Happy 2021, Endurance Chicks! I'm so looking forward to a better year, a vaccine, and hopefully (for the sake of my marriage, LOL) a less politically divisive world.
Winter Q&A:
What activity do you REALLY hope to get back to doing in 2021? I'll echo you, Alison -- travel. Jamie and I had a week-long hiking trip to Banff and Lake Louise set for June 2020 that never happened.
What goals did you set for 2021? I haven't set goals for the year but have some goals for the winter: get outside every day; take a road trip somewhere; take more days off work; get in touch with one friend by phone or zoom every week. I've gotten too comfortable with my WFH lifestyle and letting work colleagues, neighbors & family become most of my social life.
2020 was rough, but was there something good from it you can share? Losing my commute gave me more time to focus on fitness and healthy eating. I bought my Hydrow rower and joined a meal service. I always thought I hated cooking but it turns out I just hate planning and shopping, I enjoy the rest, especially all the easy, delicious ways to make veggies taste great. I lost 25+ pounds in 2020, and with Hydrow, I've finally broken past a weight I've been stuck at for 6 months. I intend to keep the progress going in 2021.
Alison and Pratima - You both bought rowers!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited! I echo Cleda's recommendation of Dark Horse Rowing, which I watched but never actually rowed to, since my Hydrow has a 3 "learn to row" workouts that I quickly switched to once my rower arrived.
Rowing thoughts - One of the things that also helped me was to use google images to isolate and freeze-frame different stages of indoor rowing. Looking at diagrams and illustrations of body positioning at the catch, release, drive, etc. helped me to visualize and connect with rowing even better. There are days where I can feel my stroke working well and the metrics reflect that. Other days, I can tell I'm a little off, so it's a constant work in progress that keeps it interesting.
Alison - regarding not really feeling the arm part of the stroke, I am the same and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I feel my arms (biceps and lats actually) most at the catch when they're perfectly straight and my legs are starting to drive back. It's just like a split second of straight-arm pull and then my legs (drive) and then core (with the hip hinge) and arms (row) take over the work. By the time my body is swinging back and my arms are doing the bent row motion, the resistance feels pretty minor compared to the other parts of the stroke. I'm not sure if that's how it's supposed to be or not. Hydrow offers 30-minute 1-on-1 form coaching, which I plan to sign up for once Nema has passed.
Alison - I love Peloton's power zone training approach. Cleda has been doing it for a while and occasionally sends me these very intimidating but impressive graphs. Her progress has been remarkable, but she's pretty incredible anyway.
Pratima - So glad you got your hike in, plus hopefully the driveway sangria was a nice ending to the weekend.
Vannie - Hope you enjoy the jump roping! I'm terrible at it as an adult. There's an account I follow on Tiktok with a young woman who is an amazing jump-roper.
Me- I had 10 days off work and ability to do quite a few longer workouts, but it's back to the usual schedule and shorter daily workouts now. Still sticking to alternating days so that one day is mostly running with a side of rowing and the next day is the opposite. Strength training is really getting short-changed but at least rowing is a good total body workout.
- Running: I signed up for a virtual outdoor challenge for January. (Local racing company sponsoring it.) I had to choose between committing to run 50 miles or 100 miles this month. I wish they'd had a 75 mile option but they didn't so I settled for the 50, which is not a stretch at all for me, but unfortunately I know the 100-mile option would not be good for my body. Several women from my old running group ending up joining me in the challenge, so we've formed a team.
- Rowing: In addition to a huge library of workouts that you can filter (like Peloton), Hydrow offers about a dozen different training programs. I decided to do their new 14-day home challenge and today I finished day 3. The challenge is supposed to help me make jumps in my power and skills. Day 1 was a good workout but nothing remarkable. Then came Day 2, which was -- YOWZA. Very power-focused. Training blocks of intervals at either 16 SPM or 32 SPM. The 16 SPM intervals were killer because you were supposed to maintain the same speed at 16 strokes as you did at 32 strokes. This requires a TON of power on the drive. My legs are still feeling it. Today, Day #3 was an easy 30-minute functional strength and mobility workout. Of course, those are always the workouts that leave me incredibly sore, so tomorrow could be interesting. Yes, I'm loving the scenery and had some really hard laughs at some of the instructors lately. I keep switching favorites from week to week. They are all incredibly likeable.
OK, I need to get back to work. I'm just thrilled we have a whole rowing thing going on here now. 2021 is looking good.