

Progress continued on the #RunLoveChallenge I'm participating in through Oiselle with my teammate, Wendie. I nailed my long run on Thursday after school running "the loop" in town twice for a total of 4.7 miles. It felt pretty good to run outside and even though the roads were snow-covered, they weren't bad to run on.

Run-selfie while running "the loop" in Rudyard on Thursday.

The biggest challenge of the week was actually the "Speed Date" workout we were supposed to do. I spent most of the week stressing about the workout because, let's be honest, speedwork is pretty much neglected in the scheme of my workouts. I wrote out the times and speeds I wanted to try and planned to do it Saturday morning. By the time Saturday rolled around, Wendie had already completed the workout and I was actually sort of looking forward to the challenge and seeing what I could do. And you know what? It was hard, for sure, but it felt great! Huge confidence boost to reach speeds I've never touched before, and it ended up being my longest run of 2016 so far at 5.6 miles! It was so motivating to know that Wendie had done it and that she was cheering me on in spirit, too. Thanks Wendie!

Yes, I wrote myself a pep talk alongside the workout. I'm cool like that.

Here's how the week looked:
Sunday- 8.6 miles/120 minutes of Nordic skiing at Essex.
Monday- Downhill skiing at Whitefish.
Tuesday- 3 easy (slow) miles on the treadmill, 20 min stretching. My legs were beat after the skiing.
Wednesday- 30 min. hip strengthening exercises
Thursday- 4.7 mile run after school.

Snowy roads, but traction was good.

Friday- 2.2 miles (40 min) Nordic ski through Harry's field on our farm. **snow melting fast. May have been my last day on skis at home this year.

This is what Harvey does after going for a ski- nap time. 

Saturday- Speed Date challenge/5.6 miles running, 30 min (1.6 miles) walk with the dogs, 20 min stretching.

My #RunLoveChallenge calendar is really filling up! Half-way there!

And the YTD Stats:
2016 Year to Date, through 1/23/16
Walking: 140 min/6.7 miles
Yoga: 135 min *no yoga this week. sad face.
CC-Ski: 380 min / 10.8 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17)
Alpine Ski: 2 days
Running: 30.55 miles

If you remember, my knee and hip had been a little sore last week. I rededicated myself to stretching in the evenings and it really seemed to help. No issues with it whatsoever this week, even after Jeff and I skied pretty hard at Whitefish on Monday. Stretch, stretch, stretch, people!

Farm
This week on the farm the biggest new piece of action was that Jeff sold some winter wheat to one of the local elevators and then began taking semi loads to town. It can be quite a bit of work at times to haul grain, especially when cleaning out the bottom of a grain bin. Messy, dusty, labor and time intensive. The weather was warmer this week, so Harvey spent quite a bit of time outside "helping" Jeff with this task, although he didn't appreciate being left behind when Jeff would leave in the semi headed for the elevator. Harvey is a smart dog and knows that if he sits down in the road right ahead of the vehicle in which he would like to ride, at the very least, the driver will stop and pet him...

"Guys, I'll ride now, thankyouverymuch." - Harvey
Photo by Jeff.

Harvey also likes to "help" feed the cows...

Harvey likes to lick their noses, and they let him.

And this bull was taking a peek on the action, too:


Life
This week I attended the Rudyard Commercial Club meeting (sort of like the local chamber of commerce) because they were planning to talk about a grant the community is likely to receive to either renovate our current Senior Center or build a completely new building. It was a really interesting meeting, which you can read more about in my previous blog post. I'm going to be on the committee working on the grant project and I'm really excited about it.

Also, in my sports world, my Iowa State Cyclones defeated #1 ranked Oklahoma on Monday night in Ames (college basketball). It was glorious. Here's a great game re-cap from The DesMoines Register: Iowa State Takes Down #1 Oklahoma. Tomorrow night, they'll take on the Kansas Jayhawks. I may hate the Jayhawks more than I love the Cyclones, so you can be sure I will be watching the game. Don't bother me between 7 and 9 tomorrow night because I won't answer. ;)

That's the week that was, everyone! What were the highlights of your week? 

After completing my Speed Date workout. Feeling good!