A Return to Routine

Yes, my friends, I rallied back!

After last week’s RAGBRAI busyness, lack of running, and a very compromised sleep schedule, I made it  back to my routine. The running resumed, there was a better showing of strength workouts, and my sleep was back on track (for the most part).

 Yay me!

Before I get to the 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, as I transitioned back into my regular routine:

Sunday - back in the running shoes!

After an 8-day sabbatical, I laced up the (lonely?) running shoes and knocked out three sunrise miles. I also had time to squeeze in a core workout and an upper-body burn session before church. The heat wave had retuned, and with temps in the 90F range (and heavy humidity, Max and I stayed inside thereafter. 

Oops, I missed another Monday run…

High temps and off-the charts humidity had me taking a pass on my usual Monday run. For a point of reference, my car showed 101 as I was driving home from work. I did manage 5-1/2 combined miles of walking, though (morning, lunch and after sunset). 

It was still crazy hot in the evening when I went out for a walk

A somewhat typical Tuesday…

Short on time (oops, a slight accidental sleep-in), I got out for a quick walk upon wake-up. I added a short upper-body workout before heading to work. There was the typical 2-mile lunch walk as well.

After getting home, I was craving a bike ride. The solution was to go for a 10-mile ride after taking Max for a walk. The corn is crazy tall in Iowa, and I’m a tall gal!

How about a full moon run on Wednesday?

When I heard the Buck Moon was “officially” rising after midnight, I made a command decision to count the 4:45AM run as my full moon run (instead of going back out Wednesday evening). Four miles later, all was good! Max and I took a short walk, after I returned home, then I hit the basement for some core work and an upper-body strength session…all before heading to the office.

A very Thankful Thursday…

There was a lot happening on Thursday, starting with a morning walk amidst a beautiful sunrise. Over lunch, I had company (and lively conversation) for my skywalk session (see below).

,,,and I made it over to Altoona for the running club group run. Although the humidity had gone down some, the 80F temps were still feeling pretty toasty. My splits show the story…mile-1 and mile-2 were consistent, and then mile-3 gave me a decent finishing kick. Feelin’good, feelin’ fine! 

A not-so-fair-weather Friday…

Waking up to rain was a bit of a buzzkill, though the sprinkles were light. The forecast was looking rather damp and gloomy for the entire day, though. That said, I summoned the umbrella and got out for a short walk anyways. Following the previous night’s run, my hip was feeling wonky, so I found a mobility workout (via Peloton) to work-out most of the kinks. There also was the usual 2-mile lunch walk…then rain thereafter (in other words, I was “in” for the night). 

Saturday - going with the flow…

You know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Yeah, LOL. My strategy when the rain doesn’t play nice (with the humidity as its counterpart), I just go with the flow. I’d hoped to go for a short run, and finish with some biking. Instead, I exercised some flexibility and simply “settled” for a 3-1/2 mile walk instead. No harm, no foul. 

   

…and what’s on-deck for Sunday?

The forecast is looking similar with the temps and humidity, but dry in terms of precip. Fingers crossed, I’d like to get in some morning walking and biking…stay tuned!

So, not a bad week! Running felt good, and had 10 miles logged. Biking took a small nosedive, following the previous week, and had only 10 miles in the saddle this week. Walking served me well, though, with 22 miles. The strength workouts were decent as well.  

In case you missed out, here’s what went down in the blog this week:

A Week with Little Sleep

Des Moines Corporate Games: 5K race recap

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. As much as I’m all about a punch of color, sometimes going with the classic black and white suits me just fine. That said, adding a funky cheetah-print cardi just ups the fun factor…and I’m alright with that. 

Finally, the highlight of the week was a long overdue meet-up with Birchie (you may know her from her blog The Birchwood Pie Project) !! She was on a roadtrip, with a brief stay in Des Moines. We met for dinner Wednesday evening, and then she joined me for a tour of the skywalk during my lunch break on Thursday. Blogging/fitness friends are such treasures! 

All told, it was a solid week of easing-back into my routine. I’m eager to get back in the saddle this next week, and enjoy more time on the trails with Krystal (she’s my hybrid cycle). Although it’s been rather sticky and icky outside, I still enjoy my sunrise walks. I’m also grateful for the skywalk, which keeps me active during the workdays. 

But enough about me…tell me something fun about your week! How’s your weather been feeling? Any races on the horizon? New fitness endeavors?  

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