Suddenly Summer

How about a sweet fast-forward right into Summer?

Momma N really had her game messed up this week! She kept forcing the wind on us (pretty much on the daily), but she also abruptly upped the temps by 40-ish degrees. As much as I embrace the heat of summer, I do appreciate a bit of an acclimation, thank you very much. I will gladly take it, though, and give winter a final kick to its backside. 

Fresh off a challenging 10K race, my body was more than ready for some recovery time. The heat and humidity, in a sense were pretty well-timed in that I didn't have a lot of intense outdoor fitness stuff on tap for the week...so maybe Momma N did me a favor?

Before I dis on 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 8:00AM (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 ;-)

So, here's what went down this week...

Sunday - Momma N's revenge at the Des Moines Women's Half/10K/5K!

If you recall, I'd done the Fight for Air Climb on Saturday, so Sunday was day-2 of action with a race bib. Barb and I left town at 6:30ish to get to Des Moines (an hour away) in time for the 8:00 start. There was rain in the forecast, and we saw lightning as we drove along I-80. Upon arrival, we learned the race had been delayed 30 minutes. A short while later, it was further delayed to 9:00, and the half marathon had been canceled (but participants were encouraged to run the 10K). We were registered for the 10K, so the delay really didn't affect our "racing" plan. I'll post a recap this next week, but suffice it to say the wind was an unrelenting monster (it went from 23mph to 25mph in the course of an hour!). We did have a little bit of rain, midway through the race, but it wasn't heavy. Somehow, I pulled off a 3rd place AG with a 56:28 finish. We had to rush back home, afterwards, for Mother's Day stuff, and I crashed (on the couch) for a couple of hours...and did not move much for the rest of the evening.

Never miss a Monday!

How about starting the day with a recovery run? Or a windy run? Or a sunrise-enhanced run? Or, all of the above? My legs were feeling tired, and my energy was sub-par, but recovery runs work like magic for me...so I gave it a shot. I walked a half mile to the college campus, ran a couple 1-mile laps, then walked back home. Boom! All better (for the most part). The wind was crazy ((again)), but the temps were nice, so my friend and I got in two 1-mile walks at work.

 

Taking-It-Easy Tuesday...

With the suddenly warm temps (umm, that would be almost 70F in the early morning), I took my Tuesday Tunde 2-fer workout outdoors. Twenty minutes of light weights and lots of toning, and that's all she wrote. Also another 2-fer with the walk breaks at work.

 

Double Workout Wednesday!

Barb and I met for our weekly #5at5, and I may have been a tiny bit giddy. The temps were indeed summer-like (73F and humid) and we had daylight pretty much from the second mile on! It won't be long before we can leave the Noxgear vests and Knuckle Lights at home.

Later, after work, it was time to reincarnate the weekly rides on the hilly bike path. Amy and I had some serious work ahead of us on this first day back on the trail. The hills had not changed (though they may have felt a bit bigger, LOL), but Momma N released more wrath on us with the heat, humidity and the obnoxious wind. It was Krystal's first big ride (she's my new bike), and it was kind of a baptism by fire in more ways than one. Ugh, those 15 miles were tough!

Thankful Thursday.

It was another balmy morning, but all I had on deck (literally) was a couple of stacked upper-body workouts. BTW, isn't it sweet when the weights and your outfit color-coordinate with the morning sky? I'd thought of doing another bike ride after work, but the wind was (still) rather obnoxious, so I took a pass. 

 

Finally Friday.

I took Krystal for her first sunrise ride Friday morning (12 miles). Wow, I have really missed those early morning rides! Up until this week, it had simply been too cold and too windy, but Friday rewarded me with a perfect early morning setting. Later, there was a quick 1-mile walk at work, and a 2.5-mile walk after dinner.

Saturday's agenda - Market-to-Market Relay!

Six other gals, and myself, took part in the Market-to-Market Relay. This was an all-day endeavor...we left town at 4:45 in the morning and I walked back into my house just after 10:00 that night. We had hot weather, dusty roads, and plenty of laughter over the course of 76 miles (14 total miles for me, over the course of three relay legs). Stay tuned...recap coming soon!

What's on tap for Sunday?

Depending on the weather, I may go for a longish bike ride, to give the legs some flushing-out, and there will be some walking. In the evening, there's another full moon run happening.

So, this week was a delicate mix of recovery (from the Climb and the DSM Women's 10K) and preparation/taper for Saturday's Market to Market Relay. The running mileage stayed low (12 miles), but had 14ish more miles added to it from M2M (26 total miles for the week). Biking also stayed very conservative (27 miles). Walking was decent, with 12 miles (plus a lot of back-and-forth during the M2M as well...probably a good 3-4 miles of constant motion in between the relay runs). I kept the strength work limited to upper-body, but continued my daily core workouts (as well as daily leg lifts, push-ups and planking). I'm looking forward to a few weeks of maintenance as I await the DAM to DSM 13.1 (June 4th).

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

Let the Mayhem Commence

Fight for Air Climb - 2022 recap

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair.

With the suddenly-summer tropical weather, why not dress the part? This is a fun, beachy vibe top I got while in Florida earlier this year. Until this past week, though it had been just hanging in my closet. I have a feeling it's going to see a lot of action in the next few months.

The flowers and perennials are going nutzo in my yard! The tulips and daffodils looked absolutely beautiful just last weekend...but took a major hit with the crazy warm temps this week.

Sigh. The magnolia tree also morphed from a blossoming thing of beauty to full-on green leaves...in a matter of a few short days. All the blossoms were shed as the leaves pushed through. At least this year, we were able to actually enjoy their beauty and vibrant colors for a few weeks. Usually, they just start blossoming when a late-arriving ice storm, heavy rain, or surprise hard frost zaps them. 

So there you go! Summer arrived on the scene in full force, Monday afternoon, and stuck around all week. We do have cooler, more seasonal, temps in the forecast (back to the 60F-70F's), but it looks like Winter is finally a thing of the past (at least for a few months, LOL).

How did your week play out? Does it still feel like Winter, or did Summer make an early appearance? Any significant workouts that need mention? Any weekend racing?

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