Making Our Way Back East
Our country is huge and as we made our way back east to Virginia from Montana, we spent far more time sitting in our SUV than moving our bodies. Other than my guaranteed twice daily back exercises and stretching, the only thing consistent with my usual weekly workout routine was strength training. Walking and cycling only saw one day each. Spending more time in the car meant more idle snacking, less water intake (to cut down on potty stops), and less overall movement resulting in stiff joints and a sore back.
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
Road trip: Day 25: Drive from Billings, Montana to Casper, Wyoming
We spent much of the day on the Beartooth Highway and Chief Joseph Highway, stopping at almost every overlook along the way – it took us forever, but the views were absolutely amazing! There were few cars and far fewer structures for 60 miles over the mountain with the elevation topping out at almost 11,000 feet.
We checked into a hotel the first night in Casper, but spent the next two nights with dear friends who lived near us in the late 1980’s. We don’t see each other often, but when we do, we pick right up as it no time has passed at all.
Monday
Road trip: Day 26: Casper, Wyoming
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 3.04 miles
• Average pace: 16:15 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 279 feet
• Start time: 9:06 AM
• Location: Casper, Wyoming Residence Inn/Home Depot parking lots
• Weather: 76° and mostly sunny, climbing to 86°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
I got up early and hit the gym for a great workout after only exercising with my little bag of tubes and bands for the past week. I get a good workout with my bands and tubes, but I really pushed myself hard on this workout. In fact, DOMS hit my quads within about 12 hours and for two days I felt like I’d just run a marathon.
After lifting, I headed out for a walk, doing three laps on a one-mile loop around the Residence Inn and Home Depot parking lots. It was plenty warm – the warmest day we’d experienced in a couple of weeks. It’s time to get acclimated to the heat again…
After lunch we headed over to our friends’ house for a fabulous afternoon of catching up!
Tuesday
Road trip: Day 27: Casper, Wyoming
My husband had created a bike route riding up Casper Mountain, but our plans changed and we ended up riding up the mountain on our friends’ CanAm. It was incredibly loud and horribly dusty, and I was way out of my comfort zone with the speed, steep climbs, and sharp turns. Once our friend realized how uncomfortable I was, he slowed down, but I felt badly that the others couldn’t have the thrill of reckless adventure.
After lunch, we cruised through Fremont Canyon on Alcova Lake in our friends’ boat. We had a wonderful time, could hear each other as we chatted, and the occasional spray of water cleaned some of the dirt from the CanAm ride off of me. LOL
At the end of the very busy and wonderfully enjoyable day with our friends, I’d not exercised at all and had only gotten 6,672 steps in, close to a third of my typical day.
Wednesday
Road trip: Day 28: Drive from Casper, Wyoming to Lincoln, Nebraska
We said goodbye to our friends and started our trip back across the USA. After a long day in the car and late arrival at our hotel, I pushed my strength training session to the next day.
Thursday
Road trip day 29: Drive from Lincoln, Nebraska through Missouri to Swansea, Illinois
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Up early, I had the hotel gym to myself at 5:20 AM. I pushed myself hard knowing I wouldn’t have gym access again until back in my home gym several days later. Later in the afternoon we arrived at my aunt’s house – a regular stopover since August 1981 on our first cross-country drive.
Friday
Road trip day 30: Swansea, Illinois
Cycling: 50.24 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 13.5 MPH
• Surface: paved and gravel
• Elevation gain: 636 feet
• Start time: 10:36 AM
• Location: Goshen Trail, O’Fallon, Illinois
• Weather: 78° and cloudy, climbing to 85°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
We finally got back on our bikes after over a week of not being able to fit a ride into our busy schedule. We made the short drive from our aunt’s house to the Goshen Trail where we rode 50 miles, 15 of which were on gravel. After my ride, Garmin said I was 15% acclimated to the heat. Guess that’s what those cool Montana days will do to you. LOL
Saturday
Road trip day 31: Drive from Swansea, Illinois through Indiana and Kentucky to the farm
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
I was sad to leave my aunt after such a short visit, but after over four weeks on the road it was time to start making our way home…
Questions:
- • How often do you do cutback weeks, intentional or not? ~ I’m not very good at doing cutback weeks and should be better at putting them in my workout schedule.
- • How’s your weather been? ~ We have been loving the low humidity and delightfully cool mornings out west. Saturday morning’s heat and humidity as we made our way to Virginia was quite the shock.
- • Which workout did you enjoy most this past week? ~ I thoroughly enjoyed my tough lifting session in the gym on Thursday morning after a few days of minimal movement.
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
Oof, I felt that CanAm ride! Dusty, loud, and white-knuckling it on the corners is not my idea of fun, either. I’m like you, I would have preferred a bike ride using my own muscles!
That peaceful boat ride must have felt nice, though!
It really does look like a beautiful, active week, even if it ended up being a cutback one. It’s nice that you enjoyed that tough gym session – it’s funny how a few easier days can make heavy lifting feel so satisfying.
Catrina, agreed, I like to earn my dirt! LOL
Looks like you had a lovely road trip. Good for you for making it to the hotel gym by 5:20am. I so feel you on the idle car snacking. When we drove our daughter home from school lots of that was happening. Ugh. When I’m in marathon training I am intentional with cutback weeks, but otherwise, not so much.
Thanks, Marcia! Our idle snacking was cut way back when I moved our snack back to the far back of the SUV where I couldn’t reach it. 😉
Debbie, I know this feeling well. I moved my body much less than usual on my recent trip (including two full days of sitting in the car) and I felt it. It’s amazing how HARD it is to do nothing! But, a cutback week will never hurt (and is probably a good thing). As incredible as this trip has been, I’m sure it will feel good to get home and get back to your routine!
For those of us who move regularly, isn’t it amazing how hard it is to skip our usual workouts?
What a great trip!
I love my morning workouts but I will give them up to get an early start on a road trip.
It was such a great trip!
You all sure do get around! I’m impressed with your driving and cycling mileage this summer. Cut backs weeks are good and smart if we want to keep doing what we love. I use my travel time to cut back on intensity and do different exercises
Cut back weeks are so important, and I need to be better at practicing what I preach.
I can only imagine all the stiffness from so many miles in the car. Couple that with the limited time for your usual workout schedule and I’d be going nuts. Great job keeping consistent with the strength work, though! That dusty and speedy ride would have me quite anxious. I have a sense of adventure, but that would be be WAY out of my comfort zone…and not in a good way.
My body did surprisingly well with so much sitting in the car – go figure. I suppose I could have walked in the mornings instead of lifting, but feel at my age lifting is a top priority.
Yeah, the CanAm ride was way out of my comfort zone.
The cutback was probably very good for you! And you saw so much beauty in the US- how fun!
I’m sure it was good for my body to get a little down time, too bad it didn’t coincide with getting more sleep. 😉
Montana to Virginia, that’s a HUGE trip! But how fun to see so much around the country! Roadtrips are the best!
I think I only get cutback weeks when I’m either sick or away. I’ll have a cutback month now, but will try to do some exercises with resistance bands, bodyweight stuff, and plenty of walking.
Here’s hoping your cutback month is a success! And yes, it was a long, but fabulous trip.
WOW that’s a lot of car miles! I’m sore/tired just thinking about it. But road trips can be fun! I’m glad you got to see so many cool places! What a great trip!
Yes, it was a lot of miles over the course of 32 days. I need to add them – I’ll do that for Friday’s coffee update.
You were gone for a month? I wondered about that. How nice to have the time to do that. I’m planning so many trips for when I retire 🙂 Looks like it’s been an epic trip!
Yes, we were gone for 32 days. Can you believe that? Fortunately, my clients were totally okay with me being gone so long. When I went part-time (stopped taking on new clients), I told my clients I’d be traveling more and if they wanted, I’d help them find a new trainer, but none took me up on that.
How do you even plan a trip like this??? It’s just such an adventure! I love that you were able to do this and I love that you sharing it!
The humidity is just out of control. I’m so glad you got some relief out west.
“How do you even plan a trip like this???” I didn’t, my husband did 100% of the planning and driving. 😀
The last two weeks have been cut back weeks – heat, humidity and a sore foot.
What an amazing trip… I loved following along.
I was sad to miss a 5k sue to the weather so my favorite was a 9 mile run because I was with friends.
I hope your foot’s condition improves quickly, Darlene. The heat and humidity have been brutal, but we’re supposed to get a break this weekend. I hope you do, too!