Road Trips Aren’t New to Us

During the early years of our marriage my husband and I took several road trips across the USA. Our first one, just a few short weeks after we got married took us from Virginia to Utah for grad school. While living in Utah, we took a few shorter road trips to Wyoming and a larger one to Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. After grad school, we camped our way back home, stopping at several national parks along the way. Just a month later we were back on the road for a 6-month stent in Denver before moving back to Virginia to settle down.

All these years later, we’re once again road trippin’ and enjoying the hospitality of friends in the early part of the trip.

 

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: 26.4 miles
• Average speed: 15.2 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 778 feet
• Start time: 8:27 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Reston loop
• Weather: 79° and hazy, climbing to 86° (feels like 91°) and mostly sunny
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

A favorite non-gravel Sunday morning ride for my husband and me is to stop at Green Lizard Cycling for breakfast while out on the W&OD Trail. After finishing my banana, a little bird landed on the peel hoping to find a leftover morsel, but flew away when another cyclist walked by. The bird then re-landed on the table next to us and posed for this picture.

 

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Walking: 2.02 miles
• Average pace: 15:23 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 100 feet
• Start time: 5:36 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 77° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts and tank top

I woke up to a forecast of rain for most of the day so I switched gears and went out for a walk before it was scheduled to hit. I fit in my strength training session a little later between clients, but the rain didn’t appear until after 9 PM.

 

Tuesday

Walking: 3.04 miles
• Average pace: 14:21 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 100 feet
• Start time: 5:32 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 70° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts and s/s shirt

Cycling: 20 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:31 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 63° in basement
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra

Once again, I headed out for an early morning walk before hopping on my spin bike while training a client. For my walk, I donned my “Christmas in July” t-shirt I bought on clearance while on our bike ride across Florida in January. I call it that because no one will ever be able to see it on me during the Christmas season in Virginia because it will be covered up with a jacket.

For my ride, I chose to stay inside on my spin bike because I’d already washed and packed my cycling gloves, hat, shoes, etc.

 

Wednesday

Road trip day 1: Drive from home through Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania to Dublin, Ohio

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

With plans to leave around 7 AM for our road trip, I got up at 4:30 AM to lift weights before 7 hours of sitting in the car. Our first stop would be an overnight stay with grad school friends. After dinner with our friends we enjoyed a leisurely 1.42-mile walk across the Scioto River on the Dublin Link Pedestrian Bridge.

 

Thursday

Road trip day 2: Drive from Dublin, Ohio through Indiana to Peoria, Illinois

Walking: 1.14 miles
• Average pace: 18:33 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 43 feet
• Start time: 5:23 PM
• Location: around and near the hotel
• Weather: 81° (feels like 83°) and sunny
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

After checking into our hotel I went out to for a short walk because… well, too much sitting in a car all day. Later we went downtown for dinner and walked around the riverfront.

 

Friday

Road trip day 3: Drive from Peoria, Illinois to Bondurant, Iowa

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Walking: 3.25 miles
• Average pace: 17:20 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 44 feet
• Start time: 2:08 PM
• Location: Kim’s neighborhood
• Weather: 84° (feels like 92°) and mostly sunny, climbing to 86° (feels like 95°)
• What I wore: shorts, tank, and visor

With a full day ahead, I hit the hotel gym at 5:15 AM to lift and do some core work. Once on the road again, our first stop would be to see Kim! It was hotter out than either of us expected, but I needed to move my body after sitting in the car so much for three days. Kim was up for giving me a tour of her new hometown so we headed out. No surprisingly, this farm girl requested we walk by the silos for a picture.

 

Saturday

Road trip day 4: Drive from Bondurant, Iowa to Edina, Minnesota

Biking: 26.51 miles
• Average speed: 13.8 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 341 feet
• Start time: 10:18 AM
• Location: High Trestle Trail
• Weather: 79° and sunny, climbing to 84° (feels like 90°)
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

When Kim suggested riding on the High Trestle Trail to see the really cool trestle bridge, my husband and I were all in (the bridge was awesome). We stopped for lunch at a cool little bar right along the trail near the end of our ride. Once we finished our ride, my husband and I said our goodbyes and headed north to Minnesota where we’d be spending the night with our friends who live just up the street from us back home, but have a summer place in Minnesota.

 

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 taken a recent road trip? Do you even like road trips or do you prefer to fly? ~ We drove to Florida in January, but prior to that it had been years since our last big road trip.
  • • Blogger friends, have you had a chance to visit any fellow bloggers? ~ When we first started planning this trip, my husband asked if I’d like for him to route it through Iowa so we could see Kim and I replied, “Uh, yeah!”
  • • 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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