Ocean Views, Commemorative Miles, and the Sweet Transition Back Home
It was a week of transitions as we wrapped up our wonderful time on the Outer Banks and settled back into our normal groove at home. From scenic road rides through historical landmarks and tracking low tides for beach walks, to navigating travel delays and squeezing in steps at the carwash, the week was packed with fantastic movement. Returning home meant getting back to my usual routines, but I’ll be carrying that beach energy right into the new week.
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: 28.68 miles
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Average speed: 14.5 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 394 feet
• Start time: 8:15 AM
• Location: Duck/Kill Devil Hills, NC loop
• Weather: 78° and cloudy with lower humidity
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Walking: 1.56 miles
• Average pace: 18:53 minute/mile
• Surface: sand
• Elevation gain: 3 feet
• Start time: 2:26 PM
• Location: Swan Beach, NC
• Weather: 80° and mostly cloudy with lower humidity
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Stretching: 5 min Lady Gaga Post-Ride Stretch with Bradley Rose
As I stepped outside to load my cycling gear into the SUV, I gasped at the gorgeous sunrise! Arms full, I side-stepped over to a nearby dune for the perfect photo angle.
Driving down the beach, we passed our usual beautiful herds of wild Spanish horses, aired the SUV tires back up, and met our friend Barb in Duck for a road ride she knew well. After a quick 1.5 miles on busy Route 12, we ducked into quiet neighborhood streets for most of the route—with the absolute highlight being a ride through the Wright Brothers National Memorial! We celebrated a great ride with lunch together, picked up a few groceries, and headed home so I could squeeze in a quick walk. To wrap up the day, we drove back south to join our Virginia Tech friends at their beach house for dinner with five of our favorite Hokie couples!
Monday
Walking: 5.49 miles
• Average pace: 15:04 minute/mile
• Surface: sand
• Elevation gain: 3 feet
• Start time: 9:08 AM
• Location: Swan Beach, NC
• Weather: 77°, mostly cloudy, windy, and with low humidity
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Warmup: Peloton 10-Minute Low Impact Cardio: HiLit W1 D2 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: Peloton 30-Minute Full Body Strength: HiLit W1 D4 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: 23 minutes of core and stability (crunches, oblique crunches, birddogs, Pilates swimmer, bridge pumps, dead bugs, straight-arm plank, forearm plank, cat/cows)
With only one virtual client at 7:30 AM—hey, one labors on Labor Day, right?—I had the rest of the day wide open! Other than timing my walk around low tide, I wasn’t in any rush to knock out my workouts. I spent most of the day comfortably piddling along, finally wrapping up my last exercise session just in time to shower and enjoy a delicious dinner feast of grilled shrimp, roasted asparagus, and a fresh salad.
Tuesday
Core: Peloton 5-Minute Core Strength with Olivia Amato
Cycling: 32.41 miles
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Average speed: 15.3 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 430 feet
• Start time: 8:15 AM
• Location: Duck/Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina loop
• Weather: 76° and partly cloudy with low humidity
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Walking: 3.07 miles
• Average pace: 15:19 minute/mile
• Surface: wooden boardwalk
• Elevation gain: 2 feet
• Start time: 11:11 AM
• Location: Duck, North Carolina
• Weather: 77° and sunny with low humidity
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Stretching: Peloton 15-Minute Stretching for Longevity with Adrian Williams
We enjoyed our Sunday ride with Barb so much that we decided on a full repeat! I trained a virtual client who was kind enough to meet a little earlier at 6:15 AM so we’d have plenty of time to head south to Duck and meet Barb by 8 AM. (Any time we leave the 4×4 beach, we have to air our tires back up for the pavement, then drop them down to about 18 pounds when returning to the sand adding time to our trips). The weather was delightful once again, and when we reached our turnaround point at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, we rode extra laps around the ¾-mile circle to build up a bit more mileage.
Once back at our cars, my husband and Barb decided to grab a coffee and relax by the sound. I took advantage of the nearby boardwalk and headed out for my walk, saving me from having to rush home to catch the tail end of low tide at our house. It was such a nice treat to enjoy a change of scenery and walk on a completely different surface!
Wednesday
Warmup: Peloton 15-Minute Low Impact Cardio: HiLit W1 D4 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: Peloton 30-Minute HiLit+: Lower Body Strength W1 D5 with Rebecca Kennedy
Strength training: 22 minutes of core and stability (crunches, oblique crunches, birddogs, Pilates swimmer, bridge pumps, dead bugs, straight-arm plank, forearm plank, bear plank)
Walking: 5.02 miles
• Average pace: 15:49 minute/mile
• Surface: sand
• Elevation gain: 7 feet
• Start time: 11:30 AM
• Location: Swan Beach, North Carolina
• Weather: 78° and partly cloudy with low humidity, climbing to 81°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
With low tide not hitting until 12:41 PM, I knocked out my strength workouts right after training my virtual client and saved my walk for the afternoon. I realized I’ve accidentally been mixing up Peloton’s HiLit and HiLit+ classes—mostly from scrolling too fast when picking my next workout. Oh well, now that I realize there are two different series I’ll pay more attention.
As soon as the tide started ebbing, I headed out for my walk. It was amazing how much quieter the beach was with Labor Day in the rearview mirror. I had a delightful stroll and in addition to spotting one of the herds of wild horses catching the ocean breeze, I enjoyed some close-up encounters with some seagulls and a cormorant!
Thursday
Core: Peloton 20-Minutes Standing Core: HiLit W1 D5 with Rebecca Kennedy
I woke up to a text from my client letting me know she was under the weather, so I used the extra time to squeeze in a core class. We spent the rest of our final morning cleaning the house and waiting for the internet repairman. He arrived a bit later than expected, but successfully replaced the cable running under the sand road that repeatedly gets damaged! While we usually like to hit the road at daybreak, we had no choice but to start our drive a little later than planned.
Shortly after leaving, my husband pulled into a carwash to wash the SUV—especially the underside to clear away the salt and sand. I took full advantage of the pit stop and logged my walk (almost ¾-mile) by doing laps around the parking lot!
Friday
Cycling: 9.11 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:25 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 70° in the basement, 70° and raining hard outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Strength training: Peloton 45-Minute Full Body Strength: HiLit W2 D2 with Rebecca Kennedy
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Due to a scheduling conflict on my part, Kim and I had pushed our weekly virtual ride back a day. Both wearing red, white, and blue, we each rode 9.11 miles to honor the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and the many lives lost in that horrific terrorist attack. Right after finishing, I stepped outside to snap a picture of our American flag just as the rain moved out and the sky started to clear. Afterwards, I pushed myself hard through another fantastic Peloton strength class before heading out to teach my balance and stretching class at the senior community.
Saturday
Walking: 3.05 miles
• Average pace: 15:13 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 71 feet
• Start time: 9:40 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 72° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Strength training: 17 minutes of core and stability (crunches, oblique crunches, birddogs, Pilates swimmer, bridge pumps, dead bugs)
Stretching: Peloton 15-Minute Mobility: HiLit W2 D1 with Rebecca Kennedy
It was a wonderfully low-key day catching up on chores, spending time in the garden, watching college football, and attending evening Mass. Even with a relaxing schedule, I still found plenty of time to get moving! My daily walk was definitely a little less scenic without any wild horses in sight, but it felt good to be back in my usual routine.
Garmin Badges Earned
Only one Garmin badge 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:
- • What’s your favorite way to ease back into your normal routine after vacation? ~ There’s no easing, I just jump right back into it!
- • Have you ever had to get creative to fit in a workout on a busy travel day? ~ many times
- • How was your week in fitness? ~ Excellent!
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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Oh, that is a beautiful sunrise! That photo looks like a car advert!
Well done on the carwash walk! Those small increments add up, right? Nice that you and Kim managed to squeeze in your 9.11 miles together, even with the scheduling change.
It sounds like you made the most of those final beach days, but I can imagine the first walk at home felt a little different without the wild horses!
That was one of the prettiest sunrises I’ve ever seen and I would have loved to just sit on our deck and enjoy it, but I was too busy gathering up my bike stuff and eating breakfast.
What a wonderful trip! The hubs and I have been talking about a beach trip this winter–I miss going to the beach. We’ll see if it happens–he’s been reluctant to travel over the past couple of years.
As you might expect, yes, I jump right back into my fitness routine after traveling!
I hope a winter beach trip works out for you and your husband, Wendy!
Love that sunrise — I would have dropped everything for that shot too! Simply stunning!
Sounds like a great time at the Outer Banks. My Nag’s Head days preceded my cycling days, so we never road down there — it looks lovely.
It was a treat to ride down in that area, especially around the Wright Brothers Memorial. If you ever go back you’ll have to take your bike!
Like you, there is no easing back to my routine I’m all in as well. Yes, those are 2 totally diff programs. I like to just add the classes to my stack in groups so they are ready to go when I am. Look like you time at the beach was perfect!
Oh, so you can pre-plan your workouts and have them ready for when you are? I’ve heard you and Coco talk about your stacks, I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Oh wow, what a beautiful sunrise!! I saw a great one this morning and had to stop and catch a photo too. Hope you had a wonderful trip!
Thanks, Melissa!
Your week in fitness really was excellent- it’s clear you prioritized your workouts. My only trip of the summer was for my son’s wedding, and my workout “schedule” was pretty nonexistent for that week- other than some short runs, I didn’t have the time or energy to do anything except wedding prep. So I was very happy to jump back into things when I got home!
I certainly understand how busy you must have been in the days leading up to the wedding; so it totally makes sense that you were eager to jump back into your workouts once home.
What a beautiful photo with the sunrise! Spectacular and I love the colour combination, the sand of the dunes in the dark makes it almost look like it’s snow.
You had a nice action-packed week as usual! I bet it’s nice to get back to your normal routine but also that you miss the wild horses. I’m like you, I want to jump straight back into my normal activities when I come back from travels.
Thanks, Susanne! That’s a real compliment coming from a photographer like you, but the sunrise was so spectacular that all I had to do was just point and shoot.
And yes, my walks have been quite boring since coming home. If only seeing squirrels was as thrilling as seeing the wild horses. 🙂
That’s a nice week, Deb, with all the workouts (around the high tide) and bike rides! As I said, it was was just too perfect for our workout to get shifted to Friday 😉 As you probably know, I jump right back into my at-home routine following any time away.
It’s funny how perfectly my change is schedule fit into your “theme” and I’m glad it worked out so we were still able to meet even if a day later than usual.
Yes, we’re too much alike not to expect you to jump right back into your workout routine after time away.
what a wonderful adventure… thanks for sharing in pictures esp the horses and turtles.
Easing back is hard… so much laundry.
I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures! I did laundry several times while at the beach house and the night before we left – it was awesome coming home to no laundry.
I would miss seeing those horses every day!
I am also a jumper-right-back-inner! No rest for this girl!
You had a wonderful week! I hope it continues to be amazing!
Yeah, the local squirrels just aren’t as majestic. LOL
What a wonderful way to wrap up your time in the Outer Banks! The combination of cycling, beach walks, and strength workouts sounds like such a fun and active week. I especially loved the detail about riding through the Wright Brothers National Memorial.
It’s important to me to be able to fit in my favorite exercises while on vacation. It was a fun trip!