It was a busy week, and April is starting to really get busier! I ran 36 miles this week and am feeling really good for the Glass City Half coming up on April 28th. I am starting to taper and my upcoming weeks are packed with all sorts of fun stuff. There was a lot of fun stuff this week too, along with some great weather. Today it was 80 degrees!! Luckily we didn’t need to turn on the air conditioning quite yet, but it was a big temp swing. Here’s what went down this week…
Mon – 5 easy miles. Treadmill run to start the day, and then…
It was ECLIPSE day!! I was excited about this event, but also wondering if it was going to be a big bust if the clouds rolled in. Also, it seemed like it was super hyped up, with viewing parties hosted all over Toledo and even “pre eclipse” events happening on Sunday. With all of the talk you’d think that Toledo was the only place you could see the eclipse, so you can imagine how skeptical I was when I saw that the contiguous United States would see at least a partial eclipse. What the what?? Regardless, I had the afternoon off work and the schools were closed. My mom came over, we ate some pizza on the porch, donned our special glasses and waited for the big show to happen….
OH WOW!!! The solar eclipse far exceeded my expectations! We started to see the moon eclipsing the sun around 2pm. By 3:11 pm the big event happened! The temperatures dropped (this seems obvious but I wasn’t really expecting it!). The birds started to get quiet. My cat thought it was dinner time. LOL!! It didn’t quite get as dark as I expected, but it did seem like night time. The street lights turned on! We got to see a bright ring and Bailey’s Beads. My pictures sucked, but I did steal many from my friends for my souvenirs. Although we had totality for something like almost 2 mins, it seemed like 30 seconds. Soon, the moon was back on it’s way. So yes, this event was amazing and far exceeded my expectations. If there was one happening in the near future and I could drive to see it, I totally would.
The other cool thing about the event was to see everyone in the community out witnessing it together. My daughter was at a local park with her boyfriend and my son went to Wapakoneta with his girlfriend (Neil Armstrong space museum located there!). The traffic was horrible leaving Toledo for hours afterwards so I’m glad we could see this from our back yard.
10 miles, cycling. It was such a nice day out so I went for a bike ride before dinner.
Tues – 9 miles. Amazing that I was able to get up and run after all of that excitement, right? Haha, just kidding. This was one of those key runs on the training plan. 7 miles of goal pace. I’m happy to report it went well! The 50 degree temps felt great and there were little pockets of warm air here and there. I love when that happens!
With this week’s theme of self care, I spent my entire trip to the gym in the hydromassage chair! It felt amazing. No need to lift weights today, just focus on recovery.
We took an evening walk along the river. There were a lot of fisherman catching walleye! The river was so high they just stepped in from the river bank.
Weds – 7 miles, track night. We had 5 x 600m and 5 x 400m on tap tonight. I ran a few extra miles to get my full mileage in. And guess what? Yep, it started sprinkling as we ran our cool down. Rain seems to be a thing for our group workouts. To ease my achy legs and warm up I took a long bath when I got home. Ahhhh, the jacuzzi jets felt great! I had to laugh when I was the only one wearing tank top and shorts. Come on, it’s 55 degrees!!
Thurs – 4 easy miles. What, another rainy run?? Yes, this time I really got rained on. It was a warm rain though so it felt good. This training jacket is working out great.
After looking at my shoe mileage I decided it was time to bust out some different pairs. Gotta be ready for race day!
Fri – Rest day from running, with 2 hours of climbing with my daughter. I passed my Top Rope certification test. Yay! I’m feeling pretty legit now. Still working on my bouldering skills too and climbing inverted. There’s actually a lot of technique to it.
Sat – 10.5 miles long run. Due to an unexpected closure of a road, we couldn’t make it to our regular 5K Training group. But that had a silver lining that I could now run my long run continuously and at my own pace. I ran in the neighborhood that is part of the Glass City Marathon course and is a bit hilly. I ran the first half easy, and picked up the pace for the second half to get in some pace miles. Everything went well. Good ending for my week of training!
Sun – 11 mile bike ride. It was quite windy, but super warm and sunny. My husband and I averaged 12.5 mph into the wind, and 17.5 mph on the way back! Just a short ride to get more miles in the saddle and not tire out our legs.
Fun stuff this week: we have kittens! Three 6 week old boys. They were quite shy, but are getting braver each day. They were caught lounging around! One has a bit of Persian mix, with a sad little face. Awwww!
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: Did you get to see the eclipse??
Q: Will you be tracking friends running the Boston Marathon?
Nope. Had to work. You got a great eclipse picture.
Your taper is pretty active. lol. You are ready. Can’t wait to hear how it goes. It’s supposed to be a pretty course.
Working today. I know a few runners but none of my close friends this year.
Kittens are so cute. My hubby wants another cat. I firmly said NO.
But look at the pout on our little guy!! How could you say No to a face like that 😃
The really good picture is not mine. I think the iPhones lost the quality battle that day. I should have researched how to get a good shot from my phone.
I love hearing about everyone’s eclipse experiences. At 89% it didn’t get dark here, but the light was different and the temperature did drop.
There’s been lots of stories of where you can see the next ones — make your reservations now!
That was me Googling the next day: “when can I see the eclipse again” 🤣🤣
I might have told you about my seeing the eclipse in 2017…. it’s really cool when the “darkness falls across the land “ 🙂 You had a solid week, and not just in the running shoes!
I forgot to mention that a neighbor shot off a large firework when we hit totality! 😆 A bit distracting!! Besides that the “quiet” of the event was very special.
So fun! It sounds like you had a fabulous eclipse experience. We were at 88% coverage during totality and the sky got eerily weird, but nowhere near dark. My pictures turned out terribly.
You’re becoming quite the climber. It must leave your whole body exhausted and feel like an amazing workout.
Debbie recently posted…Weekly RunDown: April 7 – 13 / A Solar Eclipse, Spring Flowers, and More Wind
We were at 89% so no darkness but was still cool to see. My pics did not come out though. You were busy this week! Impressive climbing skills!
Well, a couple things- I’ve never seen a total eclipse, but I hear that a total eclipse is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT experience from a partial. So, you were very lucky you got to view it in your own backyard. After hearing your description, and also my son’s, I would also travel to see one (in 2045???)
Second, I’m glad my gym doesn’t have a hydromassage chair- I would never want to lift any weights. : )
Nice week of workouts- April 28 is coming right up. Enjoy the taper!
And lastly- you know I’m all over those kittens! SOOOO CUTE!
Great week of running and more! You seem to be in good form for the half marathon! As usual your climbing catches my interest. Congrats on the certification test! And of course, the kittens! Aaaw!
The eclipse seems like it was such a big thing in the US. I didn’t think much of it when I read about it on the news but when you describe it, it understand it must have been very special. I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s post about how they celebrated it.