Going to Extremes

It was a week of extremes.

I'm not one to sit still, but I may have pushed the fitness a bit this week. Oh well, I'm still feeling good and not too weary for the ride.

The weather did it's own dance of heat, cold, humidity and wind...many of which were all on the same day. That was all fine and dandy as well. It is what it is, and there's no sense fighting it.

Before I share all the happenings, 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 8:00AM (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 week:

Never miss a Monday!

The 58F temps (and 13mph wind) were comfortable for my morning run (3-miles of hills and speed surges). Fast-forward 11 hours later, and the wind had picked up. Those temps felt downright chilly on the bike, just saying. Gustavas and I met up with Barb and rode 12 post-workday miles. Brrr...

Easy-peasy (chilly) Tuesday.

Holy Brrr, Batman! This was only the second day of Summer, but it felt like we'd jumped ahead to football season. Yes, that's a fleece jacket. Max and I walked a fast 1/2-mile before work, and there were a couple of additional 1-mile walks (morning break and after work). But ugh. I love football season temps, but during the actual football season. End of story.

Triple Workout Wednesday!

All was calm, all was bright for the weekly #5at5 with Barb. We got a nice amount of rain overnight, so all was quite humid as well (61F temps with 98%). Twelve hours later, the temps had climbed to the upper 70F's, but the wind was blowing strong (19mph). Amy and I did our weekly ride on the hilly bike path, and OMG. How we stayed vertical is beyond wonder. Then, at 9:00PM, a few of us met for the Almost Full Moon Run (See below)...by then the wind had calmed down and was a welcome relief on the warm summer evening. So, in summary... 5 morning miles + 15 windy biking miles + 6 additional evening miles. And I slept like a rock.

Low-maintenance recovery for Thursday.

Let's just say it's a crap shoot when the weather app is spot-on, and Thursday morning wasn't one of them. There was rain in the forecast, but the app showed a "light showers" window for about 45 minutes before the real heavy rain was due to fall. I grabbed a jacket and cap and headed out for a walk. I got almost a mile when the heavens opened up and Momma N decided to have her way with me. I did find a place to hang for about 10 minutes, and power-walked like a beast back home before the next torrential downpour hit. The legs got a nice recovery walk, and I did some upper-body work in the evening (inside LOL). Glass half full.

Fartlek run (and filter fun) Friday.

How about some fun speedwork? I was up and out the door, before 6:00AM, for a couple miles with Fartlek intervals. The 70F temps didn't feel that bad (in the 100% humidity) until I stopped. Let's just say I was glistening & glowing in all my glory.

 

Long run Saturday.

Again, the weather was giving us a bit of stress. We had rain and scattered storms in the forecast, all day. Barb and I'd thought of postponing our long run to Sunday, but when we awoke on Saturday the rain showed "only" 35% at 6:00. We decided to risk it, and met at 6:30. Similar temps to Friday (70F with 100% humidity), but the rain never showed! We made it eight miles and called it good. It felt pretty victorious beating the rain (and also the train).

 

Couple time Sunday.

With the new earlier start time for the WRD link-up, I'll be saving most of my Sunday fitness pics for the following week's post, but I'll give you a preview. For this week, Saturday's delayed rain did allow for my long run, but it was too risky to attempt a long bike ride with the impending storms. So, the long ride will be  happening on Sunday. We have about 30 miles on deck, but we did start the day with a 2-mile run.

So, how did fitness add up? Running saw 26 miles (including Sunday morning's shakeout run, before the bike ride). Walking...kind of bleak, but better than nothing (7 miles). Biking miles came in at 27 miles (with 30+/- on tap for Sunday). One upper-body session and 50 stair flights (as part of my running warm-up routine). 

 

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

Show Me Some Summer

I DID IT! Reflections on my 1-mile time trials

'Fessing for June and All That Jazz

In other news: 

Baby, it's cold inside when it's so hot (and humid) outside. Such is the summer reality. I love the contrast of turquoise with these "mustard-ish" brown shorts. It's a given the cheetah-print cardi was on standby. As per usual, you're welcome to join the Friday Fashion Flair party on Instagram...post a pic, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and give me a tag (@runningonthefly). 

The flowers are coming to life! The Achillea (upper left) is actually from our house in Michigan...it survived the change in location when we moved back to Iowa in 2002. Some of the lilies are blooming, and the first of the pink cone flowers just opened up this week.

As mentioned, there was another full moon run this week! With storms in Thursday's evening forecast, I got the idea to do an Almost Full Moon Run (on Wednesday evening) instead. There was a lot of cloud cover, but the moon emerged as we were starting our final mile...so I'd call that a success.

How were things in your world this week? Did your weather get a little extreme as well? Ever had a week where it just worked out to have a few extra workouts filter in?

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