It's Feeling Hot Hot Hot and Humid

Anyone else feeling #HotHotHot this week?

Summer does get hot in Iowa, and we certainly have our fair share of humidity. We usually get an intermittent day (or a few) with reduced dampness in the air...but that wasn't the case this week. It is what it is, and I'll gladly take this over sub-freezing temps and snow. I'm just grateful my body can tolerate it. 

That said, it was another week of outdoor daily fitness. Hey, if I'm gonna get my "glow"on, I might as well be outside with the sunshine and fresh air. 

Before I share all the details, 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 ;-)

Anyways, here's what went down in my little world of fitness this hot (and humid) week:

Never miss a Monday

I didn't have anything specific on the plan (my marathon cancelled, don't forget), so I thought it would be fun to do a few miles with 1/4-mile surges.The temps were 73F (with a lovely 90% humidity at 5:30 a.m.), so I kept the pace relatively easy and did the surges at the end of each mile. Three miles for the #SweatEquity bank and my morning was complete while most of the town was still asleep.

Typical Tuesday = recovery day

My early morning walk took me down a different path. Honestly, there's not much to be gained by doing the same routine day after day, right? Several of our city blocks have alleys that go through them, and I often neglect walking or running down them. The terrain isn't as smooth, but the views are nice! There also was a spontaneous 10-mile bike ride after work with one of my co-workers.

Wednesday's surprise weather (thanks, Momma N!)

As of Tuesday evening, Wednesday was looking rainy and stormy, beginning around 4:00 in the morning. Barb and I jokingly set our alarms for the weekly #5at5 run, knowing it probably wouldn't be happening (75% chance of storms were in the forecast). Imagine my surprise to wake up with nothing happening, and my app showed a mere 15% chance of precip! Of course, the air still had 97% humidity, but the temps were 68F. Some rain did fall mid-morning, but that was it for the day. And we ran those five miles with a 9:15ish pace, so take that, Humidity! 

Easy-does-it Thursday

There was yoga on deck, quite literally, for Thursday morning. Well, there also was some intermittent arm and shoulder strength work as well. And, maybe a 2-mile walk before heading to the office. All was calm, all was bright. Everything felt great!

Later, after work, I felt like a bike ride. I have not been out on the hilly trail yet this season, just saying. I didn't have time to ride the complete route to the lake (15-mile round trip), so I compromised and rode out about halfway, which still gave me two decent-sized hills. I was at 8.5 miles when I got back to town, so I looped around a few random streets (and another shorter trail...with a couple small hills LOL) and finished the ride at 10 miles. Have I mentioned how good biking feels on low-maintenance days?

Major double-workout day for Friday

With the day off from work, and a 5K race happening on Saturday, Barb and I got out for eight early-morning miles. Holy heat and humidity, Batman! Even with the 68F temps, the humidity was already at 89% at 6:00. I'm glad I brought along some water.

The hubby wanted to check out a bike trail, about 30 miles away, so we loaded up the bikes and took a short road trip to the Chichaqua Valley Trail. We didn't get there until noon, but the majority of the trail had shade cover. The advantage of riding a rail trail is there are no menacing hills. There are plenty of gentle inclines/declines, but nothing too strenuous. That being said, with no major hills, there's almost constant pedaling. My bike computer's sensor got bumped, so at mile 14.04, the odometer stopped working...which threw me into a slight panic. Our destination town was 22.3 miles from where we'd started, but it was unnerving not knowing exactly how far we had to go as we pedaled the remainder of the way there. After having lunch, we adjusted the sensor on the tire, and the computer came back to life. It turns out, it was actually 23.37 miles back to our starting point....so that gave us just under 47 total miles (round trip) for the ride. By the way, these were mountain bikes we were riding, not road bikes. So, yeah, that was my longest ride, ever, and I was extremely tired and cranky in the final 3-4 miles.  

4th of July - a live race on Saturday!

We've run the Sully Freedom Days 5K many times before. The race director decided, about four weeks ago, to go ahead with the race this year, but with social distancing in force and limited registrations allowed. The hubby, Barb and I wasted no time in registering. Of course, in keeping with the #hothothot theme of the week, the heat and humidity were clear and present on race day (85F feels like). I wasn't sure how my legs (or those of the hubby's) would hold up after Friday's l.o.n.g. bike ride, but all went surprisingly well. Although it felt like I was dragging (and succumbed to a 15-second walk break in the final 1/4 mile), my 26:35 finish time got me a 3rd place AG. The hubby got 2nd in his age division, and Barb captured a 1st place AG! Oh, and the irony? I was so excited to pin on that race bib, that I totally forgot to bring the Garmin along (or my music)...so this was a "naked" race experience. Maybe I'm on to something...

Sunrise stair-climbing on Sunday

The hubby had been out of town a few days during the week, so we hadn't done any stair work. By Saturday evening, my body was feeling pretty fatigued (biking DOMS?). When I woke up Sunday morning, I knew a (somewhat) low-maintenance day was in order. We did a 1-mile walk, climbed 30 flights on the outdoor stairway, and walked another mile afterwards. Temps, again were warm and the humidity was already oppressive...but it felt good to get the legs moving, and a little (or a lot of) sweat never hurt no one. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the week. Running saw 20 miles and walking had 17 miles (probably more on tap for Sunday afternoon/evening). The mileage champ this week, though, was biking...Gustavas and I cycled 67 miles! There also was the daily planking, daily walking, some yoga and an upper-body strength session.    

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

The Summer Heat Meets the Street

To Catch a Sunrise

Just Chillin' with a July Chai

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair!  Since the hubby and I were out all afternoon, doing the biking thing, I featured my Thursday  outfit. I'll never apologize for my patriotism, and dug out this sleeveless turtleneck from the depths of my closet. It was a great mix of cool (sleeveless) and warmth (to combat the air conditioning). By the way, I did wear shoes to the office LOL. 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).

My June totals were satisfactory

Finally, I'm continuing my trek across Iowa. As of this morning, my total miles are at 195. Of those miles, 105 are running miles (since June 2nd) and 90 are walking miles. I will easily pass the 245 mark (by August 10th) with my combined miles, but am hoping to accumulate 245 total running miles by then. I'm not going to obsess over it, though, since all of my walking miles are legit "intentional" miles and I usually walk them around 14-14:30 pace.

So, another week all wrapped up, and packaged with a bow. We definitely are in the heat of summer in Iowa, and I'm good with that.

How was your week? Getting hot and humid in your area as well? Any live races happening yet? Are you staying active, and staying safe?

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