There were several firsts this week – shorts, tank tops and biking!! This week also had several unexpected “space” themes. First, the rocket launch. Second, a space movie. Third, a space book! Weird coincidence, right? As far as workouts go, this week was pretty decent. I was mindful of my diet and I am starting to feel less bloated (post vacation!). I’m making a slight progress in my paces. I guess I have a goal now for my 5.8 mile relay leg – to run it at 8:45. When I talked to my teammates weeks ago that seemed like an easy goal based on my past performance, but here I am 3 weeks out to the race and I really need to do some work to cut a minute off my pace! Oops!! Oh well, that gives me something to shoot for. I biked 24.5 miles this week and also ran 24.5 miles. Also, another weird coincidence!
Sun – Now that the weather is warming up it’s time for some yard work. My plan to “hard prune” an overgrown honeysuckle bush turned into hours of ripping it out! I did leave the base of it in the ground in hopes it will grow back again. I’ll take better care of it if it does grow back!
Before….
After!….
Mon – 5 mile run. Up and at it early this morning. No pretty sunrise this morning due to the clouds but it was 56 degrees. Perfect for shorts!
7.5 mile bike ride. 70 degrees! First ride of the season! We were sorely unprepared for this ride. We talked about the ride all day but I somehow forgot that my bike has electronic shifting. Both of my shifting batteries were dead, so I could only use one gear. Doh!! Well at least it was a functional gear so I did what I could. Alan’s bike had one charged up shifter but afterwards his back was quite sore from being hunched over! Boo. Other than those issues it was pretty great to be riding again!
Tues – 3.25 miles running. First morning run of 2026 in a tank top! It was a comfortable 65 degrees!
Park walk with my Mom in the afternoon.
Weds – 30 mins elliptical and some PT exercises. Kudos to NASA and the successful Artemis II launch!
Thurs – 4 miles running. It was a busy day! Started out with my annual bloodwork. I didn’t have to fast but I did some research to see what the best way to prep was. Cue the hydration, avoiding alcohol and fatty foods. Fingers crossed! I haven’t had bad results per se, but I’d like to see improvement in one area. Next up was my run. The rain had stopped for the day and it was pretty decent out. On my way home I realized I hadn’t even put a sports bra on! I was still wearing my regular bra. Victoria’s Secret for the win! The afternoon included going to the dentist and getting a mammogram.
17 mile bike ride. With the temps almost at 70 it was a good day for a bike ride. All of the rain in our area lately has caused a lot of flooding!
Fri – 5 miles running. I was social today! I ran with a neighborhood friend. It was a wonderful chat-fest! I was only going to run 3 miles but she was running 5. Even though we were slower due to talking, this run ended up being very hard for me! I think the 65 degree temperature was the culprit. On a good note, my lab work looked good (all normal ranges). Woohoo!
In the afternoon we went to see Project Hail Mary. What a good movie!! It was a bit long though and at several points I thought it was going to wrap up, but then it continued in a different direction. Still, I highly recommend it!
Sat – 7 miles running. My long run for the week! I was a bit leary on how this would turn out based on yesterday’s run, but things went well. I even picked up the pace for the last mile (9:00), and a tiny sprint at the end. With rain last night I had to make a minor detour up the hill and around the flooding on my route. Ironically, the sign on the bridge says “Waterside” LOL.
On the long run I finished a really good book, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. It had a space related theme and was just what I needed. I previously finished a murder mystery book which dragged on and I almost gave up on it, so when I started this book I was pleasantly surprised that I loved it from the first chapter! I immediately downloaded the next book in this series. I hope it is just as good because the first audiobook was 9 hours (pretty typical for the books I listen to) but the next one is 16 hours!!! That’s a big commitment for me.
Sun – Happy Easter! Dinner with the family 🙂
Fun pics for the week… do you recognize the family enjoying their dinner after the Dave’s Run?? Yep, it’s my photogenic family in the advertising! 😄 We do love Metropark Mondays!
And the FUNNY pic of the week… we were up on the big selfie cam at the hockey game this week. OMG, what’s up with the colors??
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 had the chance to start working on your yard??
Phew, I’m already tired from all of the work pulling out that bush!!
Q: Did you watch the Artemis launch? Has anyone else seen Project Hail Mary?
LOL, you’re famous!
Wow on the yard work — that looks like it was a workout for sure!
Once I got into that honeysuckle bush I saw it was all dead inside so better to hack it all down. And it’s so fun to use hedge trimmers!! Now I have a clean slate to work with so that’s something exciting. But phew, I lost interest after a few hours and was ready to call it quits several times.
As I mentioned on Facebook, I just finished reading Project Hail Mary (as did my husband) and we hope to go see the movie this week. And yes, I did watch the Artemis II launch. What can I say other than, Amaze, amaze, amaze!” LOL
I’ve been doing a lot of yard work the last few weeks so things are really looking good. But as any good gardener knows, there’s always something else we can find to do!
How fun that your family’s picture is on the ad for Metro Park Mondays!
Oh yes, I’m finding many garden projects! My yard fell in neglect for many years while I was busy with the kids (well, that was my excuse!) but now I’ve got more time to work on it. I’ll be a proud gardener this year!
LOL on the space theme! Love it! It was really warm this week here too and I’m not ready for it. How fun on the photo on the ad!? Have a great week
It is fun when we pop up on ads for Dave’s! It make me really look forward to the summer meetups and picnics with the running community.
My backyard needs work. I meant to do some landscaping last year, but never got around to it (except for a small under my kitchen window). I heard the Mary movie is great, so that’s on my must-see roster.
Yes! Everyone needs to go see Project Hail Mary… but I’ll bet you can’t get the vision of Ryan as Ken from the Barbie Movie out of your head at least once during the movie!! I sure couldn’t.
I LOVED THAT BOOK and am so glad you downloaded the next one. Without giving away too much, the next book is SO DIFFERENT from the first one, but SO good. You must report back!
That is good to hear, because the book really is quite different already and I was slightly giving up hope! Hopefully I can get it finished in the 21 day rental period 😉
Not yet on the yard work but soon.
I want to read that book and yes to eventually see the movie.
I have had to run in a regular bra… lol
The regular bra worked out so much better than I expected it would! Good to know in case I get in a bind and need to do it again.
I always overdo it in the spring with all the activities, too! It’s hard not to.
Your pruning experience reminds me of when we used to cut our Barbies’ hair when we were kids–we couldn’t get it right, so we just kept trimming and trimming….lol
And look at you on the selfie cam! You’re famous!
Yes!! The pruning just continued until whoops, nothing left! My neighbor said he wouldn’t mind if I just pulled it out (prior to me doing it) but then kind of took that comment back after he noticed I didn’t laugh at his “joke”. So I guess he’s happy now! It is weird to have that area open. We have a pool and it was a nice privacy screen.
Ooh! I haven’t seen Project Hail Mary, but I recently read the book. Everyone is saying the movie is excellent.
You had a busy week! It must feel nice to be back out on the bike and running in a tank top. It’s hot AF here and I’m not loving it, but oh well. We had our time to shine- winter- and now we’ll pay for it all summer.
Those are definitely some fun photos- ha, good thing you’re photogenic!
Hopefully you will love the movie after reading the book! I confess I didn’t know there was a book!
Biking felt great. I am looking forward to many more rides this season, especially group rides with my son!
We just seeded the grass and…. that’s about it. Mr PugRunner is debating what to plant in his raised garden, and we will pick up a few things for the front. We were literally just joking about my lack of skill as a gardener and how I’ve managed to keep the most beautiful hydrangea alive and thriving for about 20 years (through benign neglect).
I don’t like lots of bushes or shrubs because… snakes. ew.
Great workouts this week!