Relaxed Two Weeks

After two weeks of mostly being away from home – at the beach and at the farm – I’m looking forward to getting back into routine. I thrive on routine and while I certainly got in plenty of exercise while at the beach, I allowed for more relaxed eating habits with lots of snacking and 5 PM cocktails.

While at the farm, there was cake and ice cream to enjoy while helping my mom celebrate her 90th birthday. I also made two of her favorite dinners, one healthy and one not at all, but when one turns 90 they deserve fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, etc.

Today we’re driving home from the farm and tomorrow is a new day. I know I will feel so much better once I’m back in my healthy eating routine.

 

Overview of the Week

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…

 

Sunday

Cycling: 12 miles
• Average speed: 10.8 MPH
• Bike: Electra Cruiser Lux
• Surface: gravel with a little paved
• Elevation gain: 35 feet
• Start time: 7:34 AM
• Location: Swan Beach along the Atlantic Ocean and into the Whalehead Club
• Weather: 75° and sunny, climbing to 78°
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

Walking: 1 mile
• Average pace: didn’t time
• Start time: 9:02 AM
• Location: Swan Beach along the Atlantic Ocean
• Weather: 78° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

Yoga: Sun salutations

I decided to ride beyond the 4×4 beach and into Corolla. I didn’t venture too far, but spent a little time riding around the Whalehead Club. Once home, I walked for a mile while waiting for Bill to finish his ride.

 

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Cycling: 20 miles
• Average speed: 11.4 MPH
• Bike: Electra Cruiser Lux
• Surface: sand and some paved
• Elevation gain: 61 feet
• Start time: 7:46 AM
• Location: Swan Beach along the Atlantic Ocean and into Corolla
• Weather: 76° and sunny, climbing to 81° (feels like 85°)
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

We had a few errands to run so we rode our bikes into Corolla. While there, we said goodbye to Winks of Corolla which was closing after 40 years. Our family has been shopping at Winks for the past 34 years since our beach house was first built.

 

Tuesday

Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:38
• Start time: 7:51 AM
• Location: Swan Beach along the Atlantic Ocean
• Weather: 78°, sunny, and humid
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

Walking: 2+ miles
• Average pace: didn’t time
• Start time: 8:23 AM
• Location: Swan Beach along the Atlantic Ocean
• Weather: 79°, sunny, and humid
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

Cycling: 10 miles
• Average speed: 9.3 MPH
• Bike: Electra Cruiser Lux
• Surface: sand
• Elevation gain: 21 feet
• Start time: 9:21 AM
• Location: Swan Beach along the Atlantic Ocean
• Weather: 81° (feels like 86°) and changing from sunny to overcast with 12 MPH winds out of the southwest
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

Roll: 10 minutes

Stretch: 10 minutes

Well that made me tired, but a good tired! I hadn’t planned to do that much cardio until I headed out on the early side of low tide and thought I’d have a tough time riding my bike until a little later. I switched gears and decided to go for a run while I waited for the tide to get a little lower. I walked for just over a mile to a point where the beach is much flatter and easier to run on, giving me a great pre-run warmup. After finishing my run, I walked back to the house for a relaxing cooldown. By the time I’d finished my walk/run/walk, conditions were perfect for a bike ride… until I headed south and into a 12 MPH headwind that had just kicked up.

I put my cruiser in the lowest of its three gears, put my head down, and pedaled like I was climbing a 14% grade even though the beach was pancake flat. And even with all that, I couldn’t get any faster than 7 MPH riding into that headwind. Once I turned around, though, the tailwind sent me sailing home.

 

Wednesday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Yoga: Sun salutations

Travel home from the beach

 

Thursday

Cycling: 40 miles
• Average speed: 14.5 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 2,090 feet
• Start time: 8:04 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Hamilton loop with Thomas Mill and Woodburn climbs
• Weather: 66° and overcast, climbing to 73° with occasional breakthrough sun
• What I wore: bike shorts and s/s jersey

Home from vacation and more than a week of riding on the flat beach, my husband and I hit my favorite hill training course. I didn’t need to coordinate my ride around an ocean tide, but I did have to arrange it around client sessions.

 

Friday

Travel to the farm

 

Saturday

It was raining at the farm and even though I usually love running in the rain during the summer, it was a chilly 61° and I opted to sleep in a bit. My brother was also visiting my mom and we had lots of fun just hanging out and getting stuff done around the house for her.

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

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

 

Questions:
  • • What’s your favorite healthy meal and not-so-healthy meal? ~ My favorite healthy meal is grilled salmon with roasted veggies. My favorite not-so-healthy meal would have been my grandmother’s breakfast of eggs, bacon, biscuits, and gravy, but she’s been gone since the mid-90’s and I’ve never made it on my own. I prefer to hold that as a special memory made just by her. Instead, I make her (and my mom’s) fried chicken and gravy!
  • • What was your favorite workout of the week? ~ My favorite workout was our beach ride into town to run errands and have breakfast.
  • • Did you run in a 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!