Summer's Last Hurrah

Well, it certainly felt like summer again this past week!

Not only did the temps shoot back up to the 80F-90F range, the humidity returned as well. That's exactly how I like it, so no complaints from me...but it's crazy how hot it felt after the much cooler temps we'd had over the previous weekend.


Here's what all went down this past week:

#nevermissaMonday
Not even 24 hours prior, I had posted (via Facebook and Insta) that Sunday's 52F temps were the coldest of the season...only to have Momma N pull another fast one on me. Seriously, why are some people just looking to pick a fight with me? None the less, I dug out some capri's (the first of the late summer/early fall season) and got outside anyways. A quick 3-1/2 miles at a decent 5K pace and I was back home before the sunrise. Take that, Momma N!

I'm thankful to have plenty of well-lighted streets

Tuesday's tribute 

I'm a proud American, and my patriotism runs deep. Every year on September 11th, I do a tribute run to honor the day. There have been some years when I have run 9.11 miles. Last year, still in the throes of recovery, I walked 9.11 miles (over the course of the day). This year, since it technically was supposed to be a recovery day, I ran for 9.11 minutes (approximately a mile in distance).

We will never forget

Wednesday's weekly #5at5

The temps were a bit chilly (59F), but still quite comfortable. The air was still, the humidity was a no-show, and the sky was clear. I met Barb at our usual spot and we knocked out our ritual five miles. Although these early morning runs are in total darkness now, the tranquility is pretty amazing.

Go bright or go home

What about Thursday?

I was not sure what was gonna happen come Thursday. With Tuesday's tribute run in the mix, that had me running five consecutive days (Saturday-Wednesday; just under 30 total miles). I have been saving my speedwork for Thursdays, but I really didn't want to have a 6th straight day of running (even though the mile count on each day was pretty minimal). I hadn't done any HIIT work all week, but with the R'n'R Philly Half Marathon  a few days out, I didn't want to risk any DOMS tagging along with me on my trip.

I came up with kind of a modified-HIIT workout that focused mainly on upper body and core work. Also, did I mention that I accidentally "snoozed" for two additional hours after my alarm went off that morning? I barely had time to scrunch the hair into a (very) messy bun and run off to work...so the workout didn't happen until after a full day at the office.

**20 arm strength moves

**15 burpees

**10 push-ups

**5 squats

**2-minute forearm plank

Five sets of the circuit netted me 100 arm reps, 75 burpees, 50 push-ups, 25 squats, and 10 total minutes of planking. Not bad for 45 minutes of work.

Backyard HIIT'ing

Fly-By Friday
Quite literally, Friday flew by. The youngest daughter and I were up at 2:30 a.m. and on the road to the airport by 3:00 for our 5:45 flight to Washington, DC! Friday's workout consisted of a frantic search for the car rental station at the DC airport (there were numerous steps, back and forth, as well as a pretty elevated heart rate) as we searched frantically for the car rental station.

Eyes wide open at 4:15 a.m. at the airport...

Saturday Shake-out
There's something about air travel that totally exhausts my body. I did a short 3-mile shakeout run Saturday morning, and  returned feeling more tired for the effort. Granted the temps were warm and the air was humid, but ugh.

Seen on my run...historic remnants in downtown Hanover, PA

Non-stop-action Sunday
Sunday morning blessed us with warm temps and substantial humidity, but the Philly Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon went well. I was a bit disappointed with my finish time...only to realize my Garmin tracked my mileage at 13.4 miles! Even though I ran the race with my best pace since May of 2017, my "official" finish time is jacked due to the erratic distance (I just can't seem to catch a break LOL).  None the less, it was a neat course. There will be a race recap coming soon, so stay tuned! Sunday's action continued on with a late lunch with both daughters (and boyfriend) before the l-o-n-g drive (over three hours) back to the DC airport, then the 2+ hours on the flight back to Des Moines and finally pulling into our driveway around 11:00 p.m.

Another awesome R'n'R piece of hardware

Overall, I'm pleased with how the week played out (despite a few hiccups).Even with the suddenly cool temps early in the week, the summer temps definitely made a hasty return this week. Hey, I'm all about summer, so I'm quite alright with that. My total running miles came in at 26, and my walking miles were just under 20. 

In case you missed them, here's the posts from last week:

Give me some Zzzzz's

RaCe DaY PrEvIeWs:101

In other news:
Did you catch my #FridayFashionFlair post? Since Friday was a travel day, I opted for something on the comfy side, but still with a bit of funk and flair. It's always freezing cold in those airplane cabins, so long sleeves are a necessity for me.  How do you dress for air travel? As always, you're invited to join my on Fridays. Simply post a pic on Instagram, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and give me a tag (@runningonthefly).

Airplane travel...

Lastly, I had a rather short but busy weekend in Pennsylvania. We were in Hanover (after driving from the DC airport) Friday, then left around noon (on Saturday) for Philadelphia. I had never been to Philly before, and I cannot wait to go back! So much to see and do...the downtown is full of awesome architecture and statues everywhere and tons of historic stuff. We took an Uber to the Liberty Bell in the late afternoon, then spent the next few hours walking everywhere...including to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I may have even ran the famous "Rocky steps" while there.

Eat your heart out, Rocky!

I think all of the walking actually did my body good...my hammies and glutes felt a lot better that evening and were in working order for the half marathon the next morning.

So much to see and admire...

with the two daughters and the grandbaby, Lola

So, that's a wrap! 

Talk to me...how was your weather this week? Any problems with Florence? How do you feel about racecations...fun or (almost) too much action? Ever been to Philly?

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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