Leading Up to the Break

The days leading up to our trip to Florida were jam packed with workouts in anticipation of a few down days while on vacation. Usually our vacations are either spent at the farm or at our family beach house when we have time to enjoy the ease of relaxing hikes, bike rides, runs, and even strength training sessions. While in Florida; however, I knew we had a few commitments and wasn’t sure when I could fit in my runs thus the push to get as many workouts behind me as I could.

Ends up, I got in 2 good runs while in Florida, the downtime came once home and my right lower hamstring started acting up. All is good now and I’m back to my normal workouts; although, I haven’t tried running yet, but I suspect I’ll be fine as long as I keep it easy and don’t push too hard.

 

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

We checked out of our airbnb in Fort Meyers, FL and walked around downtown for a little while before driving to Punta Gorda where we would be staying with our future daughter-in-law’s parents. I skipped working out and instead sat by the pool sipping margaritas and catching up.

 

Monday

Joined by my son and future d-i-l, I headed out into the 70° Florida sunshine at 8:15 AM for a run. We ran 4 miles past Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda with an average pace of 8:47.

 

Tuesday

Knowing that I’d be sitting on a plane for a couple of hours later in the day, I opted to run again even though I usually prefer not to run on consecutive days. It was 69° and sunny with a wonderful breeze when I headed out at 7 AM. With tired legs from the run the previous day, I had no choice but to slow it down and finished my 5K with an average pace of 9:42.

Once home, our older son who had been watching Pablo while we were away with Pablo’s peeps brought him to us for the rest of the week. We’ll have Pablo with us until they return next week.

 

Wednesday

From either running on concrete two days in a row or sitting on a plane for a couple of hours without moving, I woke up with a significant pain in my right lower hamstring. As a result, I limited my workout to an hour of early morning strength training dodging anything that bothered my back/leg – my back didn’t hurt at all, but I suspected the pain was stemming from there. Pablo watched with great concern to make sure I didn’t overdo it.

 

Thursday

I was able to return to the 55+ community gym to train clients for the first time since March 12, 2020; however, I didn’t workout myself because I was still nursing that sore right hamstring. After dinner, Bill and I walked Pablo for a mile and my leg felt pretty good.

 

Friday

I woke up with my leg feeling totally back to normal so after an hour of lifting weights I took Pablo for an adventure. He wanted to stay out longer, but I had to rush back home to teach my balance and stretching class, hopefully for the last time virtually. As a result, I got in 15 minutes of stretching plus a little yoga during the balance portion of the class.

 

Saturday

Bill had to work so Pablo and I headed out for another walk before I left for a 42-mile solo bike ride. I hit the 1.55-mile-long hill again and even though it was 84° when I headed out, Strava said I got 4 PR’s on the hill even though my overall speed was 13.6 MPH. It was 93° when I rolled back onto our driveway, but on my bike it didn’t seem nearly as hot.

 

The cicadas are in full swing now – they started making their way out of the ground here about 2 weeks after DC. Their constant hum is at about 100 decibels which is comparable to a lawn mower, and surprisingly, it just becomes background noise. Even though they’re everywhere they don’t bother me because I like insects. I was concerned; however, that they’d be a real nuisance while riding my bike, but so far they haven’t been too bad.

Here are a few lessons I learned about cicadas during my ride…

  1. Cicada pee, or honeydew as it’s called, is indeed real and when it hits, it truly does feel like little rain droplets.
  2. When a cicada flies straight toward you as you’re barreling down a hill at 34 MPH, it reminds you of the opening credits of Men in Black.
  3. When that very same cicada hits you in the mouth, it doesn’t sting nearly as much as you’d expect.
  4. Cicada claws don’t hurt, but they tickle when they’re holding on for dear life attached to your arms or legs as you pedal away.
  5. Cicadas like to hitchhike and I found one on my helmet and one on my jersey when I got home.

Later in the evening, Bill and I took Pabs on another walk. He loves exploring the wooded trails behind our house.

 

Here’s What You Might Have Missed

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

 

 Questions:
  • • Do you front load your workouts if you’re going to be traveling later in the week?
  • • Do you run on asphalt, concrete, dirt, or something else?
  • • Did you run in a race this weekend? If so, was it live or virtual?

 

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!