About Me

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Some like it HOT!

If we’re talking weather, some like it hot. 

Myself? I’m definitely part of that jurisdiction. This past week had me enjoying all kinds of summer-like feels, and I had the glistening & glowing to prove it (not to mention a surplus of laundry). 

As I’ve said numerous times, I’ll take the summer heat, any day, over the winter cold. 

Before I dis on the deets from the heated week. 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 blog as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)



Anyways, here’s what went down this week in my little world of fun, fitness, and whatnot:

Sunday gave me a double dose of fitness fun.
I had entertained a trail run (like the previous weekend), but decided to keep it local. I’d also considered an early morning walk, but the warm summer-like morning had me in a recovery run state of mind. I’d done an 8-mile run 24 hours prior, and the temptation was too great to ignore…so, an easy-paced 2-miler kind of happened all on its own. No regrets!

A few hours later, a group of friends rallied at my place, and we set-out on a bike ride to Ankeny, via the Chichaqua Valley Trail and part of the High Trestle Trail. Honestly, is there anything better than a fun (though hot, humid, and windy) ride with friends? I may have crashed on the couch, after cleaning-up, for a couple hours afterwards. Just saying. 


Monday had me stepping outdoors several times.
The day started with a muggy 2-mile morning walk (ugh, it's SO dark in the mornings now, no matter when I head out). There was a mid-morning walk and lunchtime walk (three cumulative miles). Then, I had a busy evening, including several hours in the kitchen (full-moon running while a lasagna baked, see below, and showering while an apple crisp took its turn in the oven). Finally, lights-out at midnight.


Tuesday treated me to some low-key, low-impact fitness.
I started the day with four miles on the indoor bike and some upper-body strength work. There was another 1-mile mid-morning walk, as well as a 2-mile lunch walk. Then, Busy Evening:Take-2 involved a social club gathering for a few hours, after work, before commuting back home. I actually was in bed before 10:30, which is early for me, LOL.


Wednesday had a lot of action. 
It was just Hannah and myself for this week's 4:45AM run. I'm not sure what got into us, but we ran those three miles at a decent clip. She had to head home afterwards, but I continued on for two bonus miles. This run was a good confidence-booster! I haven't been doubting my running, but I haven't been doing any focused speed-work either (again, I blame the residual grumpy left hammy and the untimely stumble-tumble on August 1st). The splits were not only (somewhat) speedy on a  very early, very humid morning, but their paces were surprisingly consistent. I'm good with that! The day got very hot, so there was only a quick 1-mile morning walk and nothing more (other than hosting a family dinner with my two older kids and their significant others that evening). I was in bed even earlier than Tuesday night, shortly after 10:00 (who am I???).


Thursday had me feeling a bit fatigued...
Even after three busy evenings, and three especially long days at the office, I managed to wake-up before my 4:10AM alarm, LOL. I was out the door at 4:30 for the weekly early morning cardio hour with Deb. It was 70F and mucho muggy. I made it to four miles (of walking) and finished with some upper-body strength work afterwards. Michele, Susan and I got out for a 1-mile mid-morning walk at the office, and called it good due to the heat.


Despite the heat and humidity (and requisite wind), I saddled-up and went for a ride after work. Seriously, these summer temps are my gig, and I refuse to stay inside (there will be plenty of indoor riding soon anyways, by default). I had a nasty 12mph headwind heading out, but was rewarded with a nice tailwind after the turn-around.


Ahhh, finally Friday!
Although I was tempted to do a long-ish indoor bike ride, I decided to head outside upon wake-up. I won’t have many more of these warm mornings, so why not take full advantage? It doesn't show in the pic, but there was major patchy fog. I felt like I was on the movie set of a horror film. Two miles of power walking suited me just fine. Later, the temps had warmed up (mid-80F’s), but the humidity had mellowed, so a 2-mile lunch walk beckoned me outdoors. Later, there was a nice evening walk, post-dinner, in the still-wonderful temps.


Saturday surprised me with another run worthy of celebrating! 
After last weekend's successful 8-miler, I was planning on a cutback distance of 10K for this week's "long" run. Well, the weather was near perfect (mid-60F) and, after the first mile warm-up, I just let my legs do their thing. Every time my Garmin beeped, at the mile splits, the times looked consistent (hmmm, just like Wednesday's run, and practically at the same pace, LOL). Suffice it to say, things continued to feel good. I briefly contemplated going for eight or nine miles, but settled on running seven, ending with my fastest split of the morning. I took a 10-minute break at home, grabbed some water and slammed a Greek yogurt, then headed back out for a quick 5-mile bike ride for a leg flush-out and cool-down. There also may have been a 3-mile walk in the early afternoon because the sunshine was so beautiful. 


…and what's happening on Sunday?
The weather is looking substantially cooler as this goes to press. There might be a recovery run, or a walk. Maybe a bike ride? Stay tuned. 

This week had a little taste of a recovery week, with the scaled back running (16 miles), but there was still plenty of low-impact active recovery to keep things in motion. Walking was on-par with 22 miles. Biking held its own with 52 miles (most of which were from Sunday's long ride). I'm keeping consistent with upper-body strength work, but my lower-body mojo has been on sabbatical for awhile. I'm doing very minimal focused lower-body workouts (which is better than nothing), but still. I know I need to kick that back into gear.  

In case you missed it, there was only one post on the blog this week:

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. Another Hawkeye football game (on Saturday evening) warranted black and gold attire. With the summer heat outside, the A/C makes it chilly inside at the office. I thought the black and white leopard-print cardi added a bit of a funky flair. Spoiler: the Hawks were victorious over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, on the Gophers' home field nonetheless.


I've lost count of how many full moon runs I've done, but I haven't missed one since I started this streak (May 2021). Two different sources told me two different evenings when the Harvest Moon would be official. Truth is, neither of those evenings (Tuesday or Wednesday) would fit my schedule, so I ran Monday evening, and the moon looked completely full to me (and still looked pretty full-size on Thursday morning's walk with Deb).


So, that’s the latest and greatest. This was a warm, late-summer weather-enhanced week. I guess that made it a perfect send-off to this next season (which shall not be named). 

Did your weather take an abrupt turn back to summer? Any significant workouts to mention? Did you race (or register for any) this week? Are you sad to see summer go, or are you ready for fall to set up homestead?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

23 comments:

  1. It's been VERY summer-like here for awhile now, although the humidity is low, which makes it so much more bearable. The moon has been amazing all week long! Nice job on the workouts!

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    1. It looked like we had a full moon for most of last week! I've been loving all the recent summer weather ;-)

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  2. I also enjoyed this last taste of summer with time on the water! Sadly, no run happened--it's storming this morning. You knew it was all coming to an end.

    It's so nice to see how you've embraced your new locale! Keeping busy, making new friends--I love it!

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    1. It's been fun getting acquainted and acclimated to my new 'hood. Change is so good!

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  3. The weather was warm and summery here again this week and i loved it! I'm all about delaying the start of fall and winter as much as possible. Sounds like you're doing great in your new digs and neighborhood!! It's great to see.

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    1. I'm all about delaying fall as well. Our winters always seem to be in a crazy hurry to get here (and refuse to leave well after their season ends).

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  4. When I lived up north, the heat energized me- and I can tell you're the same way. Sounds like you had a great week! I hope your weather doesn't cool down too much just yet.
    Yay Hawks- Baylor lost in overtime last night and I'm still depressed about it.
    I'm also not a fan of these dark mornings!

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    1. Well, it was 48F this morning (Monday) at 5:00...so I stayed inside, rode the bike, and saved my run for after work. Desperate times!

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  5. What a treat to have a bit of summer continuing through September! Glad to see you made the most of it, with lots of bike rides with friends! I love autumn, it's gorgeous, but I am sad to say goodbye to summer!

    Thanks for hosting the linkup Kim!

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    1. I definitely agree the fall season is beautiful, but it is SO hard letting summer go...

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  6. That plank and wine shirt <3
    Your 4a wakeups amaze me. I can.. I just don't.
    Please keep the weather.

    ~ Cari

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    1. Ha ha ha...the 4AM wake-ups seem to happen on their own on those token days. I'm grateful I can wake-up and function at that early hour!

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  7. You sure had a busy week! Glad summer temps are keeping you happy!

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  8. I don't have the same love of the hot weather that you do, but I will be sad to see it go. Looks like a non stop week for you, how fun! 10:30 is my weekday bed time :)

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    1. I'm trying to get in bed before 11:00 if I can. I'm just not sleepy, but I'm hoping my body can eventually acclimate and start to feel tired if I'm at least going through the motions.

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  9. You're out so freaking early in the dark... but I imagine it to be nice (I just don't run when it's dark outside, are you out by yourself?)

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    1. I'm usually with others at the 4:30 times (well, except for when I'm "walking" with Deb), but I live in a very quiet, well-light neighborhood. I stay on the sidewalks when it's super early, so I don't have much occasion to deal with traffic.

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  10. You know I am so ready for fall. Summer can exit stage right any time now. The moon has looked super full for days. It's been too cloudy to get really good views, but that's ok. I did race this weekend, and I didn't realize how much I needed it.

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    1. The moon looked so huge last week! It was looking full a couple days before it was supposed to ;-)

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  11. Nice job on your Saturday longer-than-planned run, followed by a bike ride, followed by a walk! My weekend workouts were non-existent. :-(

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    1. The Saturday run really surprised me. The first mile felt a little sluggish, but after that things just clicked. No complaints!

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  12. We've also had a very warm fall.. summer-like and I'm loving it.

    Recently it has cooled down... hard to adjust.

    My cats wake me at 4 am but I struggle to get out of bed before 6.

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