Summer Came in Hot, Hot, Hot

Thursday was the first day of summer and it’s already time to start complaining about the heat. Check out the the screenshot from my phone when I finished my bike ride yesterday. And it got a little hotter after that – the highest I saw was 101, but forgot to look at the feels like temperature.

 

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: 25.55 miles
• Average speed: 12.2 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 1,919 feet
• Start time: 9:35 AM
• Location: Philomont loop
• Weather: 77° and sunny, climbing to 85°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

After feeling somewhat under the weather for the previous several mornings, I awoke feeling fantastic. My husband and I joined our Gravel Rats friends for a Father’s Day ride followed by a bring-your-own and to-share picnic. At the end of the ride, Garmin said I was 58% acclimated to the heat.

 

During the picnic our friend suddenly pointed her camera toward my husband and me for a picture. It wasn’t until later that I realized that a horse and rider were walking up the road behind us.

 

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of full body

Walking: 3.13 miles
• Average pace: 16:55 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 128 feet
• Start time: 10:08 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 79° and sunny, climbing to 83°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

I woke up at 3:30 AM feeling horrible (body aches, sore throat, head ache, and wait for it… conjunctivitis.  What? Hadn’t I turned the corner the day before? A trip to my doctor’s walk-in clinic confirmed pink eye and I secured a prescription for antibiotic eye drops. The other ailments were just symptoms of some sort of virus, most likely a summer cold. Needless to say, I cancelled all in-person client sessions and even took a two-hour afternoon nap. The biggest disappointment, though, was having to miss my running girlfriends’ quarterly night out.

I broke my strength training into three segments over the course of the day because I tired easily. The pharmacy hadn’t opened as I drove past on my way home from the doctor, so I walked back over later in the morning, combining a walk with the errand.

 

Tuesday

Walking: 3.25 miles
• Average pace: 16:13 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 155 feet
• Start time: 9:17 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 80° and sunny, climbing to 84°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

Even though my sore throat and headache were gone, my body aches were still hanging on and I just didn’t feel up to climbing hills on my bike, or any cycling for that matter, and kept my cardio workout easier with a walk. It was primary day in Virginia so I walked to our local elementary school to vote and took a picture to text to my long-time BRF who moved to Delaware about six years ago. Before she moved we always stopped during our run on the first Tuesday in November to vote.

 

Wednesday

Strength training: 1 hour of full body

Walking: 3.22 miles
• Average pace: 15:40 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 106 feet
• Start time: 10:05 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 83° and sunny, climbing to 86°
• What I wore: shorts, tank, and visor

 

Thursday

Walking: 4.5 miles
• Average pace: 15:39 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 85 feet
• Start time: 5:43 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 70° and partly cloudy, climbing to 72°
• What I wore: shorts, tank, and visor

The weather for this year’s summer solstice virtual cardio workout with Kim was the opposite of 2023 for both of us. I love the anticipation leading up to the longest day of the year, but have to admit that I get sad thinking about my morning daylight getting a later start each day.

2024 Collage credit: Kim

2023 Collage credit: Kim

Even though I felt great, I skipped going out on my bike knowing that the extra day of rest would be good for me. My next race isn’t until mid-July and I won’t be racing it anyway – I’ll be 16 years older than the youngest person in my age group of 50 and over. Another day of rest certainly won’t hurt my training.

 

Friday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Balance and stretching: 45 minutes

In honor of International Day of Yoga, I incorporated yoga poses rather than the usual balance drills into the balance and stretching class I teach. With a little research, I came up with the following poses which I modified as necessary for my students, giving them alternative options for poses too difficult for them to master. The ages of my students range from about 70 to 80 with one adorable 92-year-old.

  • • Mountain pose (eyes open or shut, wide stance or feet together)
  • • High lunge (slightly wide stance or feet stacked in straight line)
  • • High lunge with revolved arms (slightly wide stance or feet stacked in straight line)
  • • Chair pose (full arm extension or shoulders down with arms extended upward from elbows)
  • • Eagle pose (toe on floor if needed)
  • • Tree pose (toe on floor if needed)
  • • Warrior 1
  • • Warrior 2

Each student has a chair that they can use for balance by placing a fingertip or hand gently on the back as necessary.

 

Saturday

Cycling: 42.08 miles
• Average speed: 12.6 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 2,388 feet
• Start time: 7:56 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn to Leesburg with Canby to Woodburn loop
• Weather: 81° (feels like 86°) and sunny, climbing to 99° (feels like 111°)
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

It was a hot one, but I really wanted to join the VeloPigs for a group ride. It was really dry and dusty; and did I mention that it was hot? After the ride, we always regather at Plum Grove ReCyclery, the sponsoring bike shop, where they have coolers of beer, soda, and water. This week, though, they had ice cream sandwiches, and boy did that bring a smile to my face!

My husband and I had a great time, but the heat took it out of us so we hunkered down inside for a very chill afternoon and evening.

 

Once I finished my ride, I discovered I’d earned three Garmin badges…

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

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

 

Questions:
  • • Alrighty, let’s hear it? What’s the weather been like where you live, and if it’s hot, how do you deal with it?
  • • Would you go for the ice cream or beer in the cooler (from pic in the last collage)? ~ I still had 8 miles to ride home so even if I liked beer, I would have skipped it. I loved every bite of my ice cream sandwich, though!
  • • 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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