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Leaf Peeping and Lobster Eating
After reading Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton (affiliate link), visiting Acadia National Park during autumn became a bucket list item. Yes, I wanted to be a leaf peeper. Once we learned that Bill’s brother and our sister-in-law planned to spend a few weeks in New England this fall, Bill and I started planning our trip. Coincidentally, two of our Dawn Patrol cycling friends were also planning to visit Acadia the first week of October which helped us nail down a date and prompted us to drive rather than fly so we could bring our gravel bikes.
This coming week promises to be filled with lots of cycling, hiking, socializing, and of course, eating lobster.
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
Walking: 2 miles
• Average pace: 16:38
• Start time: 6:20 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 70° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts and s/s shirt
After a hard workout at the 65-mile gravel grinder the day before, this was a recovery day. Later in the day, I multitasked and called my mom while I took an easy walk around the neighborhood.
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Tuesday
Cycling: 10 miles
• Average speed: 15.7 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle spin bike
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 3:44 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 68°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra
Hiking: 2 miles
• Average pace: 16:16
• Start time: 4:49 PM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 68° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts and s/s shirt
In preparation for our trip and on the recommendation of Cari, I bought Merrell hiking shoes (affiliate link) a couple of weeks ago with plans to break them in on a couple of hikes while at the farm. A busy schedule precluded me from hiking so I decided I’d better take them out for a spin before the trip. I stayed local and walked on the grass, dirt, and rocks running parallel to the paved trail. The shoes are extremely comfortable and I expect they’ll do great on our trip.
Wednesday
Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:22
• Start time: 6:04 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 46° and clear
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, gloves, and mittens
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Foam rolling: 10 minutes
Stretching: 10 minutes
Yes, you read that correctly, I was quite comfy in my shorts and short sleeved shirt, but needed gloves and mittens to keep my fingers warm.
Thursday
Cycling: 10 miles
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle spin bike
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:01 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65°
• What I wore: bike shorts and jog bra
Stretching: 10 minutes
Friday
Drive to Maine
Strength training: 15 minutes of core
Saturday
Cycling: 23 miles
• Average speed: 12.6 MPH
• Bike: Cannondale Topstone
• Surface: mostly paved, some gravel
• Elevation gain: 1,079 feet
• Start time: 11:17 AM
• Location: Portland, Maine
• Weather: 54° and overcast, climbing to 58° and mostly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, arm sleeves, light jacket, and fingerless gloves
Cycling: 7.42 miles
• Average speed: 12.3 MPH
• Bike: Cannondale Topstone
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 151 feet
• Start time: 2:43 PM
• Location: Portland, Maine
• Weather: 59° and partly sunny
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, arm sleeves, light jacket, and fingerless gloves
Bill and I started our vacation with a fun six-lighthouse bike tour, followed by a jaunt around the lake on Back Cove Trail. It was nippier than I’m used to for cycling this season and I was a little nervous that I was underdressed, but ended up being just fine.
The highlight of the evening was a quick little blogger friends meetup with Deborah and Darlene! They were in town for the Maine Half Marathon and it worked out for us to meet in downtown Portland near the waterfront around dinner time.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: September 18 – 24 / Modified Workouts
- • Tuesday – 2022 Tour de Conservation Easement Gnarly Gravel Grinder
Questions:
- • Have you had any impromptu meetup with friends when you just happened to be in the same town at the same time? ~Twice this weekend… with Deborah and Darlene last evening and our cycling friends later today.
- • What was your favorite workout of the week? ~ It’s a tossup between Wednesday’s run in the nippy 46° where I felt like I was floating and could have run forever and yesterday’s lighthouse bike tour.
- • 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!
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I was wondering how it worked out for you to be in Maine also! Nice that you were able to see Deborah and Darlene 😉 If I had to pick a favorite workout for the week…Friday morning’s strength session was a good burn! But, yesterday’s late afternoon bike ride was pretty sweet, too.
It wasn’t until a week or two ago that I realized Deborah and Darlene’s race was in Portland. The residual rain from Ian caused us to flip/flop visiting western NY and Vermont with Portland before/after Bar Harbor. Had it not been for the rain, we would have been in Portland next weekend.
We’ve got to enjoy those outdoors bike rides while we can, right?
Oh, how funny that the three D’s happened to be in Portland at the same time- so cool that you were able to meet up with them.
This whole trip sounds AMAZING! I want more pictures! And… finally, someone agrees with me. When it gets chilly here, I could run in a tank top, shorts, and gloves. But I need a hat as well.
Enjoy your trip!
There will be plenty of pictures, stay tuned! If you’re on IG you’ll see them sooner (and more of them) there.
Yep, my body runs hot, but my fingers are cold from September to April.
How fun to meet up with fellow bloggers! I’ll bet Acadia is stunning right now! I’ve only been to Maine in summer and in November so I have not enjoyed the fall colors there. That lighthouse bike tour sounds fantastic!
Yes, it’s beautiful here in Maine – the leaves are much further along than Virginia.
It was great to see Deborah and to finally meet Darlene!
Perfect timing with a Maine meetup! Lovely.
Leaf peeping and lobster eating- such a fun weekend!
We drove through Acadia National Park today when we arrived in Bar Harbor. I’m looking forward to lots of hiking and cycling in the coming days.
How fun to have a blogger meet up! I’ve been enjoying following your photos from your trip on IG. Looks so beautiful there! I was in Maine when I was a child. I think I need to go back!
We arrived in Bar Harbor and drove through Acadia National Park today. It’s gorgeous here!
wow did not realize you drove all the way to Maine. That has to be a long drive! So fun to see you for a second. Hope you had fun the rest of your trip
Portland was great and I’m so happy we were able to meet up briefly. We drove to Bar Harbor today for the next four days, then on to Vermont before heading back home.
YAY all three of you together!! How cool is that?! It’s so funny to see you in “real” clothes, I hardly recognised you without a cycling helmet, ha!
Will you be giving us an extra post about your trip? (With lots of photos)
It was super fun seeing Deborah and finally meeting Darlene! And yes, I plan to recap a few of my rides/excursions while here in separate posts. 🙂
We do love ME! In fact, I may have walked out to that lighthouse you took a photo in front of — or one very like it.
I am sure you’re going to have a great time up there! When we’re there, my husband counts the amount of lobster he gets to consume, LOL. Enjoy!
It’s beautiful here and we’re having a great time! The lobster seems extra expensive, though. Our rather small lobster rolls were $31 each last night and that was without any sides. The lobster bisque we shared was $23, but it was an individual serving. Curious if that seems like a lot more than usual?
Yay for meetups. So glad that worked out, timing wise.
I love the idea of a ligththouse tour. When you were here for 5 Borough Bike (? I think) did you do the Lighthouse Museum? Only one still working in the Harbor, but some fun ones on the river.
Can’t wait to see all of your Acadia pics. Glad you like the shoes. Did you recommend that book to me? I read it too and loved it.
Yes, it was so nice to finally meet Darlene!
We did not visit the Lighthouse Museum when we were in NYC for the bike tour.
I think you recommended the book to me, but I’m not positive since it was several years ago…
So fun that you were able to meet up with blog/run buddies – that’s the best!
It really is!
Great rundown, and so glad you got to meet up with friends! I love that.
Maine is so beautiful. I hope you really did get all the lobster!
We’ve had a wonderful trip thus far! Now, on to Vermont in search of more gravel roads!