More Whacky Weather Whiplashing

Suffice it say Momma N had some attitude this week.

Wowza. She was generous with the wind (#BigSurprise), but she also was very kind with the (summer) heat. Then, by week’s end, she did a complete 180 and tried to catapult us back to Winter. Yes, just in time for my race, LOL…

Before I get to the nitty gritty deets from the 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 with the whacky weather:

An action-packed Sunday

After postponing Saturday’s long run, a mere 10 miles, (#gulp), I opted to postpone it a couple hours longer and hit the bike first. This strategy was three-fold:  it gave my legs a decent warm-up, the 40K Weekend Garmin badge was within reach, and it allowed me to stream church. Also, I only needed to change clothes (as you can see, I went through three towels over the span of those 25 miles), after dismounting, and save the shower for after the run was done.

Full disclosure: I did take time, between the ride and the run, to rehydrate and have some breakfast before hitting the streets in the running shoes. Although Sunday was blessed with substantially warmer weather than Saturday, it also had a lot more wind. The sustained wind was blowing at a rate of 24mph by the time I wrapped up the 10th mile. I did manage to navigate a crosswind on much of the route, but not exclusively. Truth is, it’s always a good strategy to train in adverse conditions, since you may very well have them on race day (spoiler: I did for the Drake 13.1, LOL). Anyways, this run went pretty smooth, in the physical sense. Mentally, though, I was exhausted by the time I finished. That wind was pure evil, but it was empowering to not let it defeat me. Max also took me for a couple of walks, so this day saw a lot of action.

Never miss a Monday

After Sunday’s busyness, I allowed a brief sleep-in, then got out for a quick walk before getting ready for work. This active recovery day also featured a 2-mile lunchtime walk, a short spin around the block with Max (after work) and then an easy-paced 2-mile run in some awesome summer-like temps. 

A very low-impact Tuesday

After another slight sleep-in (oops, I may have dozed back to sleep briefly), I took Max for a quick walk before getting ready for work. The sunrise was amazing; I think he enjoyed it as much as I did. There was more walking over lunch and again after work (five total miles for the day).

A Wild Weather Wednesday

More rain in the wee hours meant no 4:45AM running, so I hit the bike instead (16 miles). By lunchtime, any trace of rain was gone, the sun was shining, and the air was fresh (not humid, surprisingly). So, I took my lunch walk outside!

By mid-afternoon, though, Momma N did an about-face. The sky turned dark, and the rain returned. By the time I drove home, the rain was coming down hard. Within not even 15 minutes, though, the sun emerged. It was still raining, but the clouds were moving quickly towards the east. Before long, the most vibrant rainbow appeared. Seriously, the pics don’t do it justice! The rain was all but gone by the time I pulled into my driveway (10 minutes later). Quite an experience witnessing that display!

Thankful Thursday

With more sketchy weather in the forecast, I thought it best to take advantage of the calm morning and walk outside with Deb. After four miles, I signed-off, took Max for a quick outing around the block and hit the Peloton app for some upper-body work.

Pic from Deb

The routine 2-mile lunch walk was a mix of warm & highly humid and freezing cold conditions throughout the various passages in the skywalk. Then, after work, the temps were better than expected, so I got in one last easy-paced 2-miler before Saturday’s half marathon.

Easy-Peasy and Low-Impact Friday

Yet again, there was rain in the forecast for the afternoon. I also had some post-workday errands to run (packet pick-up being the main one), so the morning was my best option for any outdoor action. I got out for a 2-mile walk, and noticed the trail is finally showing signs of spring!

Saturday - Drake Road Races Half Marathon!

Oof, Momma N did not play nice on race day. After a week of summer-like temps, she pulled a nasty one on us and dropped the temps by almost 50-degrees and brought back the cold winter wind. My training hadn’t been ideal, but was adequate enough (famous last words, anyone?) for this is a hilly route. The constant (and cold) wind, though, was simply brutal. I crossed the start line not expecting anything close to PR, but had the mindset to just go with the flow. My official finish time was 2:19:23 (just keeping it real, LOL), which included at least two (or three?) minutes of a potty break (complete with some fuel wrapper wrestling), and there were several walk breaks in the final miles. Every finish line is a victory, nonetheless especially those hard-fought ones on hilly routes with psychotic wind. Recap is forthcoming! 

…Sunday

The forecast is looking sunny and windy (but much less windy!), so there’s some active recovery walking on the roster. I might start the morning on the bike, before church, and save the outdoor fun until it’s a bit warmer. We shall see…stay tuned.

So yes, there was a lot of running this week! That’s what happens when the last long run AND the big race both happen in the same calendar week. The running shoes saw 27.3 miles of action this week. Walking was in pretty close contention with 25 miles. Biking had 41 miles. I kept the strength work upper-body-focused this week, but every session had the muscles burning.

In case you missed out, here’s what went down on the blog;

Riding the April Rain Train

Let’s Climb! Fight for Air Climb - 2026 recap

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. I did it again…pairing two different shades of a similar color. This time, though, I added a very sentimental accessory, that being my late grandmother’s scarf. What can I say? I’m a very sentimental gal, and I have a fondness for scarves.

Deb informed me Thursday was National Orchids Day. It’s a good thing I have a nice repertoire of those on hand.

Alas, that’s the latest. Another week closer to summer, right? 

 How was your week? What’s your weather situation been like? Any race bibs pinned-on this weekend? 

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