Sending you a big hug and lots of prayers for a speedy knee recovery!! I’ve been there and it’s not a fun time.
On the food front, good call holding at the extra 200 kcal again this week. Once the shark infested waters are clear, we’ll be able to see where things are at for real.
And… SUPER excited for you about the move! New areas to explore and you can always go back to the red rock. 
Thanks for the recovery wishes!
Really all the things in the post are awesome, always enjoy when you stop by!
5/22
Elliptical w/ Intervals
10:00 Easy
(2x)
3 x 3 min build to max HR
8 min easy
10:00 Cool down
Replicates running reasonably well. No knee pain. Harder to get HR up on the elliptical, but the effort was there.
5/23
Mountain Biking w/ Intervals
1:21:05, 9 miles
W/ 3 x 12:00 steady, moderate efforts
1400’ elevation gain
+45 minutes easy riding after lunch
Definitely the fastest I have risen up that trail. That was awesome.
5/24
Easy, long Mountain Bike
2:27:44, 13 miles
1700’ elevation gain
Fun ride. I was feeling the intervals from the day before. Perfect weather and great time on the bike. So glad I got to spin my favorite trails for.. who knows how long.
5/27
Elliptical w/ Intervals
10:00 Easy
(2x)
3 x 3 min build to max HR
8 min easy
10:00 Cool down
Knee is slowly improving. Stairs are getting less painful, which is very needed. I am moving from the 3rd floor to another 3rd floor this weekend. No elevators either spot.
Feeling like this is keeping the fitness. I’m not nearly as excited to wake up at 4 to hop on the elliptical than run around my neighborhood, but I’m getting it done. Just happy to have movement.
Tuesday 5/27
JN Women’s Optimization W2D4
Machine Bench
8, 8, 8, 6(Fail) x M+70
Lat Pulldown
12, 12 x 90, 6-6 x 100-90, 6-5 x 90
Arnold Press
3 x 20 x 10
SS
Pendley Row
10, 10, 8 x 90
DB Lateral Raise
3 x 10/5 x 15/15
Hammer Curl
10, 10 x 15, 5-5 x 20
SS
DB Skullcrusher
3 x 10 x 15
5 Min AMRAP:
20 KBS
10 Push Press
50ft Farmer Carry
x3 rounds at 5:24
10 minutes Incline Treadmill walk
Went into this a little tired, but the many days out of the gym allowed me to hit this hard. Lots of going till failure, tried to hit it on the last set of everything.
Feels great to be playing with a KB again. I definitely want to add more WOD style finishers to my lift days instead of treadmill walks.
Weight in: Same as last week, 143. I was 141.2 on Sunday, when Shark week stopped. But then, shark week 2, Jaw strikes back started. It’s done that a lot the last year. Part of being 30+ I guess? So water and scale went right back up.
Felt like I was eating more, but my calories still averaged 2100/day for last week. With the drop in running, I was finding that I wasn’t going to bed hungry a couple nights last week. That felt nice.
Wednesday 5/28
JN Women’s Optimization W2D5
DB RDL
2 x 12 x 50
Cossack Squat
2 x 12 x 35
Seated Leg Curl
2 x 15 x 30
SS
KBS
2 x 30 x 40
Banded 45 Back Ext
2 x 10
SS
Leg raises
2 x 15
Seated Hip Abduction
15 x 50, 15 x 60
3 Rounds:
10 Cal bike (spin bike)
10 lunges
10 goblet squats
25 KBS
15:00 Incline Treadmill walk
Easy leg day, one of those that makes you wonder if you did enough. Got a little blow flow and pump. I don’t want to be sore this weekend given the amount of stairs I have in my future.
Speaking of, knee is allowing me to walk up and down stairs norma ll again. I’m icing and elevating it daily. Going to stick with the plan on two weeks off running, I don’t want to push it too soon. I want to run so badly, time away really does make the desire grow. Even after months of training and hundreds of miles the joy is there. I love that I can roll out of bed, throw stuff on and head out the door. Barrier to entry matters.
Have a bike ride planned for after work today, gym membership ended yesterday, so no elliptical this morning. I’ll pick outside cardio anytime!
Thursday 5/29
Nice day for this, 88F and sunny. Took the mountain bike on a paved trail to keep the intervals steady. Super fun workout, felt crazy quick, if only I could run that fast!
Intervals were just enough burn to be working, but not killing it. These moderate, steady state intervals remain my favorite type of cardio workout.
Today starts day one of the move, trailer pickup. Then moving the couch and bedframe. I’m more apprehensive of those items than boxes. Donating both to my in-laws. It was way cheaper to rent a Uhaul trailer and buy a new couch than renting a truck.
Time to do life stuff with muscle. This is what we train for folks.
Saturday 5/31
Bike Ride
Beautiful morning. Peaceful ride on the paved path again. Well, peaceful between intervals. Last ride in Northern Utah for… Who knows.
Got up early and did this before move hustle started. Finished packing, loaded the trailer and cleaned the apartment in only six hours. Everything I own is now in a 6x12 Uhaul trailer and two cars. They aren’t very full either. There are advantages to living in a 600sf apartment. New place is almost double in size. I get to have an outdoor gear room!
Sunday 6/1
1:06:30 Ride
Intervals - 6x 3:00@147bpm+
11 miles total
Those intervals were intense! Made these long hill repeats since I had one handy. Fun way to start the morning. Felt great to burn out the legs before a long car sit.
Swapped the planned 3 hour ride for Tuesday’s, shorter ride. 10 hour drive on the docket so an hour ride fit much better.
Knee held up wonderfully all through the stairs yesterday. Only a couple twinges with mis-steps while carrying awkward things. Icing it on and off through the drive for good measure since I’m just sitting here. You’re doing great little knee, may be ready to run next week 
Tuesday 6/3
Not as long as the plan called for, but I did what I felt I had time for. Effort and intent was there. First ride from the new place! There are so many bicycle paths and lanes, it’s awesome.
Thursday 6/5
Homemade Plan, W1D1
Standing Bench Press
2 x 5 x 105, 10 x 75
T-Bar Row
18 x 55, 5 x 90
SA DB Preacher Curl
12, 12 x 15
Low Row Cable Face Pulls
3 x 12 x 35
OH Cable Tri Ext
11 x 25, 11 x 20
SA Delt Fly
3 x 12 x 30
3 Rounds:
30ft Sled Push then Pull
6 Alt DB Snatch (35lb)
3 Pull Ups
30ft Sled
20 KBS (40lbs)
Run home: 3 miles (spoiler alert; the knee was okay!)
Fun one. Hubby and I came up with our own program. Upper, Lower, Full Split. It’s intended to get us through summer. Meaning, less of a focus on lifting, but still maintaining. More focus will be on getting outside on the bikes, hiking, getting paddle boards, etc. We want energy, CNS and less soreness to enjoy our favorite season in our new spot.
Happy to report the knee held up great on the run. It was half trail, half pavement. The last mile-ish I did start to feel a sensation around the kneecap. Not pain, just, awareness that it’s not 100% yet. So, I stuck with the 3 mile run home from the gym instead of going the 6-7 my brain wanted. Baby steps. There is a chance it could be healed for the race if I stay patient, but there are many more ways it could be worse if I over-do it. 15 days out, doubt is starting to keep in a bit.
Friday 6/6
20 to 1 Reps:
Goblet Squats
KBS
Done at home. I am used to an hour ahead for sure. I keep pinging awake in the 5am range, ready to go. Probably a good thing to hold onto, so I just get up and go do something.
This was a nice way to get things going, had me sweating!
Life/move:
All unpacked as of Tuesday. New apartment is nice, and huge. Not bad for renting without seeing it first.
I feel like I can breathe here. I didn’t realize how suffocating the large (for me) city was getting. Could be Salt Lake City had some of the worst air quality in the nation. Could be mental.
I was shocked by this when we first got out there… Don’t think it ever fully made sense to me, even after being there for 5 years or whatever.
Those inversions are nutty!
I’m so glad to read that things are going well! And let me give you props for holding back with the knee.
I’m looking at a 3X/wk lifting schedule, too, for the same reasons. Summer shouldn’t be hard to manage. It should be light and bright and spent outside.
They are wild! And so gross, happy to be out of that.
It’s difficult. There is so much I can do to make it worse and guarantee a race with pain, or no race at all.
Perfectly said!
Friday 6/6
Homemade Plan, W1D2
Hack Squat
12xM+10, 12xM+20, 5xM+45
Hip Thrust
12 x 135, 12 x 160, 16 x 135
Seated Leg Curl
8 x 80, 16 x 60
Cable Crunch
15 x 60, 15 x 67
3 Rounds:
10 Cossack Squat
200M Row
10 Cal Assault Bike
25 KBS
10 Minute Incline Treadmill walk
Leg day is short, but hard hitting. Just what I wanted. Love not doing 18 different things in one day. 3 is plenty if the intensity is there. Making sure to go to failure on the last sets of everything.
Saturday 6/7
15 Mile Mountain Bike ride w/ Intervals
These were the shorter, zig-zag style intervals. Back on trails I have done many times, but awesome to call them the home trails now. So much less elevation gain here, only 1200ft total. It’s nice to not have to go straight up and then straight back down. Made the intervals more steady and dialed. Beautiful day, riding through the pines. Oh it’s good to be home.
Sunday 6/8
Homemade Plan, W1D3
Leg Extensions
12, 18 x 70
Leg Press
6 x 385, 5 x 410, 8 x 385
Smith Machine Incline Press
10 x 95, 8 x 105
BB Row
12, 10 x 95
SA Cable Pulldown
2 x 12 x 35
Incline DB Curl
12 x 15, 12 x 17.5
SS
Skullcrusher
12 x 30, 8 x 40
Cable Lateral Raise
2 x 12 x 7, 15 x 7
AMRAP 10 Minutes:
200m Row
10 Goblet Squat
20 KBS
4 Alt Snatches
4 Deficit Pushups
10 Leg Raises
Made it 3 rounds in 10:52
This day is a little long, but the first week is getting dialed anyway. Feeling done but not over-cooked by the end of it. I think the program flows well, and should be great for summer lifting maintenance. Felt the legs on the bike yesterday, but not too drained.
Absolutely loving the new gym. It has many fun toys. It’s better equipped than the bodybuilding gym I was going to in SLC, which is saying something. That’s before I add that it’s a big-box brand too. Going to be fun to rotate through exercises and machines I want to try. Very happy this gym is here. It’s clean, well-lit and I am the biggest girl there, (that I have seen, so far). Haven’t been during busy times yet, hopefully it stays awesome at 5pm.
New area stuff:
Already found multiple grass-fed beef ranches. I live in what I would consider “the country” now. My freezer is almost empty enough to order a quarter cow. Soon Chester, soon you will be on my dinner plate. Picked up my first farm-fresh eggs, berries and melon. There are farm stands galore on the side of the road. Eating well and seasonally will be easy.
Monday 6/9
Long, Easy Run
6/10
Progression Run
I am enjoying every minute of being temporarily unemployed.
Speaking of, had a third interview yesterday. It went well. The HR lady I am working with said the local team really liked me and is ready to make an offer. However, the Regional Director has to also interview me. Yay, big company red tape! That meeting isn’t until Monday.
Looks like I’ll be unemployed for at least 1-2 more weeks. Darn. Guess I’ll have to drown my sarrows in mountain and new town exploration, running, biking, coffee shops, farmers markets, floating the river and maybe even drive to the ocean. I need to barrow someone’s dog. Is dog Disneyland parenting an option? I want that for two weeks.
Anywho, it’s time to go ride my bike “across town” to return an egg carton to the farm egg stand. Duty calls.
Tuesday 6/11
Homemade Plan, W2D1
Standing Bench Press
2 x 6 x 115, 10 x 95
T-Bar Row
18 x 45, 6 x 90
SA DB Preacher Curl
11, 11 x 15
Low Row Cable Face Pulls
3 x 12 x 35
OH Cable Tri Ext
11 x 25, 10 x 20
SA Delt Fly
8 x 40, 8 x 35, 8 x 30
AMRAP 10 minutes
200m row
10-1 Push Ups
10-1 Lat Pull x 100
*Made it thru 7 reps + another row
+Abs
Compounds went great. Accessories… Someone hit the high gravity button.
The standing bench press is pretty cool. I feel it in my pecs more than regular BB Bench.
I like that amrap finisher, I’ll use it again. It called for pullups, but I can’t get anywhere near 10 on a set, so I was walking back and forth for the lat pull.
Wednesday 6/11
Homemade Plan, W2D2
Hack Squat
12, 12 xM+20, 6xM+50
Hip Thrust
10, 11 x 165, 16 x 135
Seated Leg Curl
9 x 80, 17 x 60
Cable Crunch
15 x 67, 15 x 70
Hip Abductors (Machine)
15 x 80, 12 x 90
10 Minute AMRAP:
10 cal assault bike
10 Cossack Squat
10 Leg Lifts
10 Skater Jumps
This went really well. Added weight and reps on everything.
Hack Squats still suck.
New Gym has a neat Hip Thrust Machine, it looks this:
Thursday 6/12
Tempo Run
5:00 Warm up
25:00 @ 9:45
20:00 Easy
5 Miles total
On trail, with pines. Picturesque spring morning, 60F and not a cloud in the sky. I really like starting my day this way. It’s going to be hard to go back to work.
Later
6 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
More dirt. Easy loop, I wasn’t quite ready to say good-bye to the trails for the day.
I’m not being very good about respecting my taper and reducing energy expenditure. Next week, I’ll have to settle a bit so I am bouncing off the walls for the race. I just want to be outside all the time. So many places to explore and the weather has been amazing.
Friday 6/13
Long, easy run
7 miles, 1:23:12
On trails. Had them to myself this morning. It’s been surprising how busy the trails have been during the week. I want to be able to still go for a run at 10am on Tuesday, how do I score that job?
Felt a bit tired today, the miles crawled by and I never got into much of a grove. Likely culprit is a combination of lots of movement this week and inadequate food choices yesterday. Small meals, snacks, and two oat milk lattes, etc. All food was healthy (except the coffees) homemade soups, protein pancakes, fruit and yogurt for snacks. Lots of volume, not a lot of calories. Had the bloated, but still hungry, feeling most of the day.
Today I am craving substantial meals, not grazing.
Friday 6/13
Homemade Plan W2D3
Smith Machine Incline Press
10, 10 x 105
BB Row
12, 11 x 95
Lat Pulldown
10, 10 x 100
Incline DB Curl
12, 12 x 15
SS
Skullcrusher
8, 9 x 40
Cable Lateral Raise
2 x 12 x 7, 12 x 7, 4 x 3
15 minutes Elliptical
Skipped the leg portion of full body day. Feeling great upper body-wise. Except my biceps were not having heavier weight on the curls.
Sunday 6/15
Mountain bike ride - 8 miles
Easy ride, nice loop with some berms, jumps and not too much climbing. Rode a couple miles of my race route as well. Sneak preview of one of the larger climbs. It’s long, but not too punchy/steep.
Monday 6/16
100KBS
Tempo Run:
5:00 Run
10:00 @ Marathon pace
5:00 Cool down
Keeping things short and sweet this week. The goal to keep things easy to allow legs to fully recover. It’s just so easy to go do all the things outside here. I’m actually getting tan I’ve been outside so much.
