Runners of All Ages
Monday evening I met my runner girlfriends for dinner – there are seven of us who still get together even though some of us are no longer running. It had been way too long since we’d last gotten together and we promised we’d meet up again sooner rather than later. Somehow we forgot to get a picture…
On Sunday, my husband and I went with friends to cheer on little runners at a youth track meet and it was a hoot watching the youngest age group, 4-year-olds running 100-meter and 400-meter races. It was super cute watching them learn to stay in their lanes for the 100 and break to the inside lane in the 400 (some went to the outside lane before their coaches yelled for them to run to the inside lane). The longest event was the 800-meters, but it was only for third graders and older.
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: 15 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:42 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 62° in the basement, 61° and sunny outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Walking: 3.01 miles
• Average pace: 16:55 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 25 feet
• Start time: 1:52 PM
• Location: high school track
• Weather: 72° (feels like 66°) and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Pilates: Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 15-Minute Core Strength
After church, I made sure to fit in some indoor cycling for our Great American Ride before heading to the track. While at the track meet I took advantage of the beautiful afternoon and walked laps outside the track fence while watching – three laps were about a mile.
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 10-Minute Core Strength
Walking: 3.11 miles
• Average pace: 14:53 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 119 feet
• Start time: 8:23 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 65° (feels like 58°) and partly cloudy, climbing to 70° (feels like 60°)
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
It was a super busy, but nice, day filled with clients, workouts, a doctor’s appointment, and dinner with my running girlfriends.
Tuesday
Cycling: 10.61 miles (Peloton Matt Wilpers 45-Minute Power Zone Ride)
• Bike: Peloton+
• Average speed: 14.0 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:43 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65° in the basement, 59° and cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Stretching: Peloton Alex Toussaint 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch
Walking: 3.09 miles
• Average pace: 17:25 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 191 feet
• Start time: 9:53 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 71° and mostly cloudy, climbing to 76°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
It was a beautiful day and I made sure to get out for a walk! Later in the afternoon my husband and I went to see Project Hail Mary. We’d both thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and we loved the movie which isn’t always the case when watching a movie after reading the book.
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Pilates: Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 10-Minute Standing Core Strength
Pilates: Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 5-Minute Core Strength
After a busy morning of work, I gave my body a cardio break and ran a few errands instead.
Thursday
Walking: 5.06 miles
• Average pace: 15:06 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 222 feet
• Start time: 6:00 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 64° and mostly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Pilates: Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 10-Minute Core Strength
Gardening: 3 hours
I had a great virtual walk with Kim and we were even able to compare sunrises now that daybreak is arriving earlier (Kim is in central time versus my eastern time zone). Later in the morning I got to play with my new cordless string trimmer. It’s lighter and shorter – much more my size – than our gasoline powered one. Before I knew it I’d spent three hours weed eating and mowing. Yes, we have a lawn service, but every now and then I need a fix and invent a project!
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Pilates: Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 10-Minute Core Strength
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Saturday
Walking: 4.01 miles
• Average pace: 16:25 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 101 feet
• Start time: 10:03 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 74° and sunny, climbing to 78°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Pilates: Peloton Rebecca Kennedy 20-Minute Core Strength
Pilates: Peloton Emma Lovewell 5-Minute Core Strength
Gardening: 1 hour
After my core strength class and catching up on some paperwork, I joined my friend Betsy for a walk. She recently retired and I’m looking forward to more frequent bike rides with her this summer.
Garmin Badges Earned
Two Garmin badges made their way to me this week, and I earned a Peloton 75 Strength Workouts badge.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions:
- • Do you have running friends that you see socially? ~ yes, but not often enough especially now that I don’t see them for runs
- • If you run, how old were you when you ran your first official race? ~ I was in eight grade.
- • Which workout did you enjoy most this past week? ~ Tuesday’s solo walk was delightful because the weather was perfect.
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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Perfect weather on a solo walk sounds amazing! I’ve taken a few walks by myself this week too, and the weather was gorgeous. And the flowers were finally blooming here! I think I ran my first official race when I was in 9th grade? I did indoor track in high school. I did my first 5k in college, just for fun.
You’ve been running a long time, too! 🙂
I love all the spring blooms! Looks like a nice week for you. I didn’t start running until my late 20s and ran my first 5k in my early 30s. I can’t pick a favorite workout from last week–believe it or not, I enjoyed all of them!
How great is it that you can say that enjoyed all of your workouts!?!
I tried running a few 5K races while in college (sorority fundraisers), but they were tough because I was clueless on training and even worse with pacing. It wasn’t until my kids were in school (giving me the time to run without mom guilt) that I started running consistently. As they say, the rest is history 😉
Yes, the rest is history indeed! 🙂
O feel really lucky that my running friends have become my IRL friends. We brunch on Saturdays even if we don’t run anymore.
I was 55 when I ran my first 5k.
My Thursday am run felt the best… it was early and short.
I can’t wait until my granddaughter is old enough to run.
I love that you and your running friends have a weekly brunch. I’m the oldest of my running friends by several years so most of them still have children at home and their weeknights and weekends are filled with sports. We’re lucky when we can find a night that everyone is available.
You were a late bloomer with your running. Aren’t you glad you found it?
Runners of all ages in one post!
Those long-standing running friendships are something special. The fact that you all still meet up even if not everyone is running anymore says a lot.
Oh, how I love seeing little kiddos run! Pure entertainment! Especially when parents are standing at the sidelines, haha! Did you know any kids?
Yes, I did know one of the little kiddos, but it was fun watching all of them race! One little girl was looking over to the side and waving to her mom for about half of the 100-meter race. It was so cute!
I had nice weather for my evening walks in Chicago although it was sort of weird for it to be SO nice this time of year! The morning rain made up for that.
None of my kids were into running per se, so I haven’t really been to a kids’ event, but it sounds like fun.
Congrats on your Peloton badge!
Sounds like you picked a good week to be in Chicago!
Sounds like a really fun week with lots of outdoor activity! I can’t say our weather is “delightful” here, but it’s been tolerable. I’ve been getting into my strength workouts a little more (instead of intensely dreading them, lol).
I have no running friends in real life, which seems kind of crazy. Maybe I need to make some.
The youth track meet sounds really fun!
It’s great that you’re getting into your strength training now that you’re between training cycles. I’m sure your body appreciates it.
I made my running friends through coaching (two of them) and then joining our local MRTT (the rest of them).
It sounds like you had such a good week. Seeing those small runners must have been so entertaining! It’s lovely to see young kids running races and being active generally.
That photo with the pink flowers is so, so beautiful!!! We had some amazing weather today and this morning’s walk probably was my best workout this week because it’s been so long since I got such a pleasant walk outdoors.
Thanks, Susanne, I was very pleased with how that picture turned out. I like the way the tree frames the fountain in the pond.
Yes, the little runners were so cute and very entertaining!
I was a “later life” runner. I think I started when I was 35 yrs old! Prior to that I never gave it a try, and never wanted to. Funny how that is!
It’s always so fun to watch little kids at running events. I hope they all enjoyed it, which isn’t always the case!
I didn’t realize that you hadn’t started running until your mid-30s. You’ve had a great running career since then!
It appeared that all with the exception of one little boy were having fun at the youth track meet.
Great week and great workouts! That’s a lot of yard work in a day!
I keep saying I’m going to read Project Hail Mary and then I get distracted by other books. I have a few book club reads to finish and when I go to the book store, I find so many others. I’ll get there.
My first official race was in 2013, so 36ish? That feels so long ago!
The thing about gardening is that once I start, I just keep finding more and more things I want to do. I have a list a mile long for tomorrow, but if it warms up enough I might go out for a ride instead. 😉
My husband is reading The Martian now and wants me to read it as soon as he’s done so we can watch the movie – it came out over ten years ago.