These pandemic weeks of summer are falling into a rhythm and so is my running, or lack thereof. Here’s how the workouts went:
Monday: Rest, Walk 4 miles
Tuesday: Walk 4 miles, Trail run 3 miles, Arm & Shoulder Sculpt
Wednesday: Walk 4 miles, Lower Body Burn,
Thursday: Walk 4 miles, Trail run 4 miles
Friday: Walk 4 miles, tons of weeding
Saturday: More weeding, Walk 4 miles, HIIT Workout
Sunday: Walk 4 miles, Trail run 4 miles
Shady trails for the win!
Just when you think it can’t get any hotter, it does. My running was at a bare minimum this week and I don’t even care. Someone asked me this week why I still run if I’m not training for any races. The answer is I’m training for LIFE. I’ll always run. It may not be as far as before, and thank sweet baby Jesus I don’t have a marathon to prep for in this heat, but I’ll always keep space in my schedule for running. It’s a habit that is hard wired into me at this point and I won’t be stopping anytime soon.
On the home front, this week saw another bout of decluttering. Now that things are opened up a bit, we were finally able to donate all the shoes that had been relegated to the garage. I’ll save the details of this for Runfessions on July 31. That’s all I’m going to say.
I’ve run RnRCHI 6x. Apparently this was the last time.
This weekend is historically RnRChi weekend. Of course it went virtual but they announced they won’t be back in 2021 either. If I had to bet, I’d say Chicago is permanently off their roster. I wouldn’t be surprised if the RnR series was sold or went belly up entirely.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t dredge up this pic from RnRChi 2012, when I was invited on a “running date” with The Bachelor Dr. Andy Baldwin. Oh the crazy exploits I’ve been on, courtesy of this blog. Back then RnR races were studded with celebs and sold out very quickly. A far cry from what they are now. Sigh.
Hadrian’s Wall Challenge. I’m over 60% of the way thru it now. I’ll attribute that to all the walking we’ve been doing. Caveman, Ozzy and I continue to enjoy our dawn and dusk power walks. They are one of the silver linings of this pandemic. There’s only been one morning so far that was so hot, Ozzy wanted to turn back and head for home after one mile.
Speaking of Ozzy, this boy fell into the pond again. He loves cavorting with the geese out there and…well…sometimes he swims with them too.
Today we’re celebrating the July birthdays outdoors at my BIL’s home. The Caveman’s parents do not withstand heat very well so I’m not sure how an outdoor party will be for them. We’ll find out.
New On YouTube
Full Body HIIT. This one was made for those days when it’s too hot to run, you’ve got no time, limited space and no equipment. Yeah I basically took out all the excuses. Try it!
How was your week? What do you do when it’s too hot to run? What RnR races have you run?
I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down. Join us!
I was thinking RnR was going to suffer badly. There was some challenge you could do x weekends in maybe July that I just did not understand, so left!
And well done on Hadrian’s Wall. I wish I’d discovered that one early enough to fit it in. I’m doing Land’s End to John O’Groats in a year (874 miles so should be doable for me without pushing it) with a different company and that’s being fun at the moment.
I can’t believe anyone would query why you’re running if you’ve not got a race. We run because we run and it keeps us well, right?!
Looks likeyour outting will be an indoor event! Where did this weather come from? Glad I hit the trails early.
RnRChi was never a good event; July is the worst month for a long distance run here. I have to agree with you–I think the franchise has seen better days. It’s going to be interesting to see what races survive after this year.
I’ve been doing my runs early and keeping them short. I’m all for training for life, but I’m not training for misery. 😉 I’m impressed by your 4 mile walks — that’s not easy in this heat either. I was interested to see that RNR was skipping 2021, but mid-July in Chicago is rarely good weather for a race. Hope the birthday celebrations go well.
Don’t get me wrong, I love races but they’re the icing on the cake. I just can’t imagine not running. I’m wondering as well how races are going to handle things next year, do they try to keep doing virtual or do they just suspend operations for a few years? It will be interesting/sad to see. As long as the two major races in my area keep going I’ll do their virtual events. There are a few smaller races that basically turned the races into fundraising drives, and I can see continuing to donate to them as well.
When it’s too hot I do the same thing as when it gets too cold…I hit the treadmill! It’s not my favorite but it’s better than not running at all.
Can’t wait for your runfession, I’m sure there’s something juicy in there. To pass the time I should get busy on decluttering my own closet which I’ve been putting off forever.
I didn’t run outdoors at all this week. If I was training for a race, I would have forced myself outdoors, but I can deal with the treadmill for shorter runs so that’s what I’ve been doing. We need some decluttering of the kitchen a few weeks back but luckily our Goodwill was open and accepting donations. If they weren’t, we would have had a mouton of small appliances in the basement, lol.
I saw the news about RnRChi and it made me so sad 🙁 I had hopes that it would come back in 2021 and that we could do another blogger meet up.
Those were fun times at RnR with you all! We will have to find a new spot for a meet up in 2021 somewhere. I won’t be doing too much outside this week as we are almost 100 each day. Ugh give me fall!! You are still keeping up your mileage w 3 runs per week so I say that’s a win in these temps. Hadrian’s wall is fun a challenge! Thanks for linking up
Seeing that picture from RnR made me smile – what a fun weekend! I can’t imagine RnR will survive well once the dust finally settles.
It’s funny I had someone ask me the same question about running without races – while I’m very happy to keep my runs short and sweet in this heat, I don’t think it would ever occur to me to stop running. I keep forgetting to check out Hadrian’s Wall – I wonder if it’s too late to sign on?
I had not heard that about RnR CHI…kind of a bummer, but it was an awkward venue with the expo being so far from the race cite (in my opinion). I did like the race route, though (even in the heat of 2014 and the rain of 2018). We have not been walking Max much in this heat…a quick spin around the block and he’s ready to go home.
That’s too bad about RnR Chi! I’m also glad I’m not training for a marathon right now, although I do wish things were back to normal. I really thought this would be my comeback year to racing but clearly 2020 had other plans!
Haha, Marcia, that question: Why do you run if you’re not training for any races!
I guess people don’t understand that we don’t run for the races, we run because we love it.
Well done on the de-cluttering! I wonder what went on there – looking forward to your runfessions. 😉
Wow! What surprise about RnR Chi! My hubby and I ran the half once and loved it. We got to see Susan Tedeschi and her band after the race and some other good bands too. It was when she wasn’t really a big name yet and there was hardly anyone watching them perform. I felt kind of sorry for them. They put on an excellent show! Sorry to see that race go away.
I hide in my basement and use the elliptical or treadmill when it’s too hot to run outside! But, if I didn’t run by 10:00am in the summer, I’m pretty much not going to running. I just can’t stand a midday slog in the heat.
Why run if you’re not training for a race? Mental clarity, stress reduction and lifetime health for me! 🙂
I am training for start training for my PRs next year. 🙂 I hope things are better next year and we will have races. If not, then I will continue to train but one way or another I will get those PRs.
I wonder what went wrong with RnR? I don’t remember the number of times I ran it but July is the worst month for a half marathon. I will always be grateful for the Tour Pass they offered so I could run in 14 different states in 2013. I did notice that in the past couple of years registration numbers were down. I always thought the cost for the races were too expensive anyway. I mean I know fees go up closer to race day but $150 for a half marathon? Umm, no.
Now I am curious to know how many pairs of running shoes you donated. I have 5 or 6 in my car.
I did RnR Las Vegas (twice) & RnR Montreal & that was that. Not a super fan, although I had a good time at both races.
Like you I plan to keep running & like you am very happy to just run when & how far I feel like this summer. Which is mostly not too far.
Poor Ozzy! I’ve never had a dog that would even go near a body of water.
Someone commented the same to me the other day – asking why I train/ run if I don’t have any races on? I was actually startled by the question, LOL! So I love your response. We are running for LIFE. Yes, races make things really fun and help so much with motivation, but running is so much more than chasing a PB or accumulating medals.
Interesting thought about RnR…why do you think that? Because it will be so long before those big races are back? They did seem to be stretched pretty thin. They bought up so many smaller town races. Maybe this means our cherished small town races will be back and take over 🙂
So! Hot!
I finished Hadrian’s Wall yesterday! What a fun challenge!
I have done RnR Savannah, Philly and Virginia Beach. I had planned for more, but things didn’t work out as I wanted. Maybe when things start up again.
Oops, somehow missed this. So RnR out of Chicago and NYC – wonder if they’re only going to do small and medium sized cities from now on. They seem to be declining in quality from recent Montreal, Liverpool reviews too. Poor Ozzy, He needs swimmies