Kinda Outta Kilter

It was one of those "outta kilter" weeks.

Isn't it crazy how when things get tough, they multiply (and/or just keep getting tougher)? Fortunately, tough times makes us tougher. Once the battle is over, we're much stronger for the fight...but it can seem pretty ominous at the time. 

Such was a peek into my life this past week.

Before I share the details, welcome to the Weekly Run Down!

I love hosting this link-up with Deborah (from Confessions of a Mother Runner)! If you write a fitness-based blog, you're invited to join the party. The link-up opens at 1:00 (EST) on Sundays and remains open through noon on Monday. We love reading about everyone's weekly fitness endeavors, training highlights (or low lights) and race recaps. We ask that you link back to both hosts, and we encourage you to read/comment on the other linked blogs as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)

Anyways, here's what went down in my little corner of the universe...

Never miss a Monday

Can you say brrr? I totally respect a lot of peeps (most of them? LOL) are eager for the summer heat to end, but I'm not one of them. Monday morning greeted me with 59F temps, I kid you not. These temps will feel golden in a couple months, but I think August is too early. I just cannot wish my summer away. That said, the four "breakfast" miles did feel much better than the previous day's eight struggle bus miles. But...that disappearing daylight is a buzzkill.

By the light of the Knuckle Lights...

A TLC Tuesday

After three consecutive days of running (17 cumulative miles), my body was feeling a little beat-down. We did some stretching and yoga in the morning (and again in the evening), as well as two treadmill (walking) miles after work. 

sometimes you feel like the windshield, sometimes you feel like the bug

Whoa, a 10K Wednesday...with Milly

You read that right. With the hubby out of town for the week, I was the chief doggy nurse on duty, and could not leave Max alone. The usual #5at5 was forfeited for an impromptu 10K virtual race, via the treadmill. My spring break race (cancelled due to COVID, as well as our trip to Tampa Bay) surprised me with my swag packet this week. So, why not do the distance, right? After all, I received a shirt (in the pic below) as well as a medal...I might as well "earn" them. With a 4:47a.m. start time, Milly and I knocked out the 6.2 miles in just over an hour. I kept the incline flat, and varied the speed between 6.0-6.3 (just under a 10:00-minute average pace). It wasn't as bad as anticipated, but certainly wasn't the least bit enjoyable either. Ugh, this felt SO hard to me! It was a slower pace than my usual 5-milers with Barb, but there's no way I could have carried on a conversation for the duration. That said, this 10K was a new PR in terms of distance for Milly, so there's that. I can assure you, this PR will hold for a long, long time.

Yes, I wore the event shirt (but not the bib)

Early morning stairs and upper-body intervals for Thursday

It had been awhile since I've done an indoor stair workout, so I mixed in some intervals of upper-body strength work...just to make it interesting.

**10 stair flights (double-stepped)

**10 push-ups

**15 shoulder/upper-back reps

**20 arm reps

**1-minute wall sit 

Five total sets netted me 50 flights of stairs, 50 total push-ups, 75 total shoulder/upper-back reps, 100 total arm reps, and five cumulative minutes of wall-sitting. Total time was around 35 minutes (including a short water break in between sets). 

Double workout (sort of) for Friday

Still on doggy nurse duty, my early morning walk had to happen indoors. Two miles with Milly, again (I sincerely hope she's not getting used to this). I upped the speed to 4.3 (incline on 2), so we knocked out those two miles in 28:54. Hey, these long legs can move!

My cheesy Flex-It Friday pose

By afternoon, the hubby had returned! He took over the doggy nurse duties, so Barb and I took on the hilly bike path out to the lake (and back). This was my fourth jaunt to the lake this season, and every ride has been blessed with wind, lucky me (don't be jealous). Remember what I said about tough things making us tougher? Yeah, this was one of those examples. Fourteen miles on the bike path (10 of which encompassed the 12 hills), and then three bonus miles (back in town) on flat ground.

we don't just battle the hills, the heat, or the wind on foot

Long run Saturday

With a lack of races, Barb and I have been doing most of our long runs in town...and we're getting pretty bored running the same streets over and over again (and again). We decided to head to Des Moines (an hour away) and take part in another group run. Temps were warm and balmy (mid-70F's with 86% humidity), but we had quite a bit of cloud cover. My legs were a bit cranky for the first 3-4 miles (from the hilly bike ride, no doubt), but we got 10 miles done and made a few new friends along the way. But...it wasn't until we'd changed out of our super saturated clothing and were in the car, headed home, when I realized I'd forgotten to get the requisite post-run selfie! And I call myself a blogger LOL. Another first world problem...

We ran 10 miles in the vicinity of Gray's Lake, I pinky swear!

Sunrise riding on Sunday

You all know how much I love my sunrises. With the hubby gone most of last week, I had not been able to witness any sunrises (yes, I realize that's another #FirstWorldProb). Come Sunday morning, the sunrise was beckoning. I felt really good (no post-long run DOMS), but decided to take a pass on running and hit the street with Gustavas instead. The usual wind was there (seriously!), and the temps were balmy (but bearable on the bike). We did 12 miles, and returned home feeling totally refreshed. I even snuck in a 2-mile power walk before our church service came on (still live-streaming).

So, despite the stressful week with Max (see below), I did come out alright on the other end. Running miles tapped out at 20. Walking saw only 13, most of which were done over my lunch break or on the treadmill. Biking was decent with 35 miles, and those all happened in the later part of the week. The stair workout felt really good, and sufficed as this week's lower-body strength work (I also did 10 flights on Monday morning, as part of my warm-up before my run). I'm working on adding another set of dumbbells to my "collection," but those are hard to find at the moment, so I'm just doing extra reps.

In case you missed out, here's what else went down on the blog this week:

Enjoying the Sun; Getting it Done

Gimme A (coffee) Break

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair!  What do you think of distressed jeans? Myself, I love the shabby chic appeal of them. They can go casual or dressy depending on what you pair with them. I'm still in love with cold shoulder blouses as well...they're a great summer item because they offer a little heat relief without being too revealing. As always, you're welcome to join me on Fridays...post a pic on Instagram, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and be sure to tag me (@runningonthefly).

Max and me. We had quite a week. His recovery is going well, but it's a never-ending challenge keeping him "immobile." He had a post-op check-up this week, and the extensive bandaging came off. His sutures are now exposed (yikes!), so we're being extra cautious. He's already walking "like normal" most of the time, but still is 3-legged running a lot (and he's not supposed to be running at all, the little stinker).

Lastly, this week we celebrated my mother's birthday. That will conclude all the birthdays until November (we've had on-going birthdays since mine, back in mid-March).

Whew! I'm looking forward to getting back to a little more normalcy. The hubby is typically gone a couple nights each week, but that all came to a halt when COVID hit. Just in recent weeks, his routine has started easing back to normal, as well, and it just worked out he had a lot of out-of-town obligations scheduled before Max's surgery became a reality. But, ALL of us survived the crazy week. And I certainly feel stronger for the experience. Glass half full, indeed!

How are things in your world? Is the summer heat still a factor? Any more virtual racing? Have you ever felt overwhelmed with caring for a recovering fur kid?

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