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Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 25 miles
• Average speed: 11.3 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 1,217 feet
• Start time: 9:10 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail bridle path
• Weather: 79° and sunny, climbing to 86° (feels like 92°)
• What I wore: bike bibs, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
While my husband drove 40 minutes to meet friends for a 25-mile gravel ride, I opted to just ride from our house and follow the bridle path that runs parallel to the W&OD Trail. West of Leesburg the trail narrows to single track (sorry, no picture of the single track), and gets more technical – not mountain biking technical, but just right for some fun on my gravel bike. It was a great workout and one that I should do more often!
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 2 miles
• Average pace: 15:37 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 87 feet
• Start time: 8:31 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 70° and humid
• What I wore: shorts and t-shirt
I hadn’t expected to have time to walk because after a long day of work (9 clients) I had to run to the grocery store, do laundry, make dinner, and then pack for our trip to the farm. Mother Nature had other plans and the power went out with the first gusts of the brutal storm she sent our way. After the storms finally passed and since it was too dark to pack, I decided to go out for a walk. The power finally came back on just as we were getting ready for bed.
Tuesday
Cycling: 30 miles
• Average speed: 13.7 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 1,496 feet
• Start time: 7:36 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Leesburg loop with Thomas Mill and Woodburn climbs
• Weather: 71° and overcast, climbing to 76° and partly sunny
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
After the previous evening’s storms, the trail and roads were in remarkably good shape until I got to this downed tree. The local girls’ cross country team had just cross the tree on the bridle path rather than going under it after their coach told them there was a lot of poison ivy on the part of the tree crossing the paved path.
I followed the girls and did a little bike hiking carrying my bike across and even got the coach to take a picture!
By the time I returned home from my ride, my husband had wrapped up work so we packed quickly and drove to the farm.
Wednesday
Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:40 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 17 feet
• Start time: 8:43 AM
• Location: gravel and paved country roads
• Weather: 64° and foggy, climbing to 66° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, tank, and visor
Walking: 2 miles / 1 mile
• Average pace: 15:01 minute/mile / not timed
• Elevation gain: 302 feet / lots!
• Start time: 9:36 AM / 1:05 PM
• Location: gravel and paved country roads / in town while Mom’s car was being serviced
• Weather: 66° and sunny, climbing to 68° / 76° and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, tank, and visor / shorts, t-shirt, and visor
Before running some errands in town for my mom, I headed out for a relaxing run and walk along the river. After finishing my run and before starting my walk, I pulled out my GoPro (affiliate link) for a picture. When I left the house with my GoPro in hand, I told my husband I was carrying it to use as a weapon in case a bear got too close (there have been tons of bear sitings in the area).
I didn’t need my GoPro to fend off this bear or her two cubs I saw on my drive home from town because I was in the safety of my mom’s car. I have long wanted to see a bear in the wild, and finally, my wish came true!
Thursday
Strength training: 15 minutes of core
Lots of errands with my mom
Friday
More errands with my mom
Saturday
Strength training: 15 minutes of core
Cycling: 12 miles
• Average speed: 9.9 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 1,355 feet
• Start time: 7:36 AM
• Location: gravel loop at the farm
• Weather: 67° and foggy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
I had such a fun time riding again on the gravel country roads roads I grew up riding before gravel grinding was cool. Even though I kept it to just 12 miles, 1,355 feet of climbing made it an amazing workout.
I stopped at the site of a bad crash my brother and I had when I was in second grade (and riding on his bike with him) which left me with skinned knees and elbows. Interestingly, when I came to an abrupt stop to take the picture of the spot, my Garmin (affiliate link) thought it detected an accident and initiated a crash alert. Luckily, I turned it off before my husband was notified! LOL
Shortly after lunch, we drove from the farm to Charlotte, NC to visit our son, d-i-l, and Pablo. After dinner, we took Pablo for an untimed 1-mile walk.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions
- • Have you seen a bear in the wild? ~Yes, finally!
- • Which workouts were your most enjoyable, toughest, and/or memorable? ~ Yesterday’s country roads ride was so fun!
- • Did you run in 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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There have been bear sightings nearby but nope, never seen one and I’m ok with that. lol
I skipped a 5k today because I’m in marathon training and ran long yesterday and it was most enjoyable workout of the week.
Love your go-pro pics!!
Good for you for looking at the big picture and not running the race, but it must have been hard for you to skip it. I know how much you love racing!
I can honestly say I have never seen a bear in the wild (and am okay with that, LOL). That downed tree is quite a sight! Go YOU on hoisting the bike and climbing over!!
One time when we were heading out for a hike in the Tetons a park ranger told us there had been several grizzly sightings that week. Believe me, I refused to go on that hike!
I have seen bears in the wild, and I love them so much.
I hope you have a wonderful time at the farm. All the scenery is so pretty.
Great workouts this week!
Thanks, Jenn! Even when we were in Yellowstone, the Tetons, etc. we never saw bears in the wild (of course I wouldn’t have wanted to come across one while hiking) so this was a real treat!
Yes, we had a wonderful time at the farm!
We did not lose power thankfully this time! We saw bears in Alaska but have never seen them in VA. I have heard there have been more sightings this year. Hope you had a nice visit w your mom
Thanks, Deborah!
Yes, the previous storm seemed much worse your way, but this one seemed worse out near us.
Well, I’m glad your bear sighting was from a car. She actually looks really cute! I’ve never seen one in the wild.
I like the photo of you carrying your bike! That sounds like quite an adventurous ride.
My heart was racing hoping to get a good picture from the car window. If I had been out running or cycling when I saw the bear, I’m sure my heart would have been racing for another reason. 😉
How wonderful to spot a bear in the wild!! I guess there are not many of them these days.
So did you take your bikes with you to the farm in the car? How far is the car ride to your mum’s?
What a coincidence with the crash alert at the accident site – as if your Garmin could sense it!
When I was little growing up on the farm no one ever saw bears in the area, but they’ve made a comeback in recent years. I had desperately been hoping to see one, but hadn’t had any luck until this visit.
Yes, we took our gravel bikes with us on the back of our SUV. It’s about 325 miles from our house to the farm across the Commonwealth of Virginia. We had a wonderful trip!
How cool that you saw a bear in the wild–from the safety of your car! I saw a black bear years ago up in northern Wisconsin, a funny story best told over beers. My sister and I also saw a grizzly at Yellowstone a few years ago. The rangers were monitoring the situation and nobody could get too close, which was good!
My runs have all been hard lately–I’m struggling to bounce back after Leadville. I’m just taking it slow.
Back when we lived in Utah, we used to make day trips to the Tetons to hike. On one of those visits a park ranger told us there had been several recent grizzly sightings and I refused to go on a hike. Instead, we spent the day hitting up Jackson and doing more touristy things in town. 😀
I have never seen a bear in the wild. Now in Italy there is a strong fight between animal rights activists and some public administrators to avoid the killing of some bears and wolves considered dangerous.
I am always against killing.
Beautiful photo of you running fast with both the feet off the ground.
Yup to the bear, also related to a visit to my mom this year. The hikers see them on the regular up here, unfortunately I haven’t been able to hike much. Or fortunately? We have a lot of rattlesnakes too (and luckily I’ve never seen one of those, either).
Yikes on the poison ivy!
Were you stopped for a walk or driving to see your mom when you saw the bear?
Yes, I’m so glad the coach pointed it out or I would have rolled my bike under the downed tree and right through the poison ivy.
I saw bears in the wild when we were in Alaska, but not around here and that’s ok with me! Yikes on all the storms. Scary. Looks like you’ve had some very nice bike rides!
Did you see grizzlies or brown bears in Alaska?
And yes, I had three great, but very different bike rides last week.