Got a Few 'Fessions?

Got a few 'fessions? 

Rest assured, I have a few. Actually, I have several things worthy to 'fess-up about...but I'll spare you a lengthy post and just share five (you're welcome).

There's been a lot of things going down, and some exciting things on the horizon...

Shall we get started?

First off, the Air Force Marathon. Most of heard, by now, that my marathon is off the calendar. It was the right decision for the race officials to make, though it did leave all of its registrants in a state of disappointment. Myself? I was just getting into "the meat" of high mileage when my hip/groin "issue" arrived on the scene a few weeks ago. While I was able to momentarily scale-back the long weekend runs, and sub in some extra cycling to keep the legs (and endurance) in motion...I was feeling a little bit of apprehension about the September 18th race day. Let me runfess, this announcement actually came at an opportune time and has left me feeling most grateful for how Fate intervened. My body is feeling almost fully recovered, and there's no pressure (self-imposed or otherwise) to push the miles now. WHEW!

With the AFM off the table, I'm now free to focus on "just" a couple of half marathons coming up. Well, truth be told, one of those is actually a 20K, and it's happening on Saturday. You all have heard me mention DAM to DSM a few times, and I'm usually gushing in unabashed excitement as I do so. Formerly known as Dam to Dam, this was my first-ever distance race, and it quickly sealed my fate as a distance runner. With the exception of 2020 (when I had to complete the virtual event on my bike, due to my stress fracture), I have run it every year since 2008. This weekend's D2D will be a bit different, in that it's being held in late August instead of its usual Saturday-after-Memorial-Day time slot. We've already received news of a weather advisory (it's gonna be #HotHotHot), but I'm not running this for a PR anyways. I DAMfess that I'll simply be happy to just be back on the route of my favorite race, and I'd already planned to take things easy with my recovering hip. Besides, the heat never bothered me anyways (paraphrasing Elsa, from Frozen).

with the hubby, the last time we ran D2D, in 2019

This week, I hit a milestone...my 12th consecutive (weekly) ride on the hilly bike path! In 2019, I also hit that 12-ride milestone, but not until a month later, so the odds are ever-in-my-favor of surpassing it next week. I've bikefessed before, an I'll bikefess again...biking has really served me well. I came across an article that said, on the average (which is very relative, depending on the bike, the athlete, and the difficulty of the route), there is a 1:3 run-to-bike ratio. In other words, you have to ((roughly)) do three times the distance on a bike to reap the benefits of running (for example, 30 miles of biking is ~approximately~ the same calorie burn, fitness equivalent, etc. as 10 miles of running). Again, that's an average...so it will vary depending on the factors mentioned above.  Interesting, huh! 

BTW, that's a vintage Dam to Dam shirt (that I made into a tank)

Ever since my 88-mile biking adventure, via RAGBRAI (recap HERE), the thought of doing a century ride has been dancing around in my head. Since there's no longer a fall marathon happening, that gives me plenty of time to play around with biking in September (since my next half marathon isn't until mid-October). So...if I can share another bikefession...a few of us are scheming a century ride route next month. Yes, you heard it here first. Not sure what's happened to me; I certainly never could have seen this biking thing coming...

Finally, I did it again. I have to FullMoonfess, another full moon run happened last weekend (this was my fourth consecutive). The temps were warm and humid, and the moon was shining bright and bold. Honestly, it felt (again) like a real summer run. We'd had a somewhat cool weekend, with more comfortable humidity levels, but there's just something about a hot summer evening that makes me smile. I know, I know. I'm kind of all alone on this, but I'm just not wanting my summer to end.

So, sigh. Summer is winding down, albeit my best attempts to hang on to it. Thankfully, I've been able to get outside everyday, so I can maximize what's left of it before all the cold stuff settles in. And, I'm grateful I can runfess about (almost) everything that's happening. All is well; the glass is half full.

Talk to me...

Do you have anything to 'fess-up about? Has the summer heat got you down, or are you trying to hang on just a bit longer? If you had a marathon cancel, would you try to find another, or just let things be and move on? Did you catch the full moon? 

 I'm  linking this with Marcia for the monthly Runfessions link-up.

I'm also linking this with Michelle, Renee, Darlene, Jenn and Zenaida for the Fit Five Friday Link-up.

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