Here's to Warmer Days Ahead

It was hard to come up with a theme from this past week.

After all, we should be celebrating the start of spring...except the temps are not indicative of that. I should be basking in the glow from the previous weekend's half marathon (recap HERE), but that race was kind of buzz kill. And, I should be excited about our family's trip to Florida instead of anticipating the roller coaster of events awaiting our return.

The glass is half full, though, and I'm grateful to have things such as these to experience. Life would be boring if we had optimal weather everyday, nonstop fulfilling races to run, and a lack of family adventures. So, onward!


Here's what went down this past week:

Monday
I was pleasantly surprised that all of my parts felt great following that tough St. Paddy's Half Marathon, I didn't even have any DOMS showing up uninvited! I went for an early morning walk (before the sunrise), and ran a couple miles in the afternoon (again, in the wind). I also may have done some extra planking, push-ups, supermans, AND burpees because I felt so good. Go me!

#nevermissaMonday

Tuesday

Nothing major happens on my rest day except for the daily planking and some light strength work. Oh, there may have also been some more burpees...

So what if this workout happened just before bedtime?

Wednesday

It had been two weeks since Barb and I had done a #5at5 (five miles at 05:00). Although the temps were chilly, I have become quite accomplished at layering. I actually may have been a bit over-layered....look Ma, no gloves!

another #5at5 done!

Thursday

It also had been two weeks since I'd done a stair workout (I skipped the stairs last week in prepping for the half marathon). Yowza! I did a stair circuit involving burpees, slow-motion push-ups and supermans...netting me 50 total flights of double-stepping, and 50 of everything else mentioned...and I was a saturated, sweaty mess when finished.

Eat, Sleep, Climb, Repeat....my Fight for Air Climb alumni shirt says it all

Friday

Another rest day, all I had on tap was a long early morning walk that ended with almost total daylight! Don't you love it when that happens?

Even with the time change, I can tell the daylight is coming sooner and sooner

Saturday
Oh my. Would you believe another winter storm hit Iowa?  We had rain overnight, and the rain was still falling when I woke up on Saturday morning. The temps were (again, just like a week ago) bordering on 32F-33F, which indicated it would be either raining or snowing and most unpleasant. The heavy rain had turned to a relentless snow by late morning. We took a 4-hour interlude and headed to a nearby town to shop for a prom dress (spoiler: #success), and it was still snowing when we returned home. After postponing my long run all day, I decided to postpone it further (to Sunday morning) and finally headed out around 4:30 for a wet, snow-pelting 2.5-mile run. Let me just clarify this...although the snow may look quite pretty, I am quite done with it.

snow.....

Sunday
Temps were in the low 20's and we had wind! Imagine that! But, the bright early-morning sunshine was beautiful. Barb and I met up at 7:00 and ran a 10K distance, fighting a fierce headwind for two continuous miles, but we're Iowa tough. We've run in much worse (colder & windier) conditions. Momma N ain't got nothin' on us.

I believe I can fly

So that's a wrap on my fitness for the week. There was a lot of daily walking, numerous burpees, many push-ups, and just under 16 miles for (running) mileage. Not bad considering this was a bit of a recovery week from the half marathon.

In case you missed them, here's the posts from last week:
Still Running Against the Wind
St. Paddy's Half Marathon recap
Running in the Dark...My Top 5 Safety Tips

In other news:
Did you catch my #FridayFashionFlair post on Instgram? Yes, I'm wearing a bright spring-colored shirt with a puffer vest because the temps have been so chilly! Has your weather been more winter-like than spring? Please join me on Friday...post a pic of a featured outfit, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and drop me a tag (@runningonthefly). We're all fitness-minded peeps, but show us what else you got!

Well, that's the latest and (somewhat) greatest in my world. Our family is headed to the sunshine state for spring break, so I'm looking forward to leaving the gloves behind, putting my toes in the sand, and running outdoors in a tank top and shorts. It's the little things, right?

I'm linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap. This weekly check-in is such a great place to connect with fellow fitness-minded peeps. Please join us! 

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