Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links…

 

Using My Garmin for LiveTracking

My bike Garmin (affiliate link) got a great workout on Sunday, but me, not so much. Just for fun and so Bill could follow me via Garmin LiveTrack as I made the six-hour drive to the farm, I set my device on my SUV’s console, turned it on, and took off. The drive from our house to the farm takes us through three of Virginia’s five geographical regions: Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, and Valley and Ridge. For those curious, the other two regions are the Appalachian Plateau and the Coastal Plain.

I climbed 14,672 feet over my 329 miles. Compared to the 5,705 feet we climbed during the 100 miles of our Reston Century in August, the elevation ascent per mile for the drive to the farm is 12.5 feet per mile less even with climbing Walker Mountain in southwest Virginia. Kind of fun info for this stats nerd…

 

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

Travel day: drove to the farm

 

Monday

Running: 4 Miles
• Average pace: 9:05
• Start time: 8:36 AM
• Location: country roads near the farm
• Weather: 58° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, mittens, and visor

Walking: 1.5 miles
• Average pace: 15:09
• Start time: 9:15 AM
• Location: country roads near the farm
• Weather: 62° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, mittens, and visor

Foam rolling: 10 minutes

Stretching: 10 minutes

Before a long day of putting up my mom’s Christmas tree, carrying box after box of decorations up from the basement, and decorating her entire house, I got out for a run and a walk. The weather was delightful and I beat the afternoon rain! What can’t be seen in the photo below are two dogs standing on the other side of the bridge barking their heads off at me.

 

Tuesday

Rest day

I didn’t really need or get a rest day; instead I took my mom to an eye doctor appointment, the hair salon, got her Covid booster, and ran several errands with her. We were gone for the entire day and both felt like we’d had a hard workout by the time we got home. LOL

 

Wednesday

Travel day: drove home from the farm

Strength training : 1 hour of total body

I got up early and hit the road before 6 AM which allowed me to get home by early afternoon, run some errands, and lift weights before collapsing into bed after an exhausting, but fun, whirlwind trip to the farm.

 

Thursday

Cycling: 36 miles
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra

It was the first time all week that I had a chance to get on my spin bike (affiliate link) and my legs felt good to move again after a few days of no cardio.

 

Friday

Strength training : 1 hour of total body

Stretching: 15 minutes

 

Saturday

Cycling: 50 miles
• Average speed: 14.5 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved trail and roads
• Elevation gain: 2,316
• Start time: 8:57 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail loop to Purcellville with some roads
• Weather: 55° and overcast with 13 MPH wind from the SW, climbing to 64° with 18 MPH wind and gusts up to 37 MPH
• What I wore: short bike bibs, s/s jersey, arm warmers, jacket, ear warmer headband, and fingerless gloves over light gloves (removed jacket at mile 9 and put it back on around mile 25)

Despite high wind in the forecast and a feeling of FOMO not joining the VelPigs for a gravel ride after going to a beer tasting party at The Bike Lane to sample Piggy Stardust Smoked Maple Porter and VeloPigs Peoples Porter (disclaimer: I don’t like beer and tried neither), Bill and I rode our road bikes on my favorite W&OD Trail/roads route to Purcellville. Just as we rolled past the parking lot at the trail’s terminus, we saw Santa and Mrs. Claus getting ready for the Purcellville Christmas parade. They were sweet enough to pose for pictures before we rode off.

Our planned ride was 46 miles, but we decided to tack on four more miles and make it a half century!

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

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

 

 Questions:
  • • Do you ever set out to go one distance and decide to tack on more to get to an even tidier number?
  • • Do you have any travel plans for over the holiday season? ~ We will be heading back to the farm to see Mom for an early Christmas, but will be home for Christmas Eve through the new year.
  • • Did you run in a race this weekend?

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

*********************************************************************

 

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.