I’m back in Ireland after a week in Spain, and while it was not great to switch sunshine to dull clouds and rain, I’m happy to come back home. As I always say, it’s a sign we’ve created a good life here, despite all the bumps in the road the last few years.

I’m joining the Weekly rundown link-up to share my week of fitness, but I’ll also share some more from our week in Spain.

When I’m away I always keep some fitness routine going. It’s what I do naturally to feel good! For the trip to Spain I planned to get back to daily walking in one way or another, and to do simple strength exercises when possible. You can always do some strength training, bodyweight squats, lunges, pushups etc. My in-laws also have some bands and dumbbells, lighter than what I lift in the gym but definitely better than nothing.

I did push-ups most days. After my Bulgarian squat challenge I felt like keeping the momentum going, and since push-ups are my second hardest exercise I decided to make April the month of daily push-ups. It’s an excellent exercise that works on many muscle groups and they will help me up the game with the bench press too.

Talking of the Bulgarian split squat challenge, when I came back to the gym, guess what my trainer made me do? Bulgarian split squats! And a massive load of them, with 4 sets of 10 reps on each leg. It was bodyweight only with some hybrid program after I had been sick. But I crushed them! I did them all and only lost balance once on the right leg. So I certainly have worked up the Bulgarians to some extent!

Spain, day 1-4

Wednesday – Thursday – travel and relax.
We arrived to Spain on Wednesday evening, and had dinner at 23.30 – not really our usual habits but what do you do! It was lovely to see my in-laws again. The next day was very soft, we visited a shopping centre, and later my husband and his dad went on a bike ride. My mother-in-law and I di§d some shopping and then relaxed in the sun at a local bar. The lads came later for hydration and carb refueling!

Friday – walking and strength training
On the Friday I finally went for a walk again! This little walk along the beach is about 4 km. I prefer walking along the sea so I walk to a specific spot and then turn back. After about a month of no proper walking I really enjoyed it. The first morning was quite cool because I got up just after sunrise, but it soon warmed up to maybe 19 degrees (66F).

I also got some weights going! This patio is quite small but still a nice place for some training, to take advantage of the sunshine.

I did some good sets of deadbugs, lateral raises, shoulder presses and reverse flyes with the 5 kg dumbbells, and then push-ups and Cuban press (with 2,5 kg dumbbells).

Later we went to the local market and after over a year of searching, I finally bought two nice dresses. Why are all dresses in shops so weird these days? I just want basic dresses with a flowy A-line fit.. I found something online before the trip but then it was too late to order. These two are not the fanciest but lovely summer dresses and they fit me perfectly.

Saturday – lots of walking!
On the Saturday I enjoyed a nice morning walk again, 4 km. It was a bit windy near the water but a glorious morning!

Later, my husband and his dad did a longer bike ride (100 km) so my mother-in-law and I went for a longer walk through a pine nut tree park (one of my favourite places here) to the beach. I did 18000 steps this day – the longest I’ve walked since the day before Christmas.

Sunday
On the Sunday we visited a local market, we call it the lemon market because along the road you pass massive fields with lemon trees. It’s beautiful to go there! The market itself isn’t particularly exciting but it has an impressive selection of fruit and veg. For everything else, the Friday market is better.

Later we took the bus into town for a stroll, drinks and dinner in a new restaurant. I photographed this lady – it’s said she’s waiting for her husband who was lost at sea.

What I didn’t photograph was the dinner and drinks! I think I need to re-learn to document daily life! I almost never do that these days which is a bit sad because those photos are nice to look at later.

This week, including Spain, day 5-7

Monday – Villa Joyosa

On this day I skipped the morning walk because we were going on a road trip to a place further away, a beautiful spot by the sea where we planned to stop for lunch and a stroll. This trip had some bummers! We stopped to refuel the car, and I went inside to use the toilet. When I came out I saw the back of the car disappear out on the motorway! 🤣

Isn’t it wonderful that we have mobile phones? I rang my husband, and it was only when he saw my name on the screen that they realised I wasn’t there! What a confused bunch! We had a good laugh about that.

Then later there was a weird noise from the side of the car and it turned out to be a problem with the window at the driver seat. It had come off and couldn’t be closed, they’ve had a similar problem earlier on the passenger side. This is fine until you want to stop and walk away from the car. Obviously nothing you can ignore, so we had to stop at a shopping centre car park to fix it. This was on a public holiday so we were very fortunate that the car repair shop was open.

Villa Joyosa was a nice little town so it was well worth all the trouble! We found a restaurant that looked good and after some attempts in English, Italian and Spanish (my mother-in-law knows some, and I understand some since I know Italian), we figured out what was gluten-free and I enjoyed a fantastic fish. (Again, I didn’t photograph it) I had hoped we could walk around more but I strolled a bit with my camera on my own while we waited for the food.

Tuesday – strength

This was the last full day in Spain for this time, and my body was itching to lift stuff. I did (standard) split squats, lateral raises, bicep curls (with 5 kg dumbbells), push-ups, Renegade row and tricep presses (the latter two with 2,5 kg dumbbells), mixed with showing my mother-in-law some exercises for her knees and lower back. She worked on the mat while I did my lifts.

It was absolutely roasting on the patio but very pleasant – I’m all for warm weather! I’m quite sure this is where I got most of my tan.

Wednesday – travel day

This was the day we would fly home but I had prepped most of my luggage so I could take some time for a good walk. I did the usual route but on the way back I walked on the beach along the water. I need to do more of this! It’s so soothing to walk on the sand and hear the sound of the rolling waves.

In the afternoon we flew back to Cork. Everything went smoothly except the usual… I’m always so fascinated about how people can do advanced jobs that require intelligence and skills but as soon as they get to an airport they’re completely clueless. How is it possible it’s such rocket science to get on and off a plane? I was tired and had very little patience so it was good to sit down on the plane and do nothing.

Thursday

Well, hello Cork!

At least now we have temperatures that makes walking enjoyable.But it’s been the wettest winter in a long time with almost no breaks from either rain or cold. People are struggling mentally and farmers can’t start preparing their fields because it’s so wet they can’t get there with the vehicles. Ireland really, really needs some dry sunny weather now.
Thursday was yet another rainy day and I stayed inside. After the trip (or a lot of walking?) I was so stiff in my hip area that I put leggings on and did some squats, lunges and glute stretches to loosen up. I spent the rest of the day at my stand-up desk. In the evening it was good to get back to the tune session in town. Despite not having the Spanish weather, it was good to be home.

Friday – back to the gym!

How lovely to go back to the gym! Not only had I been away on holiday, before that I had a respiratory infection and didn’t train for 2 weeks. During that time I sat coughing in my armchair, dreaming about bench presses! It was so good to get a proper lifting session again.

I’ve been quite tired in my legs lately – whether it’s still effects of the Bulgarian squats or because I was sick and sat in an armchair most of the time for two weeks? I don’t know but I get easily stiff and tired around knees and hips and one of my glutes is very fussy. It felt good to do some sumo squats which I haven’t done with added weight for a long time.

I really looked forward to the bench press! The first set felt quite easy but then I started struggling at the end of the second set, and just barely made it to the end of the third set. Hard work as it’s supposed to be and I loved it! Then the Renegade row… this is a monster exercise but I love doing it. I was really tired at the end but pushed through to finish the set.

I felt so good after doing some proper lifting again!

Saturday

A lovely sunny day! I decided to go down to Simon’s cove. I also need to try to take some photos for a coastline competition with the camera club. This theme is so not my cup of tea but I haven’t joined any of the competitions recently so I really want to give this a try.

I didn’t get any photos, but some good walking. I actually went twice! The first time I had to turn back to use the bathroom. Then there was a rain shower, but the sun came back and I decided to try Simon’s cove again. It was lovely and warm despite the wind! The thermometer said 12 degrees but we probably had up to 15 (59F) in places.

When I came to Simon’s cove it was impossible to get down to the rocks because everything was covered in seaweed, probably brought in by the recent storm. A bummer, but I enjoyed the walk and actually got at least 11 km this day. After that I did quite a few rounds in the garden with the lawn mower!

Sunday

With some massively sore muscles since Friday, today is a rest day. I’m not even doing my push-ups! And didn’t do them yesterday either. Even with a challenge like this one, I need to listen to the body and know when certain muscle groups need to chill a little.

Now I’m looking forward to a totally NORMAL week! Work, gym and music. And more grass cutting, I hope!

How have you been doing? Do you have spring weather?

Thanks to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown linkup!