From Gravel Drama to Garden Therapy

What a difference a week makes! After spending the previous week completely crashed out and recovering from the massive mileage of the Great American Ride, this week was all about finding my groove again. Of course, the universe decided to test my patience right out of the gate with some major mechanical drama heading to the gravel roads, but a quick fix from the local bike shop and a surprise wildlife encounter turned a frustrating day right around.

Between navigating vacation time-zone mix-ups with Kim and managing to give myself an injury… from stretching (yes, really!), it was a week filled with a little bit of everything. Through it all, I managed to lock in some fantastic outdoor miles, clear out a stubborn shoulder knot with some light movement therapy, and cap it all off with a massive, five-hour stint of functional training in the back yard.

 

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

Walking: 3.06 miles
• Average pace: 15:07 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 136 feet
• Start time: 8:06 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 73° and cloudy, climbing to 77°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

Cycling: 31.19 miles
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Average speed: 14.5 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 945 feet
• Start time: 11:12 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Reston loop
• Weather: 84° and cloudy, climbing to 90°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch with Hannah Corbin

To beat the heat, I made sure to get outside for an early walk before diving into the rest of my day. There was a very cool-looking cloud cover and a slight breeze that kept things quite comfortable. Compared to the oppressive heat and humidity of the last few days, the weather was an incredibly welcome change!

 

Despite our concerns the day before about not starting a ride too late, my husband and I actually ended up heading out even later than the VeloPigs’ 10:00 AM Saturday start. Fortunately, the breeze and lower humidity made all the difference, even though we had to face a decent headwind in both directions.

On the way out, I tucked in right behind my husband and let him pull me for almost 15 miles. By the time we turned around to head back home, my legs were definitely reminding me that they were tired, and I had to work extra hard at times just to catch up to his wheel. I finished the ride completely red-faced and exhausted, but super pumped to have ridden so strong!

 

Monday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Walking: 3.04 miles
• Average pace: 15:16 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 119 feet
• Start time: 9:03 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 70°, sunny, and breezy with low humidity
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

Gardening: 1 hour

Core: Peloton 10-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

When I heard the forecast calling for low humidity, I knew I had to get outside for a walk at some point. As it turned out, I found a perfect opening in my schedule between my early and late morning clients. I took full advantage of the break and headed out for a mid-morning walk in absolutely delightful weather before jumping back into client sessions.

 

Tuesday

Core: Peloton 10-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

Cycling: 40.12 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 12.1 MPH
• Surface: mostly paved
• Elevation gain: 1,598 feet
• Start time: 9:27 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Ashburn/Hamilton loop with a detour through Morvan Park
• Weather: 66° and sunny with low humidity, climbing to 76° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves

Walking: 3.39 miles
• Average pace: 17:39 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 110 feet
• Start time: 3:21 PM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 76° and partly cloudy, climbing to 78°
• What I wore: shorts, tank, and visor

It was a beautiful day to grind some gravel, but unfortunately, my Salsa Warbird just wasn’t feeling it. My chain dropped three separate times before we even hit mile eight of our planned 52-mile ride! Each time it popped off, it locked up the bike, causing a couple of heart-stopping near crashes. Needless to say, my confidence was completely drained, and the last thing I wanted to do was face steep, loose gravel roads with that hanging over my head.

Once we figured out the root cause, I realized I could keep riding as long as I didn’t shift into the largest ring in the back. We eventually made a detour to the bike shop, where Tom the mechanic worked his magic. He diagnosed the cassette issue and fixed it in less than ten minutes flat!

With the Morven Park Equestrian Center nearby, we decided to ride its gravel roads just to salvage the day and get a little dust under our tires before heading home. It turned out to be a great decision—while riding through the park, we crossed paths with a momma deer and her tiny triplet fawns. Talk about the perfect way to turn the ride around!

 

Wednesday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Stretching: Peloton 30-Minute Evening Stretch with Matty Maggiacomo

An intentional down day, I still managed to fit in my strength training super early in the morning before seeing clients, then capped off the day with some relaxing stretching in the evening.

The best part of the day? My husband and I hit up REI to stock up on gear for our upcoming road trip!

 

Thursday

Core: Peloton 10-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

Walking: 3.07 miles
• Average pace: 15:39 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 133 feet
• Start time: 10:33 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 77°, cloudy, and breezy with rain settling in, climbing to 81°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and  visor

With Kim on vacation in Houston, I completely messed up the time zones. For some reason, I thought Houston was on Mountain Time and figured she wouldn’t want to meet for our weekly cardio date at 4:00 AM her time. Because of that, I was still fast asleep and missed her text when she was ready to go at 5 AM – her usual time. Luckily for me, Kim was lounging by the hotel pool post-workout and was more than eager to chat on the phone while I went for a walk a little later. Since she was lounging, I couldn’t resist doing the same for our weekly collage. 😉

I took it easy for the rest of the day because I managed to develop a painful knot in my left trapezius after doing cactus pose during stretching the night before. Seriously? Only I can manage to hurt myself while treating my body to gentle stretching! Since looking to my left or lifting anything heavy was a no-go, I didn’t push my luck.

 

Friday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Core: Peloton 5-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

Balance and stretching: 45 minutes

Walking: 3.06 miles
• Average pace: 15:08 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 110 feet
• Start time: 4:01 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 82°, breezy, and partly cloudy with low humidity
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

With my left shoulder still bothering me, I went into my lifting session expecting that I’d have to skip most of the upper-body exercises. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case! By simply dropping down a few pounds on the dumbbells, everything felt completely fine. In fact, moving with lighter weights actually helped work some of that stubborn knot out. Never underestimate the power of a little movement therapy!

 

Saturday

Gardening: 5 hours

Core: Peloton 20-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell

Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Core Stretch with Emma Lovewell

I was incredibly happy to wake up with the knot in my shoulder barely noticeable, so I decided to test the waters with some gardening—figuring I could always pack it in if it started to flare up. But as any good gardener knows, one project always leads to another, and before I knew it, five hours had elapsed. Best of all, my shoulder didn’t complain once!

I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out after taking Peloton core and stretching classes, attended 5:30 PM mass, and capped off the day by making a delicious salmon and salad dinner.

 

Garmin Badges Earned

Only one Garmin badges made its way to me this week…

 

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 ever managed to injure yourself doing something completely gentle, like stretching? ~ Please tell me I’m not the only one!
  • • During our visit to REI I purchased long hiking pants, any guess where we might be headed to later this summer? ~ Think of national parks that we haven’t visited yet.
  • • Which workout did you enjoy most this past week? ~ Sunday’s bike ride with my husband was very enjoyable.

 

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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