photo credit: @hayleymurrayphoto

TL;DR: I had a little bit of a health scare earlier last week and had to cancel my trip to Boston over the weekend. I was super-bummed, but I am alright.

I probably wasn’t the most pleasant to be around the last few days. I was moping around the house all weekend because I was actually supposed to be in Boston. Remember that I had made plans to finally meet up again with my long-time friend Cathy from Sydney, Australia? And in Boston of all places! Our friendship was supposed to come full circle.

It’s wild to think that we’ve known each other since we were teenagers and that we’ve kept up all these years. We started out as pen friends back in the day – pre-Internet – and initially bonded over our mutual love for New Kids on the Block, who are from Boston, in case you didn’t know. Hence, the full circle moment, because without NKOTB, we probably would have never connected, and to meet up in Boston would have been a dream come true. I don’t think it can be taken for granted that our friendship survived this long, especially because it was all based on letter writing for such a long time.

But I didn’t go to Boston.

We had been counting down the days to this reunion for weeks. Then, things went awry earlier last week, when I had a little health scare and had to cancel my trip at the last minute. 

(BTW, this is the second year in a row that I had to cancel a fun trip to see friends, and I am very much over it.) 

So what happened?

I mentioned it in my Weekly Run Down post yesterday: I had a wonderful early morning run on Tuesday morning and felt great. I went to work, had a normal day, and was about to wrap up in the late afternoon, when – out of the blue – I suddenly experienced heart palpitations, chest pressure, and lightheadedness. I was the last one at the office and got a bit anxious. I’ve never passed out before but I imagined that this was what it would feel like shortly before you do.

Don’t worry, I did not pass out. The whole episode lasted for maybe 10-15 minutes until I started to feel better and was able to leave and drive home. 

You’re probably wondering why I didn’t go straight to the ER. Let me explain.

A little backstory

The main reason was that I had heart palpitations before (in 2019 for the first time) and had gotten an echocardiogram and stress test done at the time, with no unusual results. However, episodes of chest pressure/discomfort persisted. In late 2021, during another episode, I went to the ER to get checked out again. 

I spent 9 hours at the ER. They did the whole workup: ECG, echocardiogram, MRI, and troponin test (which is a protein found in heart muscle cells that is released into the bloodstream when the heart is damaged, such as during a heart attack), and ruled out any heart issues. Again.  

I distinctly remember that the discharge nurse brought me the good news and then asked if I still had chest pressure, as if the positive results of my tests had miraculously cured the symptom. When I answered in the affirmative, they basically shrugged their shoulders and suggested following up with my primary care physician. Unfortunately, my PCP didn’t really take me seriously because, after all, my heart was fine!

I finally pushed for a referral to a gastroenterologist. I got an endoscopy done in early 2022 (no unusual results), and the GI doctor suspected my symptoms were related to GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disorder). I didn’t really have typical symptoms of heartburn (like burning or acid regurgitation), but I did have stomach pressure and chest discomfort on and off, and I had read that low stomach acid can mimic the same symptoms as excess stomach acid. So, I presented my theory that my symptoms were rather caused by low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) and inquired about a stomach acid test (and there are more sophisticated ones than the baking soda test, which I have done repeatedly at home and which is why I suspected hypochlorhydria in the first place).

I was instantly dismissed. The GI doctor said there was no such thing as low stomach acid, he didn’t know about hydrochloric acid (HCl) supplements, for that matter, and insisted I should just do a round of PPI (acid blocker) treatment. It was very frustrating. I ended up taking PPIs for two weeks, and they temporarily relieved some of my symptoms (which was to be expected), but it ultimately didn’t get to the root of the problem. Unfortunately, sometimes doctors just aim to mask problems, not fix them.

I had pretty much managed my symptoms on my own for the last few years through dietary changes and occasional supplementation with HCl. I had occasional episodes (multiple days) of chest pressure/discomfort and also many weeks of no symptoms. It was hard to pinpoint what triggered the episodes that did happen. Jon believes it’s at least partially stress-related, which I am willing to consider. I feel like I do a lot to keep myself happy and healthy, and I usually don’t feel particularly stressed, but I do have a Type A personality, and I can see how this could sometimes trigger physical responses when my body says “enough”.

Overall, my symptoms felt manageable, albeit uncomfortable sometimes, mainly because I also didn’t have palpitations for a long time. Chest discomfort is one thing; having it accompanied by palpitations and dizziness is another. Even if it’s not cardiac-related, it FEELS like it is cardiac-related.

Fast forward to last week.

The chest pressure lingered, and I still felt a little shaky on Wednesday (not eating probably didn’t help). On Thursday morning, I called my doctor’s office to see if I could get a same-day appointment. Luckily, they could get me in right away. I saw a very nice, young nurse practitioner, and she was very attentive and very thorough. After I told her my history, she reassured me that she didn’t think anything was wrong with my heart, but she ordered an ECG, a lab test (for cholesterol and troponin), and also a chest X-ray to be sure. As predicted, all tests were negative. In fact, she said, based on my results, I had a very low risk of any cardiac events.

She still suggested considering getting a heart monitor for a few weeks, just to see if anything popped up on a long-term ECG (although she was pretty sure it wouldn’t), and she was also open to my theory that my symptoms might be caused by gastrointestinal issues. It felt good that someone was finally listening to me. Unfortunately, she’s not my PCP, and I probably won’t see her again for a follow-up, but at least someone was taking me seriously. The other doctors so far have been of no use. They say my heart is fine and that is that. Of course, that is very reassuring, but also very frustrating.

Is it silly to expect someone to be interested in getting to the bottom of these scary, but apparently relatively harmless, symptoms?

I’ve still been experiencing light chest discomfort the last few days, and I’ve done a bit more research this weekend. I will share more about that with you, if you’re interested, but for now, let me just say: it’s been a huge bummer that I had to cancel my trip to Boston because of this.

Cathy and I ended up video chatting yesterday afternoon, and it was lovely to at least connect “in person” this way. We talked for two hours. The conversation flowed easily, even though we hadn’t actually spoken in a few years (just texted for the most part), and it just confirmed once again that friendship knows no distance and that with some people, you can just pick up where you left off. I know we would have had the best time this weekend in Boston. Hopefully, there’ll be another chance to meet up in the future.

This week I got sidelined. The photo above was taken before it happened. I had a great run Tuesday morning before work and then I had a bit of a medical situation in the late afternoon when I was still at work: heart palpitations, dizzy spell, chest pressure. And while everything checked out ok (my heart is perfectly fine), it’s been a bit unsettling. (I can tell you more about my health journey in a different post.)

Not surprisingly, I’ve been feeling a little out of it for most of the week and haven’t been to work either and so working out also pretty much stopped. As I was feeling better towards the end of the week, I did restart a little bit of yoga and meditation and went for a couple of walks, but other than that, I am keeping things easy for now.

Monday

• 10 Min Breathing Meditation – Anna (3/17/26)
• 10 Min Pilates – Anna (2/19/26) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Arms & Shoulders Strength – Ben (12/6/25) — Blooming for Movement 
• 15 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Chelsea (5/29/24) — The Streak/Blooming into Self Care
• 30 Min Outdoor Walking

Tuesday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (5/10/26)
• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (5/14/25)
• 30 Min Pop Run – Adrian (11/19/22) — Blooming in Movement/Focus Tracker
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Kristin (6/7/23) — The Streak 

Wednesday

• 10 Min Morning Meditation – Aditi (4/4/26) 

Thursday

• 20 Min Calming Meditation – Anna (4/26/22) 
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Core – Chelsea (2/23/25) — The Streak/Core in Full Bloom

Friday

• 20 Min Restorative – Kristin (7/27/23) — The Streak

Saturday

• 10 Min Core Strength – Selena (4/27/25) — Core in Full Bloom
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Healthy Back – Nico (5/14/26) — The Streak
• 10 Min Meditation for Anxiety – Anna (5/16/26) — Blooming in Self Care
• 20 Min Hip Hop Walk – Adrian (7/29/22) — Focus Tracker/Blooming in Movement

Sunday

• 20 Min Restorative – Denis (7/18/21) — The Streak/Serenity Sunday
• 10 Min Relaxing Meditation – Anna (2/1/24) — Blooming into Self Care/Serenity Sunday
• 30 Min 90s Walk – Adrian (8/4/21) — Focus Tracker/Blooming for Movement

Current Challenges + Trackers:

Streaker365 May Core in Full Bloom
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Running: 3.3 mi
Walking: 12.4 mi
Strength: 20 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 95 min
Warm up/Stretching: 5 min
Meditation: 70 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

I am a bit behind with blogging (and reading) again, can you tell? So you’ll get a quick belated recap for March and April.

PERSONAL

• Read 2 books a month.
  Yeah, no. I barely read anything in March and April. I know a lot of people read to relax, I need to be relaxed to read sometimes, if that makes sense?
• Use facemasks weekly when I do my Sunday meditation.
  Haha. Fail.
• Prioritize sleep and rest.
  I averaged 7:02 hours in March and hit my sleep goal of 7.5 hours in April. Woo! I am suspecting that it happened because I was on vacation. Let’s see if I can keep it up. My sleep score was pretty good overall, with only a couple of low scores and some very high ones.

• Regular walks with a friend (virtually or in person).
  Yes! I continued my biweekly (virtual or in person) walks with friends and co-worker during my lunchtime (except for the time when I was in Germany).
• Find a running group, book club, or knitting group locally.
  No progress made on that front. 

HEALTH/WELLNESS

• Complete (another) 365 Peloton Streak.
  I am keeping my streak going and have earned a “blue dot” for 1895 consecutive days.
• Half Marathon Training
  I finished 10 weeks of training and had a successful race on March 15. I have not started a new training plan yet.
• Hit a weekly (not daily) average step count.
  Yes, I exceeded my (average) daily step goal in March by 1000+ steps; I averaged 9,190 steps/day in March. I didn’t quite hit my goal in April (6,384 steps), but I am still on track if averaged over the first four months of 2026 (9,067 steps/day).

• Keep up my yoga streak.
  I missed only one day of daily yoga in March and completed my tracker in April.

RELATIONSHIPS

• Date nights with Jon once a month.
  No real date nights, but we did go out to dinner for my birthday (with Tanja in tow).
• Go skiing with my family.
  I left for Germany at the end of March and we went to the Dolomites in early April! It was such a blast. I am hoping to share a recap soon.
• Reach out to friends more.
  I’ve been trying to respond to all my messages in a timely manner, and I was lucky to see some friends in person when I was in Germany. Some of these friends, I hadn’t seen in a while, some (old) friends not for years, but we were able to seamlessly reconnect.
• Continue monthly Teams Calls with Ingrid. 
  Because of my upcoming travel, we didn’t have a Teams Call in March, but we spoke on the phone twice, and we finally had another face-to-face call in late April.

HOME

• Estate Planning
  We set up additional beneficiaries for our financial accounts, but we still have to meet with a trust attorney.
• Declutter/organize garage
  Nope.

WORK

• Keep advocating for myself.
  No more real “progress” made here in March or April, but I have a mid-year performance review coming up in May and I am hoping to strategize a bit with my (new) supervisor for the second half of this year.
• Establish Deepen some (new) work-friend relationships.
  I continue to socialize more with two women in my office and we chat regularly and go for lunchtime walks together. It’s been nice getting to know each other better.

BONUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• I finished our taxes and paid what we owed before I left for my trip to Germany.
• I finished and handed off a few tasks for various work projects before going on vacation.
• My sister and I organized an amazing birthday party when I was home and I got to see so many people that I hadn’t seen in years. It was superspecial.

How was your March and April?

Although I am often “physically” alone when I work out, I never truly work out alone because I often connect with Tanja, the #BCBabes¹, occasionally other friends in my Streakers365 group, and with my family. It’s nice to know someone is always just “on the other side of the screen”. This week, I met up with my mom, sister and cousin for a virtual Mother’s Day Run. We couldn’t be together in person, but we were able to connect through our workouts and via FaceTime later.

Monday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (4/26/26)
• 10 Min Standing Core Strength – Rebecca (4/6/26) — Core in Full Bloom
• 20 Min Full Body Strength – Ben (5/1/26) — Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Zacharias (5/1/26) — The Streak
• 30 Min Earth Day Walk – Mariana (4/21/26)

I started my week with a strength workout – a core and a full body strength class. I also enjoyed a yoga flow for runners. During my lunch break, I took Mariana’s Earth Day Walk, and it was lovely. I highly recommend it.  

Tuesday

• 10 Min Relaxing Meditation – Denis (4/7/26)
• 5 Min Get to Know Me Warm Up Ride – Olivia (5/25/25)
• 45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Olivia (5/4/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Post Ride Stretch – Olivia (1/21/25)
• 5 Min Core Strength – Ben (5/1/26) — Core in Full Bloom/Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Savasana Yoga – Denis (5/20/22) — The Streak

I spent my morning with Olivia with a warm up, a 45-minute Power Zone Endurance ride, and a cool down.  I also did a quick core strength class and a savasana yoga session in the evening. 

Wednesday

• 10 Min Calming Meditation – Anna (10/14/25) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Standing Core – Rebecca (9/11/24) — Core in Full Bloom
• 20 Min Chest & Back Strength – Ben (4/21/26) — Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Hamstrings – Anna (6/18/24) — The Streak

Today was for some core, chest & back strength. I think I’ll be a little sore tomorrow. 

Thursday

• 10 Min Patience Meditation – Kristin (4/13/23) — Blooming for Self Care
• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (5/14/25)
• 30 Min Pop Run – Adrian (1/8/23) — Blooming for Movement
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Kristin (6/7/23) — The Streak
• 53 Min Outdoor Walking

It’s light enough in the morning for me to go for a run outdoors, and today I finally made it out the door at 6:15 a.m. I only had time for a quick 30-minute run and a quick yoga flow, but I am glad I made it outside. The early mornings are so beautiful right now. 

I also went for a nice lunchtime walk with my co-worker later in the day. 

Friday

• 10 Min Mental Health Meditation – Anna (5/19/23) — Blooming for Self-Care
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Denis (9/5/23)
• 45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Christian (5/6/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Matt (4/17/24)
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Riders – Denis (2/25/25) — The Streak

I slept in this morning (my body craved rest) and only did a morning meditation after I woke up, but motivation hit me in the late afternoon, and I hopped on the bike for a 45-minute Power Zone Endurance Ride. There were some long Zone 3 intervals, and I struggled a bit at the end, but I did finish the class. I definitely needed that cool down ride to catch my breath and the focus flow for riders to stretch my muscles afterwards.

Saturday

• 30 Min Bootcamp – Jess S (4/28/26)
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Bradley (1/1/26)
• 30 Min Mental Health Awareness Slow Flow – Anna (5/21/24) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Core Strength – Callie (6/20/25) — Core in Full Bloom

My friend and fellow BCBabe Sherry, who is also one of the admins in our Streakers365 Group, scheduled a Swarm Bootcamp for this morning, and of course, I had to join! It was a sweaty, but good workout with Jess Sims. I also added a Mental Health Awareness Flow and 10 minutes of core strength to my stack. 

Sunday

• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (514/25)
• 45 Min 90s Run – Adrian (8/12/25) — Blooming for Movement

I coordinated with my mom, sister and cousin today that we’d do a virtual Mother’s Day Run together. It didn’t quite work out to do it at the exact same time (the time difference can make things difficult), but we all committed to moving our body #separatebuttogether today! I loved connecting this way with them on Mother’s Day!

I also joined some Streakers365 peeps for Serenity Sunday in the afternoon. I love this little self care ritual to wrap up my weekend!

• 20 Min Restorative – Anna (12/17/20) — The Streak/Serenity Sunday
• 10 Min Patience Meditation – Kristin (1/26/23) — Blooming into Self Care/Serenity Sunday

Current Challenges + Trackers:

Streaker365 May Core in Full Bloom
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga

This week’s stats:

Running: 11.1 mi
Cycling: 38.1 mi
Walking: 25.9 mi
Bootcamp: 30 min
Strength: 85 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 100 min
Warm up/Stretching: 35 min
Meditation: 60 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

1. aka Bootcamp Babes (a small “subgroup” of Peloton Streakers who started doing Bootcamp Classes (Bike + Strength) together) ↩︎

photo credit: @gaellemarcel via Unsplash

While I am working on some trip recaps (why do they always take me forever to write?), I thought I’d pop in here for a quick life update, lest you think I’ve completely disappeared. Grab a beverage and settle in. 

Re-entry has been rough.

I am always a little physically jet-lagged when I return from a trip overseas, but even more emotionally jet-lagged, and it takes me a little while to get back into my life here. Usually, it helps to just throw myself back into a routine, and it did, but I feel like daily life has swallowed me whole since my return three weeks ago. My work weeks have been super-busy, and I’ve been catching myself postponing things to the weekend, which then proceeds to *poof* evaporate into thin air and leaves me wondering on a Sunday night, “where the heck did the time go?”. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

This is not an excuse, not a complaint, just a simple acknowledgement of how time perception feels to me right now and how it impacts my time management. I don’t know what to do about it. I hope this is just a phase.

We’re still dealing with my mother-in-law’s estate. 

It’s been almost a year since her passing, and the estate has still not been dissolved. For us, it’s more of an emotional burden, as we’re not directly involved in the execution of her trust/will (my brother-in-law is the executor, Jon is just a beneficiary), but this has been a much more drawn-out process than anticipated. (Mainly because I feel like my brother-in-law has other priorities and hasn’t pushed things along, and he also hasn’t accepted help and doesn’t communicate well with us. So, that’s fun.)

Work has been busy

Do you have co-workers on a project that swing between “oh, we have all the time in the world” and then a sudden shift to “we have no time, we have to get things accomplished NOW!”? Yeah, and unfortunately, I am always in the position where I can’t make unilateral decisions (to move my part of the work forward) but have to check back with other people. It can be a little frustrating and stressful at times, but I guess it‘s not uncommon.

I’ve been distracting myself with silly shows.

As you know, I don’t usually listen to podcasts, I don’t really watch any series, and (sadly) I haven’t picked up a book in a while, but I’ve enjoyed watching absolutely ridiculous reality TV (90-day fiancé). I think I am so intrigued/fascinated by this show because I married a foreigner myself, but we had such a completely different experience. What is with ALL THE DRAMA? And why do I find it so entertaining? 

Snack Hack

Also, on a totally random note: have you had the Maui Monk Pretzel Braids from Stellar? (They give them out as snacks on Southwest flights.) I really like them and tried to find them in stores. I finally did at Sprouts, but the bag (12 oz) is $5.99. Well, here’s a tip: go buy a bag of the sweet onion pretzel twists at Trader Joe’s. You can thank me later.

With no current race on the horizon, I struggle to get back to a routine. It’s easy to not plan the week and just “see what I feel like” in the morning. You can do that for a while, but it’s not sustainable (at least not for me). So, while I figure out what training goals I have next, I am doing a bit of a hodgepodge of things to get back into a routine.

Monday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (4/26/26)
• 10 Min Yoga Flow – Anna (1/28/21) — The Streak
• 20 Min Pop Arms & Shoulders Strength – Zacharias (4/18/26)
• 5 Min Upper Body Stretch – Andy (11/25/25)

After a cardio-heavy Sunday, I decided on a yoga flow and some upper body strength training to start the week.

Tuesday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (4/26/26)
• 30 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Kristin (10/25/21) — The Streak

I didn’t sleep that great and decided on a longer, gentle yoga flow this morning. Great decision!

Wednesday

• 15 Min Focus Flow: Floor Poses – Anna (2/14/26) — The Streak
• 15 Min Core Strength – Rebecca (3/26/26) 
• 10 Min Outdoor Walking

I opted for a short and sweet combo of a yoga flow and core strength today. Also added a quick 10-minute walk.

Thursday

• 10 Min Energizing Meditation – Anna (3/10/22)
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Hannah F (3/23/26)
• 45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Hannah F (4/29/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Hannah F (7/16/22)
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Riders  – Kristin (9/14/23) — The Streak
• 30 Min Outdoor Walking

Woo, I finally got the 45-minute Power Zone Endurace ride out of the way. I had been postponing it since Tuesday. I finished with a yoga flow for riders and went on a lunch walk with my co-workers later in the day.

Friday

• 30 Min Two for One Full Body Strength – Adrian & Tunde (4/23/266)
• 30 Min 90s Run – Adrian (2/5/26) — Focus Tracker/Blooming for Movement
• 5 Min Post-Run Stretch – Jess (2/25/26)
• 10 Min Restorative Yoga – Denis (3/27/26) — The Streak

Some of the #BCBabes¹ and I met up for Adrian & Tunde’s new Two for One Full Body Strength class, and it was so fun. These two have great energy, and there was so much banter, which made the time fly by! Afterwards, I headed out for a 30-minute run through our neighborhood. My running routine is a bit haphazard right now, so I am just trying to get in some base miles before starting a more structured approach again.

Saturday

• 5 Min Pre-Run Warm Up – Matt (5/14/25)
• 30 Min 90s Run with Adrian (10/16/25) — Focus Tracker/Blooming for Movement
• Extra 10: Walk – Jon (4/19/26)
• 5 Min Lower Body Stretch – Selena (11/19/24) — Blooming into Self Care
• 10 Min Savasana – Nico (10/29/24)  — The Streak

I ran errands all day but made it outside for a 30-minute run in the late afternoon.

Sunday

• 10 Min Breathing Meditation – Anna (4/9/24)
• 45 Min Deep Dive: Jagged Little Pill Ride – Denis (4/28/26)
• 60 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Matt (5/3/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Matt (4/17/24)
• 5 Min Post-Ride Stretch – CDE (6/8/23) — Blooming into Self Care

I decided on a whim to join the #BCBabes for Denis’ 45-minute Alanis Morrisette Ride this morning. I hadn’t originally planned on it because I had already scheduled a 60-minute Power Zone Endurance ride with Tanja (and my sister), but I was up early and thought, “Why the heck not? I’ll treat it as a long warm-up!” and I am glad I did. It was a fun ride, and the 45 minutes flew by. Highly recommend.

• 20 Min Restorative – Kristin (3/31/22) — The Streak
• 10 Min Relaxing Meditation – Kirra (7/8/25)

Current Challenges + Trackers:

I took it easy in April and only completed my yoga tracker, but I am back in May with four trackers. Let’s see what I can do.

Peloton Boost Your Base Program
Streaker365 April The Streak (Daily Yoga)
Streaker365 May Blooming into SelfCare
Streaker365 May Walk/Run Outdoors Focus Tracker
Streaker365 May Blooming for Movement
Streaker365 May The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Running: 6.3 mi
Cycling: 47.8 mi
Walking: 17.7 mi
Strength: 65 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 115 min
Warm up/Stretching: 40 min
Meditation: 50 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

1. aka Bootcamp Babes (a small “subgroup” of Peloton Streakers who started doing Bootcamp Classes (Bike + Strength) together) ↩︎

I am still trying to get back into the swing of things and decided to follow the Boost Your Base Program to get back to cycling, and also throw in some strength classes and start back with some easy runs. It’s not a structured plan yet, but I am getting there. It was also PeloFondo this weekend and I participated for the 13th time!

Monday

• 10 Min Peace Meditation – Anna (1/13/26)  
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Sam (7/7/25)
• 30 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Sam (4/22/25) — Boost Your Base
• 5 Min Core Strength – Andy (4/16/26)
• 10 Min Focus Flow: Core – Chelsea (4/12/26) — The Streak

I did another Power Zone Endurance Ride this morning. I had accidentally chose the first ride of the Boost Your Base Program last Sunday, so I decided to continue with the program to get back to Power Zone training. This ride was also in Zone 2 but working with different cadences – really good to get back to cycling. I enjoyed it. I also did a little core work with a 5 min core class and a core yoga flow. 

Tuesday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Anna (1/4/26)
• 10 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Chelsea (9/27/23) — The Streak
• 30 Min Spring Cross-Training: W1D1 – Katie (4/13/26)
• 5 Min Full Body Stretch – Andy (1/18/26)

I focused on yoga and full body strength training this morning.

Wednesday

• 10 Min Patience Meditation – Kristin (5/30/24)
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Bradley (12/26/24)
• 45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Matt (4/26/25) — Boost Your Base
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Riders – Denis (8/26/25) — The Streak

This morning, I finished “Week 1” of the Boost Your Base Program with another 45-minute Power Zone Endurance Ride in Zone 2. I am ready for Zone 3 now :)

Thursday

• 10 Min Meditation for Anxiety – Anna (12/23/25)
• 20 Min Focus Flow: Healthy Back – Anna (11/27/25) — The Streak
• 20 Min Full Body Strength – Rebecca (10/16/25)
• 5 Min Full Body Stretch – JJ (11/9/25)

I opted for a yoga flow and some more strength training this morning.

Friday

• 10 Min Earth Day Meditation – Nico (4/21/26)
• 10 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Kristin (8/4/22) — The Streak
• 30 Min Destiny’s Child Bootcamp – Cody (2/5/26)
• 30 Min Pop Run – Jon (4/24/26)
• 5 Min Post-Run Stretch – Jon (4/22/26)

I finally had the opportunity to join the other #BCBabes for a bootcamp this morning. It’s been too long! Afterwards, I decided to join Jon Hosking’s LIVE class and went out for a 30 minute run around the neighborhood.

Saturday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Chelsea (4/19/26)
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Denis (8/18/25) — PeloFondo
• 30 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Denis (4/27/25) — Boost Your Base/PeloFondo
• 15 Min Low Impact Ride – Bradley (4/7/26) — PeloFondo
• 5 Min Cool Down Ride – Bradley (6/29/23) — PeloFondo
• 10 Min Restorative Yoga – Denis (3/27/26) — The Streak

I participated in my 13th PeloFondo this weekend, and also I didn’t pledge high mileage like in previous events, I still decided to collect some miles for our Streakers365 PeloFondo team.

Sunday

• 10 Min Meditation – Chelsea (3/24/26)
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Matt (9/23/21) — PeloFondo
• 60 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride –  Christian (1/3/26) — PeloFondo
• 10 Min Cool Down Ride – Bradley (12/4/25) — PeloFondo
• 15 Min Low Impact Ride – Bradley (3/1/26) — PeloFondo
• 5 Min Post-Ride Stretch – Bradley (9/25/22)
• 20 Min Restorative – Chelsea (7/2/23) — The Streak/Serenity Sunday
• 10 Min Happiness Meditation – Aditi (9/16/21) — Serenity Sunday

I joined Tanja this morning for a 60 min Power Zone Endurance Ride – miles that also counted for PeloFondo. It was tough, but I am sure that was because a) it had been a while that I had taken a 60 minute cycling class and b) my FTP went up a couple of points recently (and therefore my Zones shifted up a tiny bit). It probably also explained the 2-point PR!

I added a cool down and a low impact ride and finished just above 40 miles for PeloFondo this weekend. Not nearly what I’ve been able to ride during previous PeloFondo weekends, but I’ll take it.

Current Challenges + Trackers:

Streaker365 April The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Running: 3.2 mi
Cycling: 59.6 mi
Walking: 7.3 mi
Bootcamp: 30 min
Strength: 55 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 90 min
Warm up/Stretching: 45 min
Meditation: 80 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

How was your week? Did anybody else participate in PeloFondo?

Oh hey, remember me? I’ve been back from my European vacation for a few days now and coming back never gets easier. It’s always hard. I know that people who switch between two worlds probably know that feeling all too well and I’ve written about it more than once before. Having your heart in two places is a privilege and also sometimes a burden.

Anyway, not to bore you with my mental state, I can positively say, I had a blast. It’s always precious quality time and I was mostly unplugged, hence my absence here.

The first half of my trip, I was skiing (and snowboarding!) in the Dolomites in Northern Italy (epic!) and the second half of the trip, I spent with my family in my hometown.

My sister and I also took advantage of the opportunity to celebrate our birthday together. Since it was a milestone birthday this year, we actually threw a party and invited about 50+ guests. I got to see a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a bit like time traveling, and it was overall a great success. I mean, the party went from 1 pm to 2:30 am in the morning! That should tell you all you need to know. I guess, our guests also didn’t want it to end.

And then there is this other world – the online world – that I am coming back to as well. I want to catch you up on the last month of my life, and I also look forward to catching up with all of your lives. Expect some batch commenting in the next days.

I returned from my European trip earlier this week, and I am readjusting back to the daily grind. Not always easy, but also imperative to combat the mental jetlag and find my groove again. I eased myself back into my morning workout routine and I am hoping to pick up a more consistent schedule in the coming week.

Monday

• 11 Min Outdoor Walking
• 10 Min Chair Yoga – Anna (12/12/23) — The Streak
• 58 Min Outdoor Walking

Today was travel day, and I took advantage of airport transfers to get some steps in and did some chair yoga while I waited for my connecting flight.

Tuesday

• 20 Min Restorative Yoga – Anna (4/30/24) — The Streak

I took it easy today and only did some restorative yoga before going back to work tomorrow.

Wednesday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Anna (4/12/26) 
• 10 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Nico (4/5/26) — The Streak
• 20 Min Full Body Strength – Ben (4/11/26)
• 5 Min Full Body Stretch – Joslyn (3/8/26)

My alarm went off pretty early today, and it was hard to get out of bed. Getting back to your normal routine after three weeks off is hard, but imperative for readjusting to the daily grind. I decided to start the day with meditation and a morning flow, followed by a little bit of strength training.

Thursday

• 10 Min Daily Meditation – Denis (3/22/26)
• 10 Min Morning Yoga Flow – Chelsea (4/2/26) — The Streak
• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Bradley (1/5/26)
• 20 Min 90s Pop Ride – Bradley (3/31/26)
• 5 Min Post-Ride Stretch – Bradley (4/2/26)
• 55 Min Walking Outdoors

I started my day with meditation and yoga again and then got reacquainted with my bike on Bradley’s 20 Min 90s Pop Ride. I also went for a lunchtime walk with my coworkers. It was nice to catch up with them.

Friday

• 10 Min Breathing Meditation – Anna (3/17/26)
• 10 Min Yoga Flow – Denis (3/27/26) — The Streak
• 20 Min Full Body Strength – Joslyn (4/12/26)
• 5 Min Full Body Stretch – Joslyn (3/8/26)

I am still easing myself back into my workout routine with early morning meditation, yoga, and a full body strength class.

Saturday

• 5 Min Warm Up Ride – Erik (3/18/26)
• 30 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride – Matt (4/20/25)
• 10 Min Focus Flow: For Runners – Zach (4/3/26)

I ran errands all day but decided to hop on the bike in the late afternoon and get my blood flowing for a little bit. The Power Zone Endurance Ride with Matt in Zone 2 was just what I needed.

Sunday

• 10 Min Morning Meditation – Chelsea (3/12/26)
• 20 Min Core Strength – Robin (7/31/25)
• 10 Min Full Body Stretch – Kirra (3/12/26)
• 30 Min Endurance Run – Rebecca (4/14/26)
• 5 Min Post-Run Stretch – Matt (6/18/25)

Tanja had invited me to join her for some strength work in the morning, and I decided to go for a short easy-pace run afterwards. It was surprisingly hard to get myself out the door after not running for a few weeks, but once I was on my way, I really enjoyed being outside, and my legs remembered what they were supposed to do.

• 20 Min Restorative – Aditi (8/25/21) — The Streak/Serenity Sunday
• 10 Min Calming Meditation – Mariana (1/14/23)

Current Challenges + Trackers:

I am keeping April pretty simple, only continuing with my yoga streak. I was away for almost half the month, so I didn’t commit to any other trackers. It’ll be nice to jump back into a more structured routine in May.

Streaker365 April The Streak (Daily Yoga)
Streaker365 Serenity Sunday – Yoga and Meditation

This week’s stats:

Running:  3.1 mi
Cycling: 16.7  mi
Walking: 11.3 mi
Strength: 60 min
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 90 min
Warm up/Stretching: 40 min
Meditation: 50 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.

This is a quick and very boring Weekly Run Down just for completeness’ sake. On Monday, we returned from our trip to the Dolomites, and I spent the rest of this week back home at my parents’ house. I only did the same 5-minute standing yoga class every morning after getting up (to keep up my yoga streak and earn my daily “blue dot” for Peloton). I otherwise completely took time off from exercising and just enjoyed time with my family (and we also had a belated birthday party to organize).

Monday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Tuesday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Wednesday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Thursday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Friday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Saturday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Sunday

• 5 Min Standing Yoga – Denis (3/30/21) — The Streak

Current Challenges + Trackers:

Streaker365 April The Streak (Daily Yoga)

This week’s stats:

Walking: 27.8 mi
Yoga/Pilates/Barre: 35 min

I am linking up again for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah.