About Me

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Cruising into the Solstice


...and just like that, the solstice arrived.

I gotta admit, I have mixed feelings about the summer solstice. I'm all about the heat of summer, the extended daylight, and all things green, flowering, and beautiful. But once the solstice hits, we start that downhill jaunt to winter. Even though the days will stay long and bright for awhile, they will be (ever-so-slightly) getting shorter. UGH.

All the more reason to get outside, everyday, and enjoy these summer days to the fullest. And I did just that this week, taking all of my workouts to the great outdoors.

Before I disclose all the details, let me extend a big summertime 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 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 ;-)

Here's what went down in my little world of fitness this week:

Monday - the UN-Canceled Grand Finale!
Woot!!!!! After 12 weeks of 5K time trials, I finished off the UN-Canceled Project. The temps were moderate (upper 60F's) with a slight wind (of course LOL). Halfway into the first mile, I realized I'd forgotten my music, and I had to alter my usual route slightly due to some road repair. But, this run truly felt great and (dare I say) almost effortless. Ironically, the 27:00 finish time couldn't have been more appropriate for the occasion, since that's my "usual" 5K benchmark if I'm not all-out racing. Coincidence?


Tuesday - Recovery Day for the win
We've had some cool mornings (which feel more like Fall to me), but the days have warmed up perfectly by mid-morning. Such was the case with Tuesday. The hubs and I took Max for an early morning walk (and there may have been some push-ups happening, mid-walk in the middle of the street). There also may have been a few miles on the bike in the evening.


Wednesday - another perfect #DoubleWorkoutDay
Gosh, I just gotta say these #5at5 sunrise runs totally make my day. We have (mostly) full daylight while running, and the sunrise is there to greet us as we finish. Anyways, another early-morning 5-miler with Barb on a beautiful summer morning. Total perfection in my book


After work, the hubs and I returned to the outdoor stairway. We'd done 30 flights the week prior. Since these steps have a steep "rise" and are wider (deeper) than usual steps, they require a little more oomph. And, let's not forget there are 18 steps, not just 10 or 12. Thirty flights are probably equivalent to 45 (or so) flights of an indoor stairway. That said, he wanted to do 50 flights...at 5:00 p.m, on a rather hot afternoon. I was planning on 30 myself. The fine art of compromise saw us doing 40 flights and we were both happy.  



Thursday - early morning recovery ride
The weather forecast was looking wet for Friday morning, so I swapped out Thursday's (usual) strength workout for a ride instead. It was another somewhat cool morning (63F), making it difficult to figure out what to wear on the bike (arm sleeves to the rescue!). Ten biking miles for breakfast, and a 2.5-mile post-work walk made for a perfect low-impact flush-out-the-legs recovery day.


Friday - upper-body strength work and a Juneteenth tribute ride
The forecast rain had come and gone (but was due to return later), so I moved the workout to the outdoor patio (that glass door makes a great mirror, just saying). I'd thought of incorporating a HIIT workout with the strength work, but my body felt pretty spent at wake-up. I decided to take a pass on the HIIT and just focus on upper-body strength...but did sneak in a 1-minute wall sit with a static curl hold.


In all honesty, I had not heard much about Juneteenth, until after I'd gotten to work. I saw a lot of people were paying tribute with 6.19-mile runs and various fitness routines. Well, this pulled at my heart...so over lunch, I saddled up Gustavas for a quick 6.19-mile ride. It wasn't much, but it felt like something I had to do to honor this day in history. And, my tired legs appreciated the extra love from the ride, so it was a win-win.


Saturday - a new adventure in running!
With all the race cancellations of late, there has been ZERO traveling for running. Let's just say, the streets of my town have gotten a little...stale. Barb and I decided to venture to Des Moines (an hour away) to checkout a group run with a running club. There was heavy rain (and thunderstorms, go figure) in the forecast, but the rain had cleared by the time we arrived on the scene. That said, the air was extremely humid (how does 94% humidity grab you?) but the temps weren't too warm (69F). But we got to meet some new friends and enjoyed eight decently-paced miles (9:41) on a mostly shaded trail. The odds are ever in our favor that we may return for more of these outings. Later, I did some garden squats, took a 2-mile walk, and Gustavas and I spent five miles together just before sundown. 


Sunday - more early-morning fitness
With a busy day on tap (ahem...Father's Day and hosting all the family for dinner), I got out for three easy recovery miles before 6:00. The temps felt the same as Saturday (upper-60's with 95% humidity), oh joy! The hubs and Max took me for a 2-mile walk as well (with probably more walking on deck for later).

So, a nice week of summer fitness, with a little bit of everything. Running totaled out at 20 miles. Walking had 17 miles. Biking has become a regular recovery vice, and had 30 miles (with more to come in future weeks). One intense stair workout (which provides not just cardio, but a good dose of lower-body strength) and a brief upper-body session. As for the Great Run Across Iowa, my current mileage is 111 (of the 315 cumulative miles I'm working towards). I'm totally good with everything.

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

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair! How about a burst of red? With Friday's muggy temps, I opted for something "breezy" to keep me somewhat cool and comfortable.You can't really tell from the pic, but the Aztec-print skirt actually has a high-low hemline...lots of versatility with that! As always, you're welcome to join me on Fridays...post a pic on Instagram, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and be sure to tag me (@runningonthefly).

If you missed my Friday post, I shared my 2020 summer plan of fitness action. It's nothing grandiose or ground-breaking, but merely a guide to keep me active and occupied:

Monday: easy run, 3-4 miles
Tuesday: rest/recovery...walk/biking (or elliptical if it's raining), abs/core/balance
Wednesday: #5at5 and outdoor stairs (after work) if the weather is nice
Thursday: intensity day (HIIT/speed work/strength), abs/core/balance
Friday: active recovery (biking/elliptical)
Saturday: long run
Sunday: optional recovery run (2-3 miles, easy) or biking
**daily:1-2 mile walk (outdoors), push-ups (10-20), leg lifts
***Some days may get rotated or swapped, depending on the weather
****long run distance will vary (usually around 10 miles, with a scale-back every few weeks)

Finally, I'm sharing a big OOPS. Hey, if we can't laugh at ourselves, we may have more serious probs than just a faulty sense of humor. I made this meme quickly (obviously LOL) and shared it to Insta and my FB page, very early on Saturday morning. It garnered a mass of likes and comments, so I was quite pleased. It wasn't until nine hours later (maybe longer?) that I realized I'd misspelled the word "going." Seriously! Well, maybe no one else noticed (whew!) Or maybe everyone was just being kind (if so, thank you). So, yeah...let it be known, I am human and my fingers don't always hit the correct letter key ("b" and "n" are side-by-side, just saying). I took the pic down, and I have corrected it...for future use. Crisis averted! 


So, there you go. We're officially into summer and all its glory. It feels like such a short season (at least in Iowa), so I plan to take advantage and be outside as much as possible. How about you?

How was your week? Are you feeling the summer heat (and humidity) as well? Any exciting fitness accomplishments this week? Virtual races? Have you ever committed a blatant spelling error that went unnoticed until several hours later?


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43 comments:

  1. Team goiBG. At one point I was called the Typo Queen, so I roll with it.
    Love your summer plan.
    I'm with you on shorter days. I felt like they got longer earlier this year, so hoping they stay longer too.
    Juneteenth seems to be regional in some ways, but also age. I learned about it, but some childhood friends a few years older 9same school), didn't. I have some Feelings about miles for x as a whole, but I think we all do what feels right. Glad you're able to cycle on your lunch break. Nice way to break up the day

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    1. When I saw the OOPS pic, I was in disbelief LOL It had a lot of likes/comments, etc., so it was tough to delete it...but I didn't want it lingering there with the blooper. Oh well, it was a good laugh.

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  2. I have definitely seen memes out there with glaring typos. Good on you for catching it before it went prime time. What a fun idea to go join a new to you running club. Sometimes changing it up is exactly what we need. I feel the same way about summer. We need to soak it up before it slips away.

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    1. We really need to soak up summer...it's not here for very long. The running group will be a fun outlet...since there's not any races to travel to for now.

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  3. We are having a hot weekend here - it is so humid which makes it hard to run. I still prefer the heat to the cold though! I'm not ready for summer to end!

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    1. Oh, I definitely prefer the heat, too!!!!! No argument there ;-)

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  4. I love how much you embraced the Un-canceled Project 1 & 2. It takes commitment to knock out so many 5ks, especially as the weather gets warmer!

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    1. I am so glad I did the challenge, but am SOOOO glad all those 5K's are history. They were starting to feel too obligatory for my liking LOL...time to move on.

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  5. It's hot. Almost TX hot. Not a fan of heat, but it's early days so not so bad yet. Our mornings have not been cool for a while.

    Have fun with the family today, Kim!

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    1. It was really odd how some of the mornings were so cool last week. Mind you, they were not like Winter, but definitely cold for summer.

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  6. I used to be a member of the grammar police, and then I realized that the perfect is the enemy of the good. It's far better to snafu the occasional there/their/they're and say what you meant to say rather than dot every i and cross every t and be stilted. GOIBG or go home;-)

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    1. Ha ha ha... GOIBG or go home LOL I just can't believe I didn't catch the typo until so late in the day...Oh well ;-)

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  7. LOL on your typo. Between my fingers and autocorrect, I always have to proofread and edit, but still I miss things until just as its publishing! Isn't it amazing how little we know about our history. I finally am digging into the Civil War forts/historical markers in and around my neighborhood.

    Thanks for hosting the link up!

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    1. Auto-correct is the biggest oxymoron, ever. I swear, I've hit the wrong letters so many times, it "thinks" so many erroneous words are REAL words.

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  8. I may be queen of the comment typo. Darn autocorrect.

    Active week as always.

    It’s hot here finally. I enjoy it. I’m on my boat as I type though

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    1. I'm enjoying the heat, too. Even the humidity is bearable because it ISN'T snowing ;-)

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  9. It looks like you had another stellar week while embracing the great outdoors. I occasionally do lunges on our deck, but do the rest of my strength training indoors.

    Thanks for the linkup and have a great week!

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    1. I like taking the workouts outdoors, if possible. Granted, I'm not doing anything extreme or anything that requires extensive equipment, so it's doable for me.

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  10. Awesome job sticking w the 5K's for 12 weeks! Impressive! That's fun that you all got to run with a new group. Can never have too many running friends!

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    1. Ain't that the truth? Never have too many running friends ;-)

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  11. I also really enjoy the longer days- one thing I really miss when it starts getting dark earlier are my sunsets in the evenings. I could leave the heat and humidity though.

    Going to another city to run is a great idea! I've been missing traveling for races and runs and yes the neighborhood streets get old. Maybe what I need is a long run in another area.

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    1. When Barb and I were driving to Des Moines for the group run, I told her it felt like "old times," like when we used to go to races together LOL She said she got all excited getting to lay out all her running gear the night before ;-)

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  12. You should have saved your oops for Runfessions! It's next Friday!

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    1. Yes, I may still include it in my Runfessions post...I'd forgotten that was already coming up this week...

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  13. Awesome how your husband has committed to the stair running! 40 sets of stairs in the heat is awesome! And I love the photo where he's carrying you.
    And finally no more 5K time trials on Monday! Enjoy.

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    1. Ha ha ha...he wanted a pic of him carrying me, and I had a friend comment that he was doing all the work LOL But yes, it has been fun having him join me on the stairs and take an interest in it!

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  14. I agrees its kind of sad that the longest day of the year is already over. It feels like it just got warm. At least it should stay warm for a lot longer, even if we start to lose that daylight.

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    1. The solstice is such a buzzkill in that regard. Ironically, I so look forward to the Winter Solstice because it signifies the days getting longer (though the weather is so cold) as it happens.

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  15. so great that you and Barb went to Des Moines to try a running group there! I miss my running group so much!

    Love seeing you and the hubs out together more too!

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    1. The hubby is pretty active, on his own, but recently he's been tagging along on my stuff a lot more. It's all good ;-)

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  16. Great work! It's sort of summer here but the temps are still up and down. Sunny today but I'm a bit chilly. Well done for getting those stair reps in with the husband! And I hear you about the local streets - I do still love my park BUT.

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    1. Normally, we have races happening on some of the weekends, but with all the cancellations, we've been stuck in our own town. It was nice to get away for a change of scenery.

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  17. So let me ask you this, would you have rather someone told you about the typo? Sometimes I see a typo but don't feel "it is right" to point it out.

    I don't know if running groups are running together now here in Chicago.

    I had a good week too which I am happy about. Summer is here and so is the heat! :-)

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    1. That's an excellent point about the typo. If it's done with tact, it's all good. I've had a certain person (on more than one occasion) rudely point out something "wrong" in a very public manner (rather than doing so via a private message). Honestly, it made BOTH of us look stupid LOL

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  18. Lol on your typo. I hate when that happens (and I didn't notice, though I usually do notice spelling and grammar errors). I rarely point out mistakes but if I feel like the person would want to know I'll message them privately.

    I love that your hubby is doing the stairs with you!

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    1. I usually notice typos and grammar, too...not sure how I totally missed this (even at 5:00 a.m. LOL). I'm glad the hubby has taken an interest to the stairs ;-)

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  19. I love those photos of you and the hubby on the outdoor staircase workout :) And that's great that you were able to get away for some new scenery on Saturday! I should try that.

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    1. Saturday's run (in a new place) was a fun adventure. I do a lot of racing in Des Moines...but we all know that ain't happening (much) this year, so it was nice having a change of scenery for a training run.

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  20. It's hot as anything here, and so soupy and humid. it's alright. i'm just so grateful to be able to run.

    My keyboard has been a total jerk, so I've been getting a lot of "ii" and
    "tt" lately. Super annoying.

    Love that you got in that Juneteenth ride. I do hope that the burst of awareness will lead to June 19 becoming a national holiday. I think it's beyond worthy of the honor.

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    1. There a few chosen words that I inadvertently type wrong every time (I think I'm just typing too fast and transposing the letters by accident). Now, my phone "thinks" these misspellings are legit words because it never auto-corrects them (???).

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  21. That's so lovely that you went to Des Moines to join a group run there! Must have felt good to get out of town.

    I missed the link-up this week as I just finally got a post up. Still planning to catch up on everyone's week! I feel the same way about Summer Solstice and even more so about the 4th of July. I love the holiday, but am sad that summer is passing by so quickly!

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    1. Two of our kids' birthdays are in July (the 5th and the 16th). Once we hit the birthdays, July is over and done in a heartbeat...and there goes summer with it ;-(

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  22. I'm finding that nowadays if I don't put my peepers on I often type things incorrectly and never notice. My eyesight went downhill quickly after 50! DOH! Great workouts this week and that sounds like a fun trip to see meet some new running friends! I need to type up a weekly schedule. That will keep me from overdoing it... because you know, that's easy to do :)

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