A Not-So-Normal Week

Talk about your out-of-the-ordinary weeks!

The fitness remained on-track, thankfully , but there were several instances of non-routine variables mixed-in to this week’s routine. Although I had to get a little creative, and utilize some flexibility with my schedule, all went off without a hitch.

 After all, it’s not a bad thing to deviate from the norm once in awhile…

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 blogs as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)

Anyways, here’s what went down is this not-so-normal week of fun and fitness:

Sunday - the NewBo 10K-ish race!

There was no wasted time in getting this out-of-the ordinary week off and running (see what I did there?). This NewBo event was one I had run before, albeit a different distance (the half marathon in 2018 and 2019). After a long day of tailgating and football watching in extreme heat the day prior, I was a little skeptical on how I’d do come race morning, but all went much better than anticipated! I managed a 9:40 average pace and a 5th place finish in my age group. You can check-out the recap HERE. 

Shortly after crossing the finish line, I had to shower-up quickly and hustle back to Des Moines to pick up the North Carolina daughter from the airport. The other daughter had arrived the day prior, from Pennsylvania. Amidst catch-up blogging and slight napping, I was able to squeeze in a short upper-body strength ssesion, in the late afternoon. What followed was a fun, but rather late, evening of mom/daughter talk.

 

Never miss a Monday

For the first time in a long while ( perhaps forever ?), I didn’t set an alarm for Monday morning, and actually slept until almost 8:00AM. I took my time in getting my gear on, and finally headed out, just before 9:00 for a very easy-peasy recovery run. Well, keeping the run easy-peasy was my intention, though the second mile wound up being a much faster pace the first mile (#Oops). Thankfully, my body felt great and there weren’t any post-NewBo DOMS or after-effects. A bonus was making it back home just as the raindrops were starting to fall. 

  

A somewhat typical Tuesday

Nothing super crazy about this day’s fitness to report. I logged a couple of miles in the walking shoes, upon wake-up, and knocked-out a short upper-body session before heading to the office. I did my usual 2-mile walk over my lunch break as well. Yadda yadda yadda.

Kind of a weird Wednesday (in terms of fitness)

We had a major storm come through Tuesday (early) evening, and the rain had continued overnight, rendering the usual Wednesday 4:45AM group run a rainout. I took advantage of the situation and snagged a little extra slumber before hitting the spin bike for eight miles. 

That afternoon, my company had an outing at Principal Park. The Iowa Cubs hosted the Toledo Mud Hens (title pic, above). The cloud cover made for a great day of baseball, though it got pretty steamy when the sun emerged in the final innings. 

    

Thankful Thursday

Another change in routine, this week, was that I was on my own Thursday morning. With the busyness of the week (did I mention my house guests?), I hadn’t been on the bike much in the past two weeks, nor would I be riding in the foreseeable future. I decided to hit the spin bike again, since there was zero daylight outside ((sigh)) for 10 miles. Afterwards, I cued-up an intense lower-body workout, via Peloton . Can you say “multiple goblet squats with intervals of numerous skater lunge hops?” 

Later, after work, I made my way over to the Thursday night group run. Since it was Cy-Hawk week (see below), everyone was encourage to wear their team’s colors and/or gear. Naturally, I repped my Hawkeyes. As I’ve noted before, this weekly run almost always has me running more of a tempo pace…and this run was no exception. All was well and everything felt great. Go Hawks!

Friday Fitness: A September 11th tribute!

It was only fitting that my week of non-routine stuff afforded my weekly meet-up with Deb landing on a Friday (instead of our usual Thursday mornings). We decided to pay tribute to the say by riding 9.11 miles on our bikes.  

Collage courtesy of Deb

After we said our goodbyes and parted (virtual) ways, I hit the basement for a little more fitness, via Peloton. Upper-body sretngth for the Friday morning win!

Saturday - long-ish run…

Another long-ish day of football and tailgating on the roster meant the long-ish run had to get done before donning the Hawkeye gear. That said, I actually summoned the Iowa bike jersey, LOL, because the other tank top was in the wash. Seven miles (and change) had me ready for the day.

…and what’s happening on Sunday?

There’s gonna be some low-key movement on-deck, at least for the morning. The long day of tailgating and late night of football, as well as Saturday morning’s 7-mile run, have me ready for a little R & R. I’ll probably get out for a walk, but the afternoon is yet to be determined.

So, yes, it was a busy week! The running saw 19 miles of action. Walking talked 17 miles (probably more, including all the steps from walking back and forth before and after the football game). Biking was very minimal, with just over 27 miles. Strength training was solid, with four good sessions. 

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

The HEAT is still ON!

NewBo 10K-ish Race Recap

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. It’s been 25 years, yet it feels almost like last week. I still remember where I was (in my family room) and what I was doing (talking on the phone with a friend). We witnessed the second tower getting hit, and both of us stood transfixed in front of our tv screens for over an hour, comforting each other as we tried to make sense of the tragedy as it unfolded in front of us. 

So, that’s why I sported the red, white and blue on Friday. It gave me great comfort in how the people of our country unified, amidst our individual differences, in the days following. 

The week was full of family time! The two out-of-state daughters were here (one for a few days, the other for the week).

Some of you may have heard about the tragic death of one of the band members of the University of Iowa marching band (a result of last weekend’s extreme weather on game day). There has been SO much support, on social media, from fellow college bands. It’s been wonderful seeing the solidarity amongst the music community.

Finally, I mentioned the BIG football game on Saturday, between my Iowa Hawkeyes and their inner-state rivals, the Iowa State Cyclones. The Hawks came away with a winning field goal, with 15 seconds remaining in the game, to secure the victory.

A shot of the final score, the two college mascots waving,(in unison) to the children at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital, and myself

And, it was also a fun day seeing the one remaining daughter and my son at the tailgating festivities.

So, that’s a wrap on the week! Lots of busyness, plenty of fitness, and a whole lot of family time. 

How did your week play-out? Any fun fitness achievements? Races? College football?

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