Productive Saturday

Yesterday was a productive day!

Nick and I were up by 6:15, and we had washed all the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, started laundry, vacuumed and clean the living room and bedroom carpets, and ate a delicious breakfast, all before 8am.

After that, we just relaxed, and I worked on paying bills.  Around 11 I decided it was time to get my butt to the gym. I ran two miles on the treadmill, did the strength circuit I learned on Wednesday in class, and biked on an upright for 20 minutes.

I felt amazing after my workout, but during it, it was a bit of a struggle.  When it comes to running on the treadmill, I really have mixed feelings.  Sometimes my runs on the treadmill seem like a breeze since the belt helps propel me along.  Other days, I really have to push myself to keep that constant pace.  When you’re running outside, you mostly like are not keeping yourself at an exact constant pace.  Outside, you’re more easily able to find the pace that your body is comfortable maintaining.  My average pace is usually 10:00 miles, or a little under 10:00, so I would have to run 6 mph on the treadmill.  Half the time that pace feels impossible because I doubt I am consistently maintaining that speed the entire time when I’m running outside.  I’m ready for this cold Wisconsin weather to get warmer so I can leave the treadmill behind!

Yesterday I also struggled with the squats in my strength circuit.  I haven’t done a proper squat since high school, so my legs were still a little bit sore from Wednesday’s class.  I did one set of 12, and really felt the burn after that.  On my second set of 12, I only got to 8 before I had to stop.  My quads hurt so badly that I could barely get out of the squat!!  I decided to just skip the squats throughout the rest of my circuit so that I’m not so sore that I can’t do them in class on Monday.  After a lot of stretching last night, my quads feel much better.  Still a little sore, but at least I’m not wincing every time I sit down and stand up.

Once I was finished working out, had showered, ate lunch, relaxed with the dogs, and took a nap, Nick and I headed into Madison for date night.  We ate at a phenomenal restaurant called Jac’s.  Nick had the surf and turf special, and he said the steak was the best he has ever had.  I had smoked salmon blt and a side salad, and it was fabulous.

After dinner, we went to a production of Arabian Nights at the college I work at.  This college is a small, private, Catholic college.  For the size of our theater, and the small population of theatre students, we put on some really great shows!  The costumes were beautiful, and the show overall was dramatic yet comedic.  It gave me chills at times, and at the end I teared up a bit because the students had done such a great job!  I know a few of them from working in the Bookstore, and I was so proud of them!

Today, I have nothing planned except grocery shopping and studying for the Spanish exam I have Monday.  I’ll hit up the gym eventually to either bike or use the elliptical.  On Monday I will be starting Hal Higdon’s half marathon training guide so I’m taking the day off from running.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!