Outrunning the Rain

And the crazy weather of 2018 continues....

Seriously, this has been the oddest of years in terms of weather. First, our winter refused to pack up and vacate until mid-April. Then, summer promptly arrived on the scene a couple weeks later, giving us ZERO time to acclimate. Just this past week, we celebrated the summer solstice...you know, the first day of summer...with temps in the low-60's. What the WHAT???

If the 30-degree temperature plummet wasn't enough, we also had (almost) daily rain this past week. Thankfully, it wasn't enough rain to cause flooding (at least in my part of the state), but it was just enough to force a bit of schedule-juggling.

Here's what all went down in my little corner of the universe:

Thankfully, Monday was a pretty normal day in terms of seasonal weather. I was able to get outside for a couple of early morning #nevermissaMonday miles before starting my day. A new strategy I've been trying, in the past couple weeks, is to skip my shakeout run on Sundays (following my long Saturday run)...and that extra day of non-running activity has been working in my favor. Monday's miles felt effortless. Coincidence?

early morning miles for the win

Tuesdays are usually pretty low-key. I took Max for his morning walk, and then walked a little more through the 'hood, making it back home just before the forecasted rain began to fall.  I wish I would have documented the day I began my planking streak. I've been doing daily morning planks for a few years...well, I did miss a few random days last summer (when I was somewhat confined to a hospital bed), but I have been disciplined about dropping to the floor pretty much every morning. Of course, my little coach  is usually supervising....

Isn't my coach a little cutie?

Wednesday was almost a flop. The weather app showed a 50% chance of thunder storms, but everything looked (and sounded) clear at 4:30 a.m. I texted Barb, and we confirmed our #5at5 (five miles at 5:00 a.m.) was a go....but then, as I was going down the stairs, 20 minutes later, I heard the first rumbles of thunder. A couple of minutes later, the heavens opened up and down came the rain, in full force. A quick phone call, and we agreed to postpone our run until later, hopefully after work. I laid back down for a few minutes, fully dressed and wide awake. I then made the command decision to grab some hand weights and head outside, and do a #frontporchfitness workout instead. Some arm/shoulder work, with some burpee intervals mixed in, and all was well. You do what you can do, right? Problem solved.

Doesn't everyone take advantage of their front porch when the rain is coming down?

The rain continued on and off most of the day, but tapered off late in the afternoon. Barb and I were able to meet around 6:30, and got our five miles done....in almost complete sunshine! How's that for waiting out Momma N's rain and coming out victorious?

our #5at5 morphed into a #5at630

Thursday brought us the summer solstice, the first official day of summer. Wouldn't you know, Momma N had another twisted trick up her sleeve. I woke up to a 30-degree drop in temps! I had hoped to get in a speed workout, but my body was feeling pretty tired from Wednesday's late-in- the-day miles (coincidentally, which we'd run a bit faster than usual). Instead, I elected to do the speedwork later and go for an early morning walk instead. I didn't know if I should jump for joy, shriek in surprise, or simply grab an extra layer....those temps felt downright chilly in comparison to the heat and humidity we'd been living with for the past several weeks.

Yikes!

As luck would have it, more rain was in the forecast. I got home from work around 3:30, only to hear the rain coming down just after I'd gotten in the house. Ugh. I never, ever, take naps, but I decided a little snooze would be alright. I heard the daughter come home about an hour later, and noticed the rain had stopped. The radar showed the rain was moving out of the area, and the clouds were breaking up a bit. I had come up with an interval workout that I could do near my house (with no street crossings or traffic to interfere), and I was eager to give it a try. I ran an easy-paced mile for a warm-up, and then got to work. I did alternating intervals of one city block/two city blocks, back and forth, with equal recovery "jogs" in between each change in distance. All went well, and most of the intervals showed negative splits. The session netted me three cumulative miles (including the warm-up). Done!

That unsuspecting sidewalk didn't know what hit it LOL

After Wednesday's challenging 5-miler and Thursday's speedwork, Friday was a much needed day of rest and recovery. The weather remained cool, though a bit damp from some (more) overnight rain, but I got out for some walking. Although I think the #FlexItFriday posts are kind of cheesy, I succumbed and posted a pic anyways (I know, my bad). Don't expect a "flexing" post on a regular basis, though.

Saturday morning treated us to pleasant temps (low 70's) and a much welcome break from the humidity. I met up with Barb for seven miles. Although my hammy still felt a bit tight, overall, it was much less angry. Apparently, taking Friday off, as well as lots of stretching and foam rolling, gave it the TLC it was needing. I probably could have added a couple extra miles, but decided to call it good at seven and not risk overdoing it. I'm in between training cycles, anyways, so there's nothing to gain by doing excess mileage. Besides, I had plans of doing some extra walking later in the day.

pay no attention to the mismatched tape on the feet...

Sunday morning was another beautiful day in Iowa. The hubby and I took Max for a 2-mile walk in the early morning sunshine and enjoyed the fresh air. Oodles of yard work was on tap for the afternoon (garden squats, anyone?), as well as some more walking. Maybe even some time relaxing in the sun, doing absolutely nothing....

All is calm, and all is bright in the morning sunlight

Despite the crazy hot weather, and the intermittent rain, I'm happy with all the fitness endeavors I was able to get in this week. My running mileage (Monday-Sunday) tallied at 17 miles. I'm still doing daily leg lifts and wall sits, and random arm/shoulders/abs exercises. We have a new summer challenge at my place of work, so I'll be logging my walking miles for that as well. It will be interesting to see how this summer's walking mileage compares to last summer (when walking became my "running" while I recovered from surgery).

Also, in recent months, I have been trying to get in 20-30 daily minutes of "fasted cardio" first thing in the morning (mainly on the days when I don't have an early morning run happening). I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight, but I am working on cutting fat. I had not taken measurements since mid-February, so I was pleasantly surprised to see I had lost two inches off my waist (#progress). That was another reminder of how little daily things, that don't seem like much, can have a significant effect if you commit to doing them with other focused work. Now if I could just exercise that same kind of commitment to de-cluttering my house.....

In case you missed them, here's my posts from last week:
All is well
Summer 2018 - What's on tap
Post-Worthy Pics-5 recent favorites

In other news:
Did you catch my #FridayFashionFlair pic on Instagram (@runningonthefly)? I respect that neutrals are all the rage, but I usually have to add a burst of color or I just don't feel like myself. I couldn't find my fuschia scarf (I need to de-clutter my closet as well), so this turquoise one was my back-up option. What do you think?  Feel free to join the party...post a pic on Friday, use the hashtag, and give me a tag!

Did I mention how hot it has been? When I left work on Tuesday afternoon, we had triple digits of heat and lots of humidity to enjoy.

feelin' hot hot hot

Last of all, my garden is going bonkers. I have been able to stay ahead of the weeding (thus far...), but our zucchini plant (vine?) is taking over. I have a few varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and the wayward zucchini. I'm looking forward to making lots of salsa soon!

Can you spot the zucchini? It's on the far right...and working its way across the entire plot

So, that's another week all wrapped up! Did you celebrate the summer solstice, or has it felt like summer for awhile already? Any new workouts you've tried recently? Did you get a lot of rain this past week, too?

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!