Fall's Finale

It would appear Fall's Finale is upon us.

The temps are back to their "seasonal" range, the leaves are disappearing, and the daylight is quickly dwindling. In my little corner of the universe, though, it feels like the fall season was a near-miss.

After all, I spent the majority of the season off my feet. Well, I did some hobbling around (in an ugly orthotic boot), and I enjoyed many miles on the bike. But there wasn't any walking or running until recent weeks, so the opportunities to really see and experience Fall in all its glory were at the minimum.

I'm alright with that, though. I like Fall, but it signifies the end of Summer (which is my favorite season), and we all know what comes next. None the less, this week saw many great things happening in my fitness world and otherwise.

Before I share the nitty gritty 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 ;-)

Here's what went down this week:

#NeverMissAMonday. The temps were calm and the wind was MIA, so I took Gustavas out for a quick 5-mile sunrise ride before work. Later, I got out for a 2-mile run for lunch. Let's just say the wind had returned, but it's not as ominous on foot as it is on a bike.

#TakeItEasyTuesday. Kind of an uneventful day, which we all need on occasion. As much as I curse the cold, even I cannot deny the beauty and tranquility of a crisp (20F) morning walk before work. Gustavas and I sandwiched in a 6-mile lunchtime ride, then there was another 2-mile walk after logging off from work. 

#WickedLegsWednesday. Confession: I have a fun (for me LOL) workout I reserve for cold and windy mornings. I run alternate laps around two city blocks in my hilly 'hood. Five laps will yield me 10 hills to conquer and two total miles in distance. I also upped the ante a bit, and did 20 stair flights before (for a warm-up) and 20 flights after (for a cool-down).  There was a 2-mile walk over lunch and then a 10-mile ride on the indoor bike after work. Jelly legs, anyone?

#ThankfulThursday. In the midst of all the Covid stuff, I am so thankful I can do most of my workouts without leaving my house. Thursday morning saw a short-but-sweet mix of upper-body strength work and intervals of planking:

*Left forearm side plank - 1:00 minute

*Arnold presses

*Right forearm side plank - 1:00 minute

*Biceps curls

*Regular forearm plank - 2:30 minutes

*Chest presses

*Left side plank - 30 seconds

*Triceps extensions

*Right side plank - 30 seconds

*Upright rows

*Chatarunga plank - 30 seconds

After work, I had a glorious reunion with Barb! Remember her, my running buddy (and dear friend)? Anyways, despite some wind, Iowa had warm-for-November temps (ahem, 70F in the afternoon), so her and I met up for some post-workday miles on the bikes. It was a race against the daylight...but 12 miles later, I made it back home before dark.

#FullCircleFitnessFriday. I wasn't "feeling" the outdoor scene upon wakeup, so I decided to fire up Ellie (my elliptical) for some action. I honestly cannot remember the last time her and I spent any time sweating together (February?). As I've said before, I'm skeptical of the accuracy of the stats on the display, but the sweat equity is legit. Supposedly, we sweated for three miles in about 24 minutes (which I can't usually run that kind of pace, just saying). After work, it was one of those situations where I was dog tired and brain dead...but I decided to go for an easy 2-mile run. You can probably guess how this played out, right? I returned home with a huge energy re-boost (and may have done five bonus miles on the stationary bike afterwards). I like it when that happens. 

#SensationalSaturday. The hubs and I took Max for a short walk (1/2-mile), then finished up another 1-1/2 miles on our own. After changing out of my winter jacket, I headed out for a #longrunSaturday adventure. Question: When is a simple 2-1/2 mile run worthy of celebrating? Answer: When it's the longest run you've done in three months! Seriously, every run is such a gift. Never forget there's others out there who would gladly trade places with you.

#SundayFunday. With icky weather looming, I opted to keep it inside (at least for the morning). Ellie and I did another three miles (or equivalent LOL), but did shave off a few seconds from Friday's session. Let me just say, in case there's any doubters out there, "no-impact" and "no-sweat" are not the same things when it comes to working out. I'm always impressed with how much glistening and glowing happen on the elliptical. There also was a 10-mile bike ride afterwards (also inside).

So, another week done! It feels so great to be back in the running shoes (and doing more than just walking or biking in them). This week I was able to bump up the "long run" distance to 2.5 miles, and everything feels good. Total running miles came in at 8.5 this week. Walking was strong with 17 miles for the week (possibly a few more before sunset on Sunday). Biking continues to be my main jam, but that will be tapering off after this next week (Day 100 of the streak is next Saturday!)...we had 56 miles logged this week. I'm also glad to have stair workouts back in my routine (though this week's time on the stairs wasn't very intense).

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

And so it goes...

My (current) Favorite Things

A Winter Running Refresher

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair!  After two weeks of working from home, I was called back onsite. We have a very minimal skeleton crew in the office, so I feel completely safe. That said, the leggings and hoodies of recent weren't up to snuff...so I went with what I know. Give me my white skinnies, cheetah-print scarf (and booties) and my washed denim jacket, and I'm totally in my comfort zone. 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).

With more COVID safety mandates put into effect, we had to make our local Turkey Trot go virtual. It is what it is, right? Anyways, I'm still planning on running my virtual Turkey Trot 5K (probably with Barb), and will man the food drop-off site afterwards. A big part of our local Trot is collecting food (and monetary) donations for our community food back, so I'm glad that tradition will continue! By the way, my swag for the virtual Trot arrived...and that's the longest neck gaiter ever LOL.  

Finally, biking, oh how I have loved thee! I have not totaled up my YTD biking miles, but the Streak miles are sitting at 1,072 (1,003 of which have happened outdoors, via my mountain bike). I'm quite proud of all the biking, but quite humbled that it's only in the past couple years that I have appreciated the sport itself. I'm just grateful to have another awesome fitness fix in my arsenal, even if it took me a long time to find it.

So, that's it for this week! How are things in your world? Is it feeling like Fall (again? still?), or have the Winter temps arrived? Any plans for Thanksgiving? Turkey Trotting?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter