Beach Week
We had planned to come down to the Outer Banks in mid-August, but work precluded us from coming so we rescheduled to this week, Wednesday to Wednesday. See Wednesday’s workout for why we didn’t make it to the beach until late Thursday night… Anyway, we’re having a great time and are getting our workouts in! Of course, beach week also means margaritas flow a little more freely than at home. 😉
Overview of the Week
Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll down for daily details…
Sunday
On Sunday morning, Bill and I joined our Dawn Patrol friends and another cycling group for a 40-mile ride (14.1 MPH average speed) through the rolling hills of Great Falls and the surrounding area. It was 69° when the 15 of us rolled out of the parking lot.
Monday
At 60°, I was almost chilly as I headed out the door for my solo 4-mile 3:00-run/3:00-walk intervals (11:26 average pace) at 6 AM on Monday morning; and the good news is that this time I had zero foot numbness after my run! I chose to work over joining Bill and a friend for a gravel ride at Prince William Forest Park. Ends up I made a great choice as several miles had 4-inches of fresh gravel which Bill said was pretty tricky to navigate and rather dangerous. After a morning packed with clients, I completed my strength training and physical therapy homework.
Tuesday
I joined my Cruiser friend Chuck for another 35 miles (14.5 MPH average speed) on Tuesday morning in his endeavor to ride 1,000 miles in September to raise money for the Great Cycle Challenge with proceeds going to fight kids’ cancer. If you’re interested in donating, please click here. My hope to join him at least once weekly.
Wednesday
I got up extra early to lift weights at home before we drove to the beach. I keep dumbbell sets at the beach house up to 20 pounds, but I wanted to knock out some exercises that I wouldn’t be able to do down here. I had the best laid plans to finish my workout once we got settled at the house; however, my SUV had other ideas.
About 115 miles into the trip, this message popped up on the dash screen, “Service Four Wheel Drive System.” After a quick call to our Jeep dealer we learned that this meant that our four wheel drive had shut down. The car was driveable, but hello, to get to our beach house we have to drive almost 4 miles on the sand. We turned around and drove home, unpacked the car and immediately took it to the dealer to be repaired.
I did finish the rest of my workout and my PT homework, albeit in my boring basement and not with a view of the ocean. On the plus side, we got to see Pablo and his humans since they came to our house to housesit while we’re on vacation.
When in vacation mode…
Thursday
Welp, it wasn’t the run along the beach I’d expected, but I got out early at home and got it done on the outside chance our car would be ready at 7 AM and we could resume our trip. At 5 AM it was 73° and extremely humid, and it showed in my performance. I ran my 4-mile 3:00-run/3:00-walk intervals at an average pace of 11:45, slower than recent intervals of the same ratio.
The Jeep wasn’t ready at 7 AM, but luckily we were able to pick it up at 3:30 PM and were on the road by 4:15. After stopping for dinner, groceries, and to let the air down on the tires, we arrived at the beach house around 10:30.
Friday
On our first real day of vacation, I slept until 8 AM and then messed around the beach house until late morning when I pulled my dumbbells out of the closet and spent an hour strength training. After lunch and just as we were ready to head out for a walk, we heard a loud crack of thunder followed by a typical afternoon pop-up storm. I switched gears and did my PT homework, and moved our 2-mile walk on the beach to after dinner.
Saturday
I started Saturday with sun salutations looking out toward the ocean. Yes, you read that correctly, I finally did a little yoga on my own, not just when teaching my balance and stretching class.
Later in the day, we drove into town and rented beach cruisers and then met up with Bill’s brother and our sister-in-law for a 10-mile ride at an average speed of about 11 MPH (I forgot to turn off my Garmin (affiliate link) during a break so the average MPH was off). With the temperature hovering in the mid-70’s, low humidity, and a breeze, the weather was perfect for a cruise along Route 12 on the OBX!
Here’s What You Might Have Missed
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: August 30 – September 5 / Cardio Junkie
- • Tuesday – 30-Mile Greater Ashburn Bike Tour
- • Thursday – 40-Mile Great Falls Ramble Bike Tour
Questions:
- • Have you had a vacation side-tracked due to car troubles?
- • Do you drink more while at the beach than normally? ~ Um, yeah!
- • Are any races opening up where you live?
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!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.
glad you finally made it to the beach! Those things always seem happen at the most inopportune times don’t they! I am with you on the happy hour thanks for linking up
Thanks, Deborah!
Enjoy vacay! I haven’t been to OBX for a while now, but have good memories. Um yes the margaritas flow plentifully and easily when we go to the beach and hey we didn’t go to the beach this year so we’re due for some extra margaritas on our next trip!
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie recently posted…Weekly Sweats: Easy Miles and Where I am with the Half
Yes, it sounds like you definitely deserve extra margaritas on your next trip!
That’s a bummer on the jeep issue…glad it got fixed, even though it delayed the start of your vacay. I hope you’re enjoying the weekend at the beach! We finally have our summer weather back in Iowa #happydance
Thanks, Kim, we’re having so much fun! There are a couple of storms churning offshore so the ocean is intense!
Oh no, so far into your trip to have to turn around. Glad you got there OK in the end.
I had a number of car issues. At times I miss the freedom of a car since I’m not ready for public transit, but I don’t miss hassles of old car
Cari recently posted…Running is such an outlet
Thanks, Cari! I’m with you, I’m not ready to ride the Metro yet either.
I ran the Outer Banks Marathon a few years ago. It was in November, so definitely off-season. I have never been any other time, but it looks so beautiful in the summer! It was a little tougher in the off-season as many restaurants were closed. We had a cute hotel on the beach though.
Anyways, glad the vacation is happening and love the ocean pic- gorgeous! Enjoy!
Ah, yes, I remember you mentioning it, perhaps when I invited several girlfriends to our beach house to run the Outer Banks Half for my 60th birthday. Yes, we were surprised at how much of the grocery store was closed off because they have so many fewer customers that time of year.
So happy to hear t hat you finally arrived.
My car now has a broken wiper arm and it has to be ordered from Germany…hope it doesn’t rain.
Definitely drink more on vacation…why not?
No real races…yet.
Thanks, Darlene! Fingers crossed that there’s no rain when you need to drive until your new wiper arm arrives from Germany!
Isn’t that the worst when your vacation gets waylaid?? We had a crazy adventure with a rental car, but I don’t like to think about car troubles!
I am so glad you are enjoying the OBX and getting away from it all! Let those margaritas flow! I wish I could join you for one or three!
Ugh, yes, especially since we’d gotten so far into the trip on the first day… Oh believe me, the margaritas have been flowing and you would be more than welcome to join me for several if you weren’t all the way down in Florida. 😉
Bummer about the car situation but glad you were still able to make it to your vacation site. I’ve never been to the Outer Banks but have heard great things about it.
Hmm, don’t remember the last time I went on vacation. It’s been that long. 🙁
Zenaida Arroyo recently posted…Tuesday Topics: Speedwork in my running
Yes, the car definitely put a crimp in the front end of our trip, but all ended well and we had a great time.
Awww, I hope you can get away for a vacation one of these days…