Training
This week was quite frustrating because I couldn’t force myself to train on the water (more than twice) since the weather wasn’t great. Towards the end of the week, the winds were so strong that half my boat was even under water at times when I was trying to do intervals. It certainly wasn’t fun! However, since Herbert is unhappy about me complaining too much on my blog (hey, I am Austrian after all… haha), I’ll try to find more positive things about my workout week to balance the complaints. I’ll do my best, I promise. Here it goes: I still managed to do all my intervals in spite of the adverse weather conditions and I didn’t involuntarily go for a swim… And my adorable cat is cuddling with me while I am writing this, which is even better. He also doesn’t like bad weather, even less than me, I think. Haha.
Since I was still in Vilnius on Monday, I decided to take my first rest day of the week. I am usually quite tired when I am sight-seeing all day, as I am not a fan of taking the bus when walking is also an option. Moreover, I decided that it was more important to spend quality time with my mother and grandmother than to work out, especially since I had six other days in the week to catch up with my workout plan. Also, Lithuanian beer is really good. Haha.
On Tuesday, we were flying home in the early afternoon, so I had time to work out in the evening after getting back. Since I really wanted to spend as much times as possible with my husband after being away for four days, I opted for the least time-consuming workout of the week: 15 intervals of 1 minute on the erg, at at split of around 2:05/500m, followed by 4 front squats and 4 squat jumps. The workout was a challenge, but I was really proud of myself for finishing all intervals, especially since I had to give up half-way last week. Finally, I did three rounds of core strength tabata, which I always enjoy, unless I have to do burpees. Haha. Sorry, I am in a “haha” kind of mood today because the right-wing candidate didn’t end up winning the presidential election even though he was almost 150,000 votes ahead on Sunday before the postal votes were counted yesterday (Monday). It was really close!
On Wednesday, I decided to go for a run, but wasn’t happy with my performance. I should have taken a rest day, but I knew I’d probably need one towards the end of the week. Since I was really exhausted from the “torturous” workout I’d done on Tuesday, I was only able to finish 4 out of 12 400m intervals, but at least I tried. My legs just couldn’t carry me any faster than at a steady-state pace. I didn’t feel particularly sore, but I just didn’t have enough energy. Maybe I still had to catch up on quality sleep after spending my nights in Vilnius on an angled mattress, almost falling off the pull out couch the whole night. At least I didn’t have to sleep in a room with two snorers. Haha. See, I am trying to highlight all the positive things. Hopefully, my dear husband is proud of me.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions were quite rough on Thursday, so we were considering doing our three 900m intervals on Friday, but I was able to persuade Tina that it was better to just get them over and done with. At some point, you just start accepting the weather as it is.
I was quite stressed out trying to finish a paper for my foreign policy course on Friday, so I decided to treat myself to a rest day. Funnily enough, my problem was not writing the paper, but editing it. I am testing a new academic paper-writing software that I am ultimately planning on using for my dissertation, but there are still a few quirks that not even my programmer husband was able to solve on the weekend. He promised to send the company that makes the software an email outlining the bugs he’s found so they can solve them before I finish my dissertation.
In addition to being stressed out and not really having time for a workout, I also wanted to be rested for Max’s outdoor crossfit “torture” on Saturday morning. It was a really nice and sunny day for a change and we did sweat a lot, not just because the workout was extremely exhausting. Since the sun was shining, there were a lot of people at the park and it was challenging not to run over all the little kids on their bikes with our prowlers. They must have been really confused what we were doing. After a warm-up consisting of push-ups, burpees, back squats, and running laps around the park, we did three rounds of prowler sprints, as well as burpees and jumping lunges in teams of three or four. The cool-down was similar to the warm-up. I really enjoyed the workout, but was so sore for days that I was barely able to lift up my arms or sit down. I wish I could afford a personal massage therapist. Haha. I usually get a proper massage once a year on a cruise and the massage therapist always complains about how tense my shoulders and back are. Oh well…
Sunday‘s workout was a real challenge because of the strong winds, but I am happy to report that I was able to complete all eight 500m intervals. My splits were a bit slower than I would have liked, but I was quite satisfied with how stable to boat was in spite of the high waves that, at times, covered both decks of my boat. It was a miracle I didn’t sink towards the end of the workout because the wind kept getting stronger. Therefore, I decided to spend the last 15 minutes of my workout, basically the cool-down, on the indoor bike.
Nutrition
I’ve been trying out a lot of stinging nettle recipes, which I am hoping to share on the blog before the end of the summer. Please hold me accountable. Haha.