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Peak Weeks
Bill and I got very lucky and timed our trip to New England during actual peak leaf peeping week – it’s always a crap shoot and you just have to hope that luck is on your side when scheduling trips weeks or months in advance. Once home from our trip, our leaves were just starting to turn and we got to experience leaf peeping all over again.
After a wet summer leaving the trees in our area stress free, the leaves were particularly vibrant this year. Add to that very little rain and wind once they started turning colors and the leaves stayed attached to the trees for several weeks. It truly has been a long and glorious fall!
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
Running: 5K
• Average pace: 10:39
• Elevation gain: 46 feet
• Start time: 9:36 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 39° and sunny, climbing to 44°
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, nylon shell, and gloves
This was my first run post skin cancer surgery on my upper abdominal area, so I took it easy. It was a beautiful day and I felt great so it was a win!
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Tuesday
Hiking: 1.8 miles
• Average pace: 30:31
• Elevation gain: 710 feet
• Start time: 12:43 PM
• Location: Dark Hollow Falls Trail in Shenandoah National Park
• Weather: 64° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, nylon shell, and visor (took shell off for second half of hike)
I finally got to meet Judy while she was in Virginia for a trail half marathon. We met in Shenandoah National Park for a hike down to Dark Hollow Falls. The above average pace is a guesstimate using the inaccurate information from our hike descent because auto-pause kept stopping my Garmin (affiliate link) even though I wasn’t stopped, and once I turned auto-pause off for our climb out, I forgot to turn off my watch until we were pulling out of the parking lot. Oops!
Judy had previously given me some tips on how to shoot waterfalls with an iPhone to get the slow shutter effect and I was happy to get to practice! Stay tuned for a full recap of our hike on Tuesday.
Original photo…
With long exposure…
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 5K
• Average pace: 14:35
• Elevation gain: 132 feet
• Start time: 11:17 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 62° and sunny, climbing to 65°
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, and visor
I was definitely overdressed and should have worn shorts, but I was too lazy to walk back upstairs and change when I checked my weather app.
Thursday
Cycling: 46 miles
• Average speed: 14.2 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 1,611
• Start time: 10:34 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Sterling to Purcellville loop
• Weather: 54° and sunny, climbing to 67°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, jacket, mid-weight gloves, ear warmer headband (5 miles into the ride I took my jacket and headband off and changed into fingerless gloves)
My friend Chuck and I couldn’t have picked a nicer day for a ride. We ended up going about seven miles farther than planned simply because it was so nice we wanted to stay outside as long as possible.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Saturday
Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:36
• Elevation gain: 107 feet
• Start time: 8:43 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 63° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Even though the humidity was very high, the temperature was cool enough that I was comfortable and had a great run.
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: October 23 – 29 / Making the Most of Leaf Peeping
- • Tuesday – Finding or Starting a Running Group
- • Friday – Catching Up Over Coffee: A Blogger Hike, a Hiking Book, and a New Age Group
Questions:
- • How has fall been where you live and is it still sticking around? ~ Fall has been glorious here, but we’re expecting rain and wind overnight and that may take down a lot of leaves.
- • What was your favorite workout of the week? ~ I had so many great and fun workouts this past week, but without a doubt, I thoroughly enjoyed my hike with Judy!
- • 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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How fun that you had two Falls.
I use that long exposure in my iPhone too.
That was nice that you could hike with Judy. You’ve seen her more recently than me even though she lives close. She doesn’t run or hike with our group anymore.
My favorite was volunteering at a race last Sunday. And enjoying the warm weather. Yes. Overdressed for most of my runs.
How great that you volunteered again at a race! I’m sure your running community appreciates your time.
Yes, I’m so happy that Judy taught me the trick for smoothing out the water in waterfalls pictures.
The leaves were so vibrant and pretty this week. We were lucky with our weather albeit a little humid for me! Your hike looked like fun!
Ugh, the humidity was 100% today when I walked and at 73° it was quite noticeable.
Yes, we had fun on our hike.
Our leaves were looking beautiful for quite awhile, probably due to lack of rain. This week, though, UGH…all of a sudden everything seemed to turn brown (literally overnight). We had rain most of the day on Friday, and really hard rain yesterday morning ,so the trees are looking more barren than beautiful now. Glad you got to have a meet-up with Judy! Those waterfall pics are nice (I’ll have to figure out the shutter speed thing, LOL)
After today’s rain and wind we’re in the same boat as you with most of our trees looking more barren than beautiful. 🙁
Check out my hike recap where I’ll share the secret for smoothing out the water in waterfall pictures.
Glad you’re feeling back to normal after your surgery! I need Judy to come hike with me and give me photography tips : ) You’re still having beautiful fall colors up there! It’s been way to hot here- I’m still looking forward to our first real cooldown.
Thanks, Jenny!
We lost a lot of leaves with today’s rain and wind. We had 100% humidity during today’s 73° walk so it was much more noticeable than during yesterday’s 62° run. It’s supposed to cool down a bit this week, though. Humidity that high this time of year is very rare for us.
I think you got better photos of the Falls than I did! It was great fun hiking with you, too, and gave Mr. Judy a break. Although he could’ve done it — the last hike we did was the same length & elevation gain.
Funny story: as I was walking back, he was walking down the trail that took him to the Dark Hollows trailhead. He had fun photographing deer. 🙂
There was zero running for me this week!
It’s great that Mr. Judy got out for some photography on his own and with you for your final hike. It was nice to meet him as well!
We’ve also had an amazing fall this year. I worry that we’ll pay for it come winter!
Your waterfall photo is amazing! Glad you enjoyed your hike with Judy.
Thanks, Wendy! And about paying for our beautiful fall come winter, I hope not.
I’m so glad you got to meet up with Judy — and that we had lovely fall colors for her. I like both of the waterfall pictures. 😉
You seem to be back in action with running and cycling — glad to see it.
Thanks, Coco! We had a great time!
The weather was absolutely divine this week! I love that you were able to meet up with Judy for a hike – how fun! This waterfall photos are beautiful.
Thanks, Kim!
How fun to meet Judy for a hike! That waterfall pic with the long exposure is gorgeous! Now I wanna try it. Our fall here has been amazing. That said, we are well past peak color and there are some pretty cold temps coming up this week (20 degrees), although we’re supposed to warm up again too. I cannot complain for November!
Today, we’re having our first taste of fall weather after several weeks of summer-like days. It was a good run while it lasted.
Beautiful week for you! I love that you got to meet Judy and that you got peak leaves!
We are having the latest hurricane in history, so no. This is not fall. Ugh.
Judy and I had lots of fun! I’m so glad we finally got to meet.
Even though hurricane season is through November 30th, this is really late for a storm, right?
Great iPhone tip! The colors are amazing in your post this week. I just love fall!
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Yes, fall was spectacular this year!