Have you heard? Garmin’s inaugural race series is coming to Toledo on Sept 21st! The day will feature a full marathon, half marathon, 10K and a 5K race. When a discount code appeared in my inbox I took that as I sign that I need to finally pull the trigger and register, so now it’s official – I’m running the half! Garmin released a watch face for the race too. Fun!
It will be a month before the Columbus marathon so it should fit in to my training plan pretty well. Speaking of which, there are 11 more weeks to go until Columbus. I finished up a solid training week, running 37 miles and biking 55 miles. When we last chatted my family was on a buggy, muggy camping trip…
Mon – 5 easy miles. Still at the campground today, which is quite hilly! No joke when I say the family was looking forward to going home and hanging out around the pool instead of sweating it out at the campground. I also had more than my fair share of bug bites. Dislike!! Even so, it was nice to have family time and we all agreed that July camping is not our favorite.
Tues – 6 miles, intervals. “Track” workout today. 1000m 800m, 600m. I have a dilemma when using my Garmin watch for a programmed workout. It will show either a countdown for the “run” distance, or you can flip to a screen for your pace. It doesn’t show both on the same screen. Since it was so humid out, I was more concerned with “how much longer do I need to run fast”, so I didn’t pay attention to the pace. I was very happily surprised when I saw my paces afterwards. Must have been my new shoes making me run so fast! Also, my shoes combined with the humidity seem to be angering my toes. I’ve got a blister on the side of my big toe so the toe socks are in use again!
40 miles biking. Tonight’s ride was packed with bonuses. I rode 12 extra miles before the commute to the Ladies group ride, commuted both ways to the group ride and then enjoyed some ice cream afterwards! We went on a new route (it was good!), had delicious pizza and drinks afterwards (yum!) and then my daughter met us for a cool treat on the way home. Despite “feels like 103” temps (yikes!), the breeze felt good on the ride. Reports from the guys ride indicate their ride was a hot, sweaty ride which sucked the life out of them. It’s no social ride for them!
Weds – Rest day! Daily exercise was a lunch park walk, without my Mom today because it’s still too hot out (84 degrees)! Yikes humidity. Yikes humidity hair!! Ewwwwww.
Thurs – 7 miles, speedwork. The temperatures have dropped to the 60s. Yay!! Today’s workout was alternating miles of race pace and threshold pace (20-30 secs faster). Although it was raining today, the cooler weather made this run feel easy! I hit my paces which made me feel very happy. I went to the gym afterwards.
We released our first butterfly today! We have 6 more chrysalis. I got to watch him emerge. Fascinating! And yes, this is a male butterfly. The black dot on his lower wing is the indicator.
We weren’t feeling up to a group ride tonight (so tired!), so we went to the local farmers market instead. A nice family outing! Fashion note – I’m bringing back vests. I was for sure someone else would be wearing one tonight but sadly not. So be on the lookout for that to be trending again soon, probably. LOL
Fri – 4 easy miles. Oof! Not sure if my legs were sore from the gym visit yesterday or the running, but either way, my quads were feeling it today. We went to Cedar Point and they were packed! Not a surprise on a nice day. Unauthorized ride pic from my least favorite coaster 😉
Sat – 15 mile long run. Beautiful weather today! Moderate temps and my daughter joined me for the first 1.5 miles. She is getting back into running after a bit of a hiatus. It made me quite happy to have her out there with me 🙂
At night we went to the Toledo Mud Hens baseball game. The team really sucked (let’s be honest!) but the night was fun. They had a very impressive fireworks show afterwards that lasted a long time. It was a late night!
Sun – all adventures start with donuts, no? On the road again!
I want to give a shoutout to Susanne who helped me with a WordPress issue this week. Thanks!! Much appreciate your help!
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: have you ever worn toe socks for running?
My friend Ilona was complaining about the Garmin training programme thing today. She ran to meet me, we did four-ish miles together, then she ran home, but it refused to tell her how far she had gone except for advising when she hit a mile, so she had no idea if she’d done the distance but just had to keep going, if she wanted to see what she was supposed to be doing! (also she was ignoring what she was supposed to be doing as we went with my intervals, she just wanted to get the distance in). A bit frustrating! Well done on getting all the miles in!
Technology is frustrating when it doesn’t work! I used to program the intervals incorrectly – using the wrong distances (miles instead minutes) and other things like that. I have become pretty skilled at creating workouts but my watch screens are limited during those workouts I think. Hey, maybe that is something I should ask Garmin about at the race expo!
Would you believe I used to make my own vests? I would go to the fabric store and get the front material, satin for the back, buttons, and buckles. I love how things come back around.
July camping is pretty rough. And bug bites are never fun!
Can’t wait to hear more about the Garmin race series!
I guess you will believe that I made that vest I’m wearing!! It’s vintage now – at least 25 yrs ago. I loved sewing vests and I kept them all. I think solid colored vests were in fashion recently, but this was the closest I had available!
I had no idea that Garmin is doing a race series. Probably because I’m not training for anything right now. It feels kind of good.
I also never knew that male butterflies have a black spot on their wing. Your post is so educational today! lol
Why is there a statue of Jamie Farr at your local baseball stadium? And how did he ever become famous? Savage, I know….
This is the first race series for Garmin! Toledo is the location of the inaugural event. RunToledo (who I used to be an Ambassador for) is managing the race. It’s a big deal for them! Garmin also has a race series happening in Tucson in November.
So Jamie Farr… he’s our local famous person! He played Klinger in MASH (tv show) and used to talk about Toledo, the Mud Hens and Packo’s restaurant on the show. Another famous Toledo person is Katie Holmes 🙂
I was happy to be able to help! WordPress can be such a pain sometimes but I’ve finally come to love it with all the improvements they’ve done in recent years.
My husband gave me a pair of those toe socks last week! They’re comfortable but very warm, so I’ll use them for my autumn walks.
Wait, do you breed butterflies? Or what? That sounds very interesting. I’d love to learn more!
My toe socks are pretty thin, not much cushioning. I do think they work for the blisters though! Hopefully you like them. They are so odd to put on!!
We gather Monarch caterpillars and eggs from our milkweed plants. The milkweed plants are where the butterflies lay their eggs and what they eat. We’ve been doing it for many years but recently we got a larger “habitat” for them to grow in. It is interesting to watch the process!
Oooh the Garmin race sounds like so much fun!! Love that your daughter ran with you. Looks like a really fun week! I have to ask – do the toe socks help with the blister?
I think the socks help! It’s so odd that I get the blisters between my toes, so I can only guess it has to do with sweaty feet? I don’t really think my feet sweat that much, so I suppose just a little bit could cause an issue.
I think my daughter is considering running the 10K at Garmin 🙂 I hope she does!
Bug bites can make me miserable—mosquitoes love me too much!
I hadn’t heard of the Garmin race series — will be looking forward to your recap.
It took almost a full week for those annoying bug bites to go away! Bugs really like me. Not cool!
I would skip the sweaty, bug-infested camping trip, but everything else sounds really fun! You got in a lot of good running, and speed work. Now I’m curious about your next trip! “All adventures start with donuts”- great motto.
Sorry for the false alarm – it was just a day trip on Sunday 🙂
How cool that Garmin is doing a race series in your hometown and that you’ll be able to fit it into your fall racing schedule.
Can’t wait to see where you next adventure is taking you! I just checked your IG for some clues. 😉
I have been so bad at posting on Instagram! But sorry, it was just a day trip. No big trips happening here quite yet!
Well it’s’ about time Garmin had a race series! I like that they have so many distance options. I tried toe socks at one point and didn’t’ like them can’t remember why! Looks like a good busy week for you
I think it is interesting that Garmin is holding the inaugural race in Toledo! We are central to a few big cities so that’s a plus and we have a very active running community. Also, RunToledo is a great race management company so that makes sense to partner with them. I hope it’s a success for them!