I guess I am at week 3 of my training plan for [potentially] the Marquette Marathon. I still haven’t committed to it, but this week was really good for running and biking. 41 miles of running. 45 miles of biking (which included the uphill rides on a ski chair lift!). It was also a week of fun mountain bike adventures and lots of yard work.
Mon – 5 miles running. Rise and shine, 5 easy miles to start the week. The weather was great (55 degrees)! I thought it was a little odd that my race shirt just says “half”. I think I’d rather it say 13.1!
Tues – 17 miles biking. Rest day from running, but the first Ladies Ride of the season for me. We split into two groups and had a huge group in the front. 31 people!
Weds – Happy Global Running day! I started with 8 miles of running in the morning.
In the evening we went to a 5K organized by the Toledo Roadrunners. It was a bit challenging to get my legs moving at first, but it ended well and I had 3.14 more miles done for the day!
Thurs – 8 miles running. This run had 4 miles of tempo pace in the middle. Nothing super speedy, but faster than race pace so good enough!
After my run we were headed up north to Boyne City. This trip usually takes 4 ½ hours, but with the charging stops it was closer to 5 ½ hours. This was our first trip with the new bike rack. The rack worked well, but it did cause a reduction in our mileage. Our first charging stop was 150 miles away and we had a small cushion of charge left when we arrived. It wasn’t stressful, but it was unexpected!
We rode for two hours (12 miles) at the Boyne Forest Trail. I enjoyed these trails. They were a lot like our local trails, but with hills! Our trail is pretty flat.
We worked up a big appetite and went to a local brewery for dinner. And then, to the hotel for some relaxation. It was fun bringing our bikes into the hotel elevator!
Fri – 17 miles mountain biking! We had a fun day at Boyne Highlands, which is a place we ski in the winter. They offer several activities in the summer such as golf, but they also have turned the mountain into a downhill bike park. The trails are rated with levels just like ski runs (green – easy, blue – intermediate, black – advanced). I thought even the blue runs were challenging!! It was super relaxing to not have to bike uphill as we used the chair lift to deliver our bikes to the top of the mountain.
My son was crushing it though, making even the advanced trails look easy. I almost had a heart attack when he said he wanted to jump off this wooden thing. The wooden structure is only about a foot wide and is maybe 8 foot tall? Yikes!!!! Another one was a jump that went straight out into a ravine and you had to land on a super steep hill. I thought he was insane when he said that one looked easy.
Even though it was far over my skill level for the majority of the mountain, we had a good time and stayed from open until close (noon – 5pm). It made for a late night and we didn’t get home until 12:30am. zzzzz
Sat – Rest day! After all of the biking, I decided it would be best to take a rest day to have fresh legs for my long run on Sunday. I did end up doing a lot of yard work instead, getting ready for the graduation party happening soon! We did take a break to see the marching band perform in a parade. It was weird not seeing anyone I knew in the band. And, they all looked so young, like freshman!
Sun – 17 miles, long run. My plan had 18 miles this week, and 16 miles last week (which I did not achieve!), so I went in the middle. It was a sweaty run, but overall pretty decent! Even though I was not happy when the park cut down a lot of bushes along this trail, the end result is really nice. I really like the concrete path! Side note, I only have ONE more free Starbucks drink left on my account. You may remember when I got 47 free drinks loaded on to my Starbucks card as a reward for being a credit card member… 3 years ago! I have really stretched out those free drinks.
After my run I went to a garden tour in a historic area of Toledo. Then I came home and was disappointed in my own yard. haha! Side note, I only have ONE more free Starbucks drink left on my account. You may remember when I got 47 free drinks loaded on to my Starbucks card as a reward for being a credit card member… 3 years ago! I have really stretched out those free drinks.
To end my day, I got busy in the kitchen. I baked a whole bunch of cookies for the upcoming graduation party! I totally suck at making cookies, but these actually turned out great!! They look just like the picture (recipe here). Frosting will happen later this week!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Has your summer started out well? Any fun things happening?
I wonder what it says about me that the first thing I want to comment on is those cookies! I looked at the recipe, yum. You’ll have to show us how they look with frosting.
Anyway, you had an amazing week! Lots of running and all that mountain biking- I would be scared of falling and breaking lots of bones. But I guess that’s why your blog is called TechChick Adventures. You definitely have more adventures than I do.
Glad your running is going well. 17 miles is a LONG run! I guess everything is feeling good and the glute/hamstring issue is a thing of the past.
Cookie pictures will be coming, along with the other treats I made… buckeyes! My mountain biking skills have really improved over the last 3 years. I used to fall all of the time, and now it’s rare. I am really careful though, and still wear a wrist brace. My thumb is still out of whack from my fall last October. I don’t think it will ever be 100%.
Looks like you are back on track with running. yay. Mountain biking always scares me so much. Hope the cookies came out well. Have a great week
I do have a bit of an odd feeling in my knee, but hopefully it’s nothing (oops, maybe I shouldn’t have said that out loud!). Otherwise, my body is feeling pretty good!
Same as Deborah said. I don’t even bike unless on a flat trail.
Kudos to you on all your miles.
That bike park at the ski resort was pretty advanced. I’m glad they had something “easy” enough that I could ride!
While I have a mountain bike that I love dearly (remember Gustavas?), I have never actually ridden a true mountain bike trail. That skinny wooden “ramp?” No thanks! Your son is much braver than me, LOL. Congrats on the great week 😉
I really did think my son was going to crash when he rode that ramp. Yikes!! So crazy!! He really has been working hard on his skills and it shows.
I’m just LOL at those bikes going up the chairlift. Seriously, I never even imagine such a thing!
How you manage it all is really beyond me (and yikes on your son’s bike jump!) but it does sound like fun.
Unfortunately not much fun happening so far for me. I really hope to turn that around at some point, but first we have to get rid of Bandit’s cough (another vet appt this week, not til the end of the week though; I new I should have listened to my gut and made one last Friday!). But you know all about caring for animals.
Aww, I hope Bandit is improving. My Dad was having issues with the air quality around here and I didn’t even notice it. Everything looks clear to me, but for him it’s bothersome.
The ski lift/bike lift was so cool! Biking uphill is exhausting.
Looks like another busy week for you!
It looks like those cookies turned out great!
I was super impressed with my baking skills on those cookies. No joke, I have a terrible time baking cookies! Not sure if it’s me, or my oven, but something just doesn’t usually work out!
What a fun trip! I love that you took your bikes!
I can’t wait to see what your final Starbucks drink is!
Those cookies look amazing.
I saw there is a new Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino… it might be that!
Yay for the First Ladies ride of the season!! Whoo hoo! Great mileage for GRD too! Which bike rack did you end up with? I must have missed that detail. I totally would have had a heart attack seeing my kid doing jumps like your son did, but it’s super cool! Well done on your long run, especially with all the biking in your legs. We have a lot of concrete paths and bike paths (which is a softer material) here in NL – I’m glad because I suck at trail running but still have the feeling I’m running in the woods.
we had our first long ride (well, 42KM) a couple weeks ago and are planning on a couple of rides first full week of July as we’ve taken that week off. I’m looking forward. Other summer plans – in 10 days we drive to Paris, we’re doing a (not)parkrun with a friend of mine there (France suspended parkruns for some reason and the organisation is still in discussion with the government about it, but apparently people still gather at the parkrun locations to run together) and then seeing Depeche Mode with some fan-friends at the football stadium. It’s going to be Epic !
You are having all the fun lately! Go you! I bought a Thule Apex XT. It’s about 35 lbs and I can easily install it, and remove it on my own. It holds 4 bikes, so it’s perfect! My car already had the correct size hitch so no extra cost there. So far I’m loving it!