A Gym-Free Strength Workout & DC Sights

Good morning! I’m continuing to enjoy winter break here in the D.C. area. It is SO nice to be able to relax after such a busy few months. After catching up on emails and such yesterday morning, I headed out for a run in my family’s neighborhood!

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3.2 craaaazy hilly (hence the slower pace… there may have been a little walking involved… but I did sprint up the final hill!) miles later, I came back home to do a strength workout! I dragged an exercise mat and some free weights outside and got to work. Here’s what I did — I did all of this once and then went back and did it again in the same order, so basically everything listed x 2. Anything in bold is a favorite move that I’ve done a video/photo post about here on my blog — the non-bolded link goes out to YouTube for a description.

• The Eagle Ab (25 — trust me, they are HARD)
• Flutter Kicks (25)
• Weighted Push Up with Arm Lift (10 reps with 5 lb. weights)
• Weighted Triceps Lunge (10 reps (5 per side) with one 10 lb. weight)
• Weighted Squat (10 reps with one 10 lb. weight)
• Lateral Leg Lunge (exercise #2 on the page) (10 reps (5 per side) with one 10 lb. weight lifted out in front of me as I lunged)

Whew! It was a great workout. I also used this machine my parents have to attempt a pull up and to do some dips and leg lifts. Pull ups are so freaking hard. I can do one if I jump, but not from dead hang… sigh. It’s frustrating because I used to do gymnastics back in the day and my body and mind still remember pull ups being super easy — and then I get up there and it’s like uhhh… what?! I used to be able to do 16 pull ups with no problem! Ah, the glory days. More motivation to work on strength training again, I guess. 🙂 My workout was followed by a tasty lunch. I enjoyed a big salad of mixed greens, grated carrots, green pepper, and feta with balsamic vinaigrette: And an exploding turkey, avocado, tomato, mustard, and spinach sandwich on a sandwich thin: Plus a pear, which wasn’t all that good — aren’t mealy pears the saddest? I like this photo, though — taken on the window ledge in the kitchen! I spent yesterday afternoon running errands and Christmas shopping (made some serious progress!), and then got dressed up in my working woman finest and headed downtown to meet my mom at her office Christmas party. The building where they had the party had a rooftop with AMAZING views of the city. Check this out! So pretty! We also had a lovely view of the #1 thing I don’t miss about D.C. — the crazy traffic. Yikes. The party was fun, and my mom and I walked the long way back to the metro afterwards to swing by and say hello to Obama. You can’t really see in the photos, but there were pretty Christmas trees on the front portico!

Let me in!! Where’s the doorbell on this thing?

They’re cut out in the picture, but I had red heels on. Wearing something other than jeans, a sweatshirt, and my backpack is fun. 🙂

I used to work right nearby the White House and loved coming down to the park in front of it during my lunch break. Even if you see the White House all the time, it’s still really cool every time you do. 🙂

I’m off to fit in a workout — hopefully a walk with my mom or something else low key because I’m actually rather sore from yesterday’s lunge extravaganza! Also, Matt is arriving around noon and after lunch we’re going to go meet with our wedding planner to talk wedding plans! I’m not a details person at all so I’ll be thankful for the guidance on that front (napkins? centerpieces? wtf?), but I’m super excited to talk about/plan the menu. 🙂

Happy Friday!