There's the SUN, let's get it DONE

Oh, how I love the sunshine!  I certainly love being outside as much as possible. Thankfully, it was a week full of both.

Even though the sunrises are happening a bit later than I'd prefer (and the sunsets are happening earlier), I'm still enjoying the great outdoors. I  have been #optingoutside on a daily basis, which is perfection in my world. No regrets!


But, first things first...

Welcome to the Weekly Run Down! I am so excited to host 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 1:00 (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 ;-)

Anyways, here's what went down this past week in my fitness world...

Monday - #nevermissaMonday
I always start each week in the running shoes, whether it's a short shakeout run or a substantial workout endeavor. This Monday was no exception....but (1) after waking, I dozed back to sleep, (2) my legs felt like lead from the prior day's late afternoon 11-mile bike ride (possibly a correlation to the sleepiness), but  (3) the sunrise was a beauty, and (4) my manicure was dried and set after three miles with "speed" surges. Gotta keep that glass half full, right?

Tuesday - Active recovery with Gustavas (my bike)
An overnight rain left the air damp and chilly, but the sunrise was on-point. It was a recovery day for me, so just 10 miles of easy biking (and some walking after work).

Wednesday - A triple decker (workout) day
The day started (like most Wednesdays) with an early morning 5-miler with my friend, Barb. The sky was dark, at 05:00, with all kinds of stars when I headed out, but it was quite light and bright when I returned home. Then, after work, I rode 10 easy miles on the bike and did 25 minutes of upper-body work on the deck. Would you believe me (if I sleep-fessed) that I slept quite soundly that night?

Thursday - A small stair workout fail
I was craving a bit of speedwork, as well as some hill sprints, so the outdoor stairway was a perfect solution to get both done at once. The plan was to run an easy mile there (as a warm-up), run 50 flights of stairs, and then run another easy mile back home (for a cool-down). Well, we all know what they say about the best-laid plans. My left knee (the "good" knee LOL) was feeling wonky after the first set of 10. Shoe-fession - I wore an old pair of shoes (I know, I know...#mybad). Typically, for a short run, I didn't think it would be an issue (and everything had felt fine for the warm-up). However, on the stairs, it was a different ball game. I cut the workout short after 30 sets and called it good. I still got about 35 minutes of fasted cardio, so there's that. Spoiler - the knee felt fine on the run home and hasn't felt wonky since.

Friday - Another rise and ride
This was my fourth consecutive weekly pre-workday ride on the hilly bike trail (and my seventh ride on the trail this season). My friend, Michele, was out of town, so Barb came along with me instead. Although this bike path has minimal road crossings, it is a 15-mile round trip and runs parallel to a highway and is in a rural setting after the first mile or so. Needless to say, I'm not too keen on going out there alone at that time of day. We left my driveway at 5:15, had daylight within 20 minutes, and made it back in less than 75 minutes.

Saturday - MCM 2019 training : long run done!
Granted, this was "only" 13 miles (in terms of marathon training, 13 miles is on the "short" spectrum of "long" runs). But the temps were ideal (upper 60F's), the air wasn't too humid, and there was an ever-so-slight breeze. I had Barb with me for the last 10 miles, so there was plenty of fun conversation. My body felt great. The miles felt ((almost)) effortless. Ahhhh, it would be such a perfect world if every long run went this well. That said, reality isn't quite so kind. Marathon training is tough, and a lot of the training runs (especially the long ones) are rough. Any run that feels this good is worthy of basking in and storing in the gratitude bin.

Sunday - When Plan A is a fail...
Well, the hubby and I took a quick overnight trip (for our 29th wedding anniversary), and I woke up to thunderstorms, complete with heavy rain, thunder and lightning. UGH. Totally not my gig for a recovery run...so, I went with Plan B, and did some extra stretching and yoga. It was all good. We do need to be flexible, in life and fitness. The recovery run can happen later, and the sunshine will return. Glass half full!

So, it was quite a week! Lots of outdoor mileage...25 miles of running, 14 miles of walking, and 41 miles of biking. Wednesday's upper-body strength session went well, and Thursday's mini-speed session on the stairway was great, the short while it lasted (next time, I'll wear better shoes LOL). Thus far, all has been going well on my road to the Marine Corps Marathon (October 27th). Onward!

In case you missed out, here's what all went down on the blog this week:
 By the Dawn's Early Light 
Family Fitness in the running shoes
4-Letter Words for Runners (that aren't so bad)

In other news:
Friday Fashion Flair...Awesome temps and low humidity, I'm totally good with that (even if it did feel a tad more like late September than early August).  As I've said before, it's always cold in my office, so I usually need my arms covered (and keep a cardigan there on standby). That said, I do like 3/4-length sleeves...they give a summery look while still providing a bit of warmth. I'm a big fan of bright colors (I've said that before as well), so turquoise was the color-of-the-day. I even was able to match the sandals! Anyways, if you feel like playing along, post a pic of an outfit on Fridays on Instagram, grab the hashtag (#fridayfashionflair) and tag me (@runningonthefly).

As mentioned, on Saturday, the hubby and I celebrated 29 years of married bliss (well, most of it has been blissful LOL). It's crazy to think I have spent the majority of my adult like married! No regrets.

Well, that's the latest and greatest! How are things in your world? Any great training runs that need mentioning? Any recent races? Has your summer weather (temporarily) mellowed out?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter