The heat is ON, my friends.
The humidity is off the charts, as well.
As I've said, it is July. I wouldn't expect anything less...but Momma N certainly isn't cutting us any slack in Iowa!.
It's also time to gather around the runfessional and come clean on a few things. I'm game, are you?
For starters, I'll tell you about the weather, this past week, for RAGBRAI (that's the week-long bike ride across Iowa). Let's just say it's been rather balmy and most uncomfortable for the poor cyclists. It's the 50th year of the ride so record numbers were expected, including a lot of first-time riders. Sadly, many have DNF'd the week and pulled out of the ride. I gotta RAGBRAI-fess, though, those DNFers have made the roads a tiny bit less crowded...which isn't a bad thing.
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| The forecast was actually a bit conservative in comparison to what the temps actually were... |
Speaking of RAGBRAI, this is my first time doing back-to-back riding days. I'd ridden Day-1 in 2021, and Day-7 in 2022, so I was excited to see what it's like to do two consecutive days. Holy Hilly Yikes, Batman! Both Wednesday and Thursday had similar mileage, but Wednesday's route was deceivingly easy in comparison to what was waiting for me on Thursday morning. All those Thursday hills were downright painful and exasperating, but let me ride-fess they also were oddly empowering (in retrospect, LOL). In fact, I'm considering doing the Saturday ride as well...stay tuned!
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| Wednesday...a somewhat "easy" day... |
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| Thursday...a lot more work! Almost 3X the climbing! |
Another thing I discovered, quite unexpectedly, is that when you accidentally set your Garmin to the biking mode, any steps taken on foot will not be acknowledged. Case in point, my 3-mile run from Monday. I'd inadvertently used the biking mode, so I edited the workout to show it was a run, but the "steps" never registered. My ending steps for Monday were 5,818 (on the left), a far cry from Tuesday's counts (on the right), and that was at midday! I'll just Garmin-fess, here and now, I won't let that happen again, LOL!
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As mentioned in last weekend's WRD post, I saw Pitbull in concert a week ago. In all honesty, it was more of a dance party than a concert...it was such a high-energy event! I say that because that day's fitness was a 12-mile bike ride and only two total miles of walking prior to getting to the concert (so my daily "steps" weren't very impressive). I must have been moving and grooving more than I realized, because I ended the day with 16,531 steps! So what if I blew my current Peloton streak (again), Garmin rewarded me with the 300K July Step Badge. I step-fess, I lost ZERO sleep over the Peloton thing.
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Lastly, this has been very much a biking-dominated week! There was a 39-mile bike ride Sunday, the 15-mile bike path ride on Monday, and then these two days of RAGBRAI. In other words, the running (and strength-training) have not been a priority. Oh well, I run-fess that it is what it is, and I haven't lost any sleep over it. End of story.
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Ahhh, much better. It's refreshing to get those 'fessions out of the way, so I can start the new month afresh. Can you relate, or is that just me?
You've heard mine, do you have any 'fessions to share?
You are not allowed to complain about the heat and humidity! LOL! I hope you had a great time biking this week and look forward to reading about it
ReplyDeleteSorry if my talk of the heat sounded like complaining, LOL. It was just odd to have so many consecutive days of the extreme conditions. We definitely get the extreme heat, but it's usually a day or two at a time. I'm glad I was biking in it and not doing much running ;-)
DeleteThe heat is here as well but it's like this every single day all summer long in the South so I'm not going to complain. Hope you and all the riders stay cool and safe at RAGBRAI!
ReplyDeleteThankfully, RAGBRAI went well, at least for me. I do know some had to pull out, but I didn't hear nay tragic stories of hospital visits or emergencies.
DeleteThat's so strange that Garmin doesn't count steps in bike mode...I believe it but how weird.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on RAGBRAI and I will not be shocked if you join in for Saturday.
Well, as you know, I did ride yesterday, LOL. Yes, the Garmin thing...you'd think it would be constantly tracking your steps regardless fo the setting (?).
DeleteI'd have DNF -- actually, I'd DNS -- something that hot! Even on a bike, that's dangerous heat. Glad you were able to finish safely!
ReplyDeleteI've hit the wrong activity on more than one occasion. It happens.
I"m usually pretty careful which button I'm hitting on the Garmin, so it totally caught me off guard when I saw the "cycling" stats show up...
DeleteI love that you racked up so many steps at Pitbull - clearly you were grooving lol!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with RAGBRAI!
Yes, Pitbull had everyone moving and grooving!
DeleteOoh, I can't wait to hear all about RAGBRAI! You must have enjoyed those two days if you're thinking of riding again tomorrow. At least on the bike you have some breeze, right?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that Garmin recorded your "steps" from the concert. Well, steps are steps! Congrats on the badge.
Yes, you do get a decent breeze on the bike, and it was much needed!
Deleteso amazing that you took your game up to the next level with this year's RAGBRAI! It's so great to have watched you become such a cycling enthusiast :). I am itching to get out for a long bike ride again but I run/cyclefess it could be a while.
ReplyDeleteit's been Humid AF here, not gonna lie. Massively hate it but what can we do? stay in? I don't think so haha!
I don't pay massive attention to steps, but I always have my phone with me if I'm really interested in what I did for the day. That said I do look at steps end of the month to just see it in another perspective.
I don't pay a lot attention to my steps either, but when I happen to notice Monday's steps were so low, it looked a little weird since I'd done the 3-mile run that morning..
DeleteOh so cool, another friend of mine did RAGBRAI this week. It sounds like a fun event (minus the heat).
ReplyDeleteRAGBRAI is a lot of fun, but the heat/humidity was crazy this year! It's always hot in July, but all those consecutive days of unrelenting heat were brutal.
DeleteRAGBRAI sounds so fun, even if it was so hot! Pitbull was certainly a fabulous show!
ReplyDelete