Memorial Day
As we enjoy time with family and friends over a three-day holiday weekend, it’s important to remember that Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember and honor our military members who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. These heroes gave the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom.
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 42.33 miles
• Average speed: 12.6 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 2,539 feet
• Start time: 9:32 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail to Canby/Mount Gilead loop
• Weather: 67° and cloudy, climbing to 71°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, arm sleeves, and fingerless gloves
We joined the Gravel Rats for fun group ride. Helicopters were circling for the first half hour, but we never found out what was going on.
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of full body
Walking: 2.15 miles
• Average pace: 14:48 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 105 feet
• Start time: 8:26 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 61°and foggy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and nylon shell
Gardening: 1.5 hours
After wrapping up my last client, I headed outside to do some yard work. Even though our lawn service mulched earlier in the spring, I prefer to weed and mulch some of the tedious sections around our stone patio and rock garden myself.
Tuesday
Cycling: 18.2 miles
• Average speed: 14.1 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 571 feet
• Start time: 9:37 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Leesburg loop
• Weather: 75° and sunny, climbing to 82°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Gardening: 2.5 hours
My husband and I rode to my new favorite bike shop to get some help with our road bikes. Since purchasing them in 2020 we’ve had our electronic shifters set to synchronized shifting (all shifting is done with the right hand). It was great for me when I first got back into cycling, but now I want more control over the gears so we had it changed to regular shifting for both bikes.
After my bike ride, I continued with my weeding and mulching project before planting a couple of flowers in pots on our deck.
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of full body
Walking: 3.05 miles
• Average pace: 15:25 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 187 feet
• Start time: 9:39 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 80° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts and s/s shirt
With spring cleaning completed in the rock garden, it was time for our gnome family to move out of the garden shed and back onto their compound. This little bit of whimsy I’ve added to our back lawn over the years makes me so happy. Worth noting, a few of the smaller rocks were transplanted from the farm.
Thursday
Walking: 4.02 miles
• Average pace: 15:53 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 175 feet
• Start time: 5:28 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 71° with a short light rain, climbing to 72° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Cycling: 20 miles
• Average speed: 16.5 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 8:52 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in basement, 73° and raining outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
The weather forecast dictated a game-time decision on whether I’d be able to walk or would need to stay inside on my treadmill during my virtual walk with Kim. It looked like the rain was going to hold out so I headed outside. About ten minutes into my walk the rain started, but ended after only a few minutes. Unfortunately, by the time I was ready to go for a bike ride, it was raining steadily so I stayed inside on my spin bike.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Saturday
Cycling: 20.22 miles
• Average speed: 15.6 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 614 feet
• Start time: 8:13 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Herndon loop
• Weather: 74° and sunning, climbing to 81° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Gardening: 1.5 hours
Walking: 2+ miles untimed
With errands to run, gardening to complete, and spending family time at an afternoon festival in our neighborhood, we kept our ride short with a quick ride to the Green Lizard for blueberry muffins for breakfast. My husband and I were both sporting our new Green Lizard jerseys, but forgot to take a selfie.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions:
- • Did you or anyone in your family serve in the military? ~ My father, father-in-law, and three uncles served in the army and one uncle served in the air force.
- • Do you have any bits of whimsy in your home or outdoor space? ~ In addition to gnomes in the rock garden, I have a collection of three geckos I purchased three different years while at the beach. They guard the plants in a raised bed built into our deck.
- • Did you run in race this weekend? ~ no
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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Nice week of rides and gardening! Our backyard has so many weeds and I really need to tackle them. I did so early in the spring but that just seemed to encourage them to reproduce, lol. Your backyard looks so nice.
My father-in-law and all his brothers served in the military. Several of them served in WWII.
Thanks, Wendy! Staying on top of the weeds during the spring seems like a full-time job.
Yes, Memorial Day is for honoring our fallen, not just celebrating a day off from work. As you know, there have been a long list of military personnel in my life, including my dear father (who is still with us, thankfully). I’m eager to get some gardening underway…but it’s a clean slate here, and a bit overwhelming as to where to start, LOL.
The nice thing about your yard being a clean slate is that you can do whatever you want with it. It will be fun once you come up with a plan!
Your gnome area is so pretty. I’ve tried to create a rockery in a part of the garden but was never able to tackle the weeds and it’s very overgrown now. I’m thinking of cleaning it up later this summer, cover with weed control fabric and try again. We have plenty of garden rocks after the works lately.
Thank you! That’s right, with the digging they had to do to put in your office (office, correct?), I bet you have a lot of rocks from which to choose!
Yes, it was to prepare for an office for my husband… and we already had an insane amount of spare garden rocks!
Looks like you got in a lot of cycling miles this week! Nice that we have finally gotten out of the raining spot we were in
All that rain was messing with our outdoor activities. 😉
Hmmm, synchronized shifting – all done with right hand? That’s a new one for me! My shifters have [thankfully] been working fine since I charged everything up. Hopefully it was just a weird fluke! I was wondering how to “reboot” them!! That does sound like a thing, like CTRL-ALT-DEL, right??
Lisa @ TechChick Adventures recently posted…Weekly workouts – hello summer!
Yes, in synchronized shifting when you shift the front ring automatically moves and not always when you’re expecting it. Often, when it would move to the smaller ring, it would cause this spin effect when it geared down. I really disliked that when climbing a hill – it would kind of put you in a little temporary spin. Anyway, that’s no longer an issue! Good news on your shifters working fine since getting charged!
Nice job on all the workouts as well as the gardening! Just last week I read about how important gardening is for our wellbeing and how it helps people to stay fit as they get older. With all the kneeling, bending and carrying heavy stuff, I can see how it’s a workout.
I think you’re selling yourself short on Saturday’s bike ride in your graph – you did more than 10 miles! 😉
My dad was doing very serious gardening until two weeks before he died at 84 and my mom was gardening into her late 80’s (88 maybe?). So yes, I think it really helps keep us mentally young, mobile, and happy!
Good catch on my Saturday cycling mileage on my infographic. It’s all fixed now! 🙂
Wedding and mulching is hard work… and weeds are never ending.
My father and fIL served in the army. Both in Italy but on different sides.
Nope. I skipped the race in favor of hanging out on the lake.
Hanging out at the lake sounds nice.
Ah yes, I remember the story about your father and father-in-law serving in the army in Italy and on different sides.
Nice job this week! I need to get gardening – I can’t believe it’s already the end of May, and we haven’t planted anything yet here! No racing for me this weekend, but I got in a few runs and walks when the weather cooperated. It was a busy weekend here with birthday and first communion celebrations!
Awww, congratulations to your little one on celebrating his first holy communion.
Way to get the garden in shape for the season! The gnome family is adorable. Our garden is looking good because I’ve been working hard to have everything ready for the grad party. Sadly our landscaper killed many of the perennials I planted last fall with weed killer of some sort. This is the second year in a row that’s happened and I am not amused.
Parties are certainly great motivators for getting the house and garden whipped into shape. Oh no on the perennials getting sprayed with weed killer. 🙁