I had another lighter week of workouts, and I think I’ll probably be finishing out the year in that fashion. I think I need to give my body and my mind a bit more time to regroup after the marathon and the months of training.

Monday- 120 second plank. This is all the exercise I did on Monday, but let me tell you right when I finish a plank I feel like I’ve completed a whole workout. I recover quickly, but in those seconds just after my plank I feel like I could have run a hard 5K.

I might have mixed in some cross training on Monday, but I was exhausted after driving 10 hours round trip for a work meeting. The plank was enough on Monday.

Tuesday- 120 second plank. Again, the plank was enough on this day.

Wednesday- 3 mile run with Sven. My shins hurt a bit when I first started out, but the pain quickly dissipated. I took it nice and easy and made sure to stretch and ice afterwards.

I think the treadmill is going to be a good way for me to stay active with running while not inflicting a beating on my shins. The difference in how my shins feel after a run on pavement vs. a run on the treadmill is monumental. I’m hoping if I take a few weeks easy and try and limit my running to short jaunts with Sven it will keep both my heart and shins happy. Trails are still a definite possibility in my book, since they’re softer than running on pavement. I also plan to be diligent about stretching, icing, and elevating after a workout and am doing well with that so far.

I also did my first 150 second plank. It was so tough! I kept my eyes closed and slowly sang the alphabet in my head 6 times. I think that got me to about 90 seconds. When I finally hit 2 minutes I started to count down with my timer, until I finally hit 2:30 and collapsed onto the floor while my heart raced. 

Thursday- Rest day for the 30 day plank challenge. 4 mile run with Sven while watching one of my favorite Christmas movies. Again, my shins hurt a bit at the start but the pain went away quickly and I enjoyed another easy run with stretching and icing after.

Name that movie. Ready…. GO!

Friday- 150 second plank. I made it to one minute before I desperately peeked at my watch to find I wasn’t even halfway, yet. It took a lot of willpower to hold it for the full 2 minutes 30 seconds, but I managed.

3 mile run with Sven while I finished watching my movie from yesterday. Did you figure out the movie, yet??

Saturday- 150 second plank in Bristol. Barry and I were visiting his parents and sister for Christmas. I was hoping to get up to Abingdon to run on the Creeper Trail (which would have been my first time) but my shins were very bothersome. Maybe I shouldn’t have run three days in a row leading up to our trip, if I wanted to run on the Creeper. But I also wanted to get a few runs in prior to our trip just in case we were busy.

Sunday- 180 second plank. I know I’ve been saying this a lot about these planks, but this one was t-o-u-g-h tough! I kept my eyes closed and slowly sang in the alphabet in my head 12 times for this one. Barry planked with me, too, and so did my new friend Larry the quilt lamb.

Larry was a surprise gift from my mother-, father-, and sister-in-law. We went out to a restaurant the day before and I spotted the soon-to-be-named Larry on display near the cash register. While Barry and I were next door at a neighboring store, they purchased Larry for me and hid him in the van. Such a neat surprise. Larry is excellent at planks, by the way. He can hold a plank all day long.

Total Miles: 10 miles (at least there’s a 1 in front of that 0 this week…)