Week In Review – A Busy One!

Some weeks are pretty quiet, others are super busy and this week has definitely been a busy one! Join me as I link up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL to share more.

 

Part of the busy-ness came from the start of the new school term which began with some observations by a team visiting from the local authority. Not quite an inspection, but an opportunity to prepare for future inspections. On top of that I had some things in the diary but still wanted to fit in some training to keep things ticking over. Here’s how it looked:

Monday – sports massage
Tuesday – bike @ the gym
Wednesday – short run
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – short run

After getting back to the pool last week I had to skip it this week as I had a sports massage scheduled. Normally I would squeeze in a quick swim beforehand, however I needed to use this time to have some food as I was heading straight from the massage to meet my sister at the cinema to see a screening of The Princess Bride. It was so good to see it on the big screen, and everyone there clearly knew it well as we were all reacting ahead of some of the lines, but I’m trying to gloss over the fact that it was being shown to mark the film’s 30th anniversary, as that makes me feel really old!

I was back to it on Tuesday with another 30 minute cycle on the bike at my gym. I quite enjoy getting myself set up with my Kindle and pedalling hard while catching up on some reading. I can’t do that when I”m doing intervals so take the chance when I’m not. sometimes you just have to multi-task to get everything done!

Wednesday was one of those super busy days. I’m committed to going to orchestra rehearsals each Wednesday until our concert but am keen to fit a run in as well. Usually this will be fine (it’s only in the short term) but this week I had an appointment in town so it was after 5:30pm before I got home. Somehow I needed to run, shower and eat before my sister picked me up a little after 7pm. Challenge extended…! I was changed and out the door super fast with a loop in mind. I knew it would be less than 3 miles but planned to attack it hard since there was time pressure. I wanted to be back by 6:15pm and was home at 6:12! I stuck my dinner in the oven while I showered and changed, then finished it just as my sister texted to say she was on her way. Yes it was rushed, but I was impressed by my own efficiency.

After all that I was grateful for my Ashtanga yoga class on Thursday evening. It was a busy class this week but it felt great to stretch and relax. Even better, I managed “Wheel” for a full 5 breaths, which is what I’ve been working towards. After managing to hold the posture for 4 breaths last week I felt confident I could manage more – perhaps it’s all about belief rather than strength? Next is to manage more than 1 round as at present I switch to yoga bridge after that.

Usually Friday is pretty chilled but this was another busy day for me. As soon as I got home from work I Changed and headed over to the studio for my session with Steve. My right shoulder was still feeling a bit tight so I wanted to do some work around that. I had also noticed something in my right foot/ankle that needed a little tweak. Nothing painful, more a minor functional movement issue. We did some exercises to address it as well as doing some work on the TRX.

Afterwards I was straight home to change (again) and headed out to grab some Chinese food before heading into town. It was the opening night of the Women of the World (WoW) Festival with Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, in conversation with the founder of WoW and some teen girls who were very articulate and had thought carefully about the issues they wanted to discuss. The focus was on gender issues rather than political ones. I really enjoyed it and am hoping to write a bit more about the festival overall.

I had bought a weekend pass for the WoW Festival and wanted to attend sessions throughout both Saturday and Sunday. The first one I wanted to go to on Saturday was at 10:30am, so I had some logistics to figure out to make sure I could get to parkrun as well. To avoid car parking issues, I walked to parkrun carrying a bag with a change of clothes which I kept in Steve’s car while I ran (he had been away earlier for a PT client). I ran hard, but was a little hampered by strong winds. On the plus side, only losing 3 seconds on last week’s time tells me I was running better and it was the conditions that prevented a further improvement. I’d love to manage another sub-24 before the end of the year, however conditions now can make that tricky.

As soon as I finished I grabbed my bag from the car and headed over to the festival venue where I had a very glamorous change in the toilets and made it into the session with time to spare. Not bad! I then had a great day listening to discussion of various women’s issues and browsing the stalls from an assortment of organisations. My favourite was the one selling “empowerment pants” and I couldn’t resist buying a pair – like superhero pants but for wearing when you need a reminder to be strong, I loved the idea!

Sunday saw me awoken early by the cat, who was having an empty for bowl crisis! The clock by my bed said just after 6:30am so I got up and fed her in a bleary-eyed state before returning to bed as I didn’t need to be up just yet. I awoke naturally around 7:15, well-rested but a little confused as my phone alarm had not gone off…until I realised that the clock by my bed had not gone back when the clocks changed overnight, unlike my phone which knew the “real” time was 6:15! After a busy week I was going to benefit from an extra hour of time 🙂

I used that hour to sort out a few bits and pieces in the house before heading out for a short run. Steve needed to do a road run as he has a race next weekend, but I just wanted to get out for half an hour or so, as I knew overdoing it after a busy week would be a bad idea, especially since I was heading back to WoW afterwards.

I had plenty of time to run, shower and have a good breakfast before heading into town for the first session of the day at 10:30am. I then enjoyed a second fantastic day of talks, debate and workshops, as well as connecting with someone else I only previously knew from a Tough Girl connection.

It was (mostly) a brilliant week, especially the WoW festival, but I must make sure to prioritise some rest in the week ahead to make sure things don’t get on top of me in the coming weeks. Any excuse to put my feet up for a bit!

How has your week been?
Have you ever been to a WoW festival?