Steve in a Speedo?! Gross!

Week of Costa Rica Workouts

>> Monday, February 02, 2026

I've only posted a fun "jungle adventure" video so far from our Costa Rica trip that ended just over a week ago, but I'll have a few more videos and pics over the next few weeks. Here's a quick look at my training as I was there:

I "grayed out" the previous week except for Sunday as that was the morning we took off. I did nothing on Sunday the 18th.

• MON, 1/19: nothing. This is usually my long run day. But I was resting a glute issue that's still hanging around. I walked around a lot, but didn't do any workout (on purpose).

• TUES, 1/20: shorter upper body. My shoulder still isn't right from hurting it in December. I'm feeling pretty beat up with this sore glute and sore shoulder. Dang. So I did a shorter 5x upper body for everything by my shoulders (chest/back, lats, then biceps/triceps).

• WED, 1/21: treadmill test run. I was hoping to go about 5 miles, but I felt my glute get a little sore at about mile 4.7. So I stopped at mile 4.75, but I wasn't hurting - it was a good time to stop.

• THURS, 1/22: good upper body. This was my longest workout, and it was a nice one. I did 8x everything (and 8 minutes of some PT shoulder exercises) in 65 minutes. And then I hit the buffet for refueling:

High protein buffet post-workout: FOUR kinds of eggs (whites, scramble,
omelette, and on an open-faced English muffin sandwich).

Later in the day, I did some core as my wife did a little workout as well - we put the boys to bed because they were pooped, and then we went to the gym for a bit.

• FRI, 1/23: easy treadmill run. Nothing fancy. And my butt held up a bit longer this time! I went 5.5 miles. (Well, 8.8 km, which is JUST under 5.5 miles... I was counting 800 meters on the treadmill as a half mile). And I didn't stop because it hurt, but because I had gone far enough.

About to hit 8.8 km, and 22 "laps" on a track.
(I just stared at those dots doing laps around the track for 40 minutes.)

Afterwards, I did a cool-down walk towards the beach...

... and had this view as the beach was still in shadows. Life is rough.

This was all on a day that schools all across the Twin Cities were closed because it was too cold - it was something like 20 degrees below 0 with a windchill of around 40 below!

• SAT, 1/24: quicker upper body. After getting more comfortable with their machines, I did a shorter, HEAVIER workout of just 5x everything. But moved more weight.

• SUN, 1/25: core. Just some early morning core before heading home!

And my intensity and steps are "interesting" for the week. Here are screenshots from last night, showing a pretty normal/decent week back home last week, with Costa Rica being the 2nd week back (and an extra small week 3 weeks back from this butt injury that I'm still trying to work through). In Costa Rica, I completely skipped my long run on Monday to let my butt rest. And I didn't do any swimming or bike rides - just running, some strength work, and walking. My intensity minutes took a hit while in Costa Rica as I'd expect:

All small days.

A big drop between the injury 3 weeks ago and skipping runs in C.R. 2 weeks ago.

But my step count was right on par even though I skipped a 15,000 step run.

Lack of running that week, fewer official Garmin "walks" than normal, but having to walk around a big resort to get anywhere kept my steps high.

Injured Running Routes Look Wild

>> Saturday, January 31, 2026

After a semi-successful pseudo-long run on the treadmill on Monday morning (9 miles instead of 11+ where I was ready to jump off if my butt got too sore), I was ready to head outside for a run on Wednesday. Only it was cold, icy, and I needed to find some clear sidewalks. So I just did some random loops along the University of St. Thomas because they take real nice care of their sidewalks:

1 degree with some breeze. Not the nicest.

Follow the half-mile splits: a real random loopy run.

Just past split #3 I was about 1.5 miles from home, but I was a mile or less at every other point in the run. If my sore glute flared up, I could turn and walk home at any point and not get more injured or freeze in those cold temps. I was hoping to make it 5 miles, and I got in 5.44.

It didn't feel perfect, but it didn't get "sore." I took that as a win! Especially 2 days after a long run test, and a day after a decent trainer ride.

And then I did pretty much the same run yesterday in similar weather (0 degrees and 12 mph wind yesterday, vs 1 degree and 9 mph wind on Wednesday).

Oh, and I have 2 possible theories for my sore butt. First I thought it could have been from so much treadmill time: just an overuse injury from the EXACT SAME foot strike on the treadmill. But more recently I wondered if it didn't flare up from going on walks when it's slippery outside and therefore walking more "stiff" and tense (with my butt a little flexed). So I'm trying to make sure I'm walking and running "naturally" and nice and loose.

Back with some Costa Rican workouts from 10 days ago shortly!...