It’s an absolutely gorgeous Sunday afternoon in the Chicago area, and that means it’s time for the Weekly Wrap! I’m linking up with Wendy over at Taking the Long way Home and Holly at HoHo Runs for this week’s wrap-up. Be sure to check out their blogs, along with the other linkers! You may just find some new blogs to love!
The weather has been mostly beautiful this past week. It was warmer hotter than Hades and more humid swamp-like earlier in the week, but these past few days have been absolutely perfect. I’ve actually been (a little) better about my training this past week. This is how my week went:
Monday: 9 mile run. It was really hot and humid, and it didn’t help that I didn’t get out the door until noon. I knew I wanted to do more than my usual 5-mile loop, so I added some extra miles on a local trail along the DuPage River. I often bike this trail with my husband, but since I run alone, I’ve never run it (except for the final two miles of the Naperville Women’s Half Marathon, which I ran in 2016 and 2018), but I decided to put my big girl pants on and go for it. There were lots of people on the trail so I felt very safe, and I was so glad to add this beautiful shaded route to my run.
Tuesday: 12-hour work day.
Wednesday: Fourth of July; I worked a short day (7 hours, which is short for me), and then went to my niece’s house for a party. This was one of the hottest, most humid day of the week, so it was a good day to work! By early evening the skies opened up, and then came the storms.
Thursday: 2 mile treadmill run. I planned to follow it with some strength training, but went off on a tangent changing batteries in all the clocks in the house and never got back to my workout. Seriously.
Friday: 5 mile run. I wanted to go longer, but we had dinner plans in the city and I ran out of time.
Saturday: 25.7 mile bike with my hubby.
Sunday: 60 minute deep tissue massage, 30 minute upper body workout, and my first feeble attempt at a 400m swim.
All and all this has been a much better week for me. It’s supposed to be in the high-80s again this week, so we will see what the week holds in terms of running. On Friday I am heading to California for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon on July 15th. This should technically be taper time for me, but since I haven’t been training religiously, there’s not much to taper from. However, I do plan to practice swimming more this week, since the weather will be so warm.
How was your week? Are you training for any upcoming races? Have you ever run a race in wine country?
OMG Napa half Marathon! Sounds like a dream.
Last week was very hot here too. A beautiful though. The heat has returned today but not as bad as last week.
Enjoy your taper. Can’t wait to hear about the race.
I think we’ve all experienced some milder weather over the past few days, thank goodness. It’s about to get pretty steamy again, though.
You had an awesome week of workouts! I’m glad that you were able to work a shorter day on the holiday and enjoy time with family.
Wishing you safe travels to California at the end of the week for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon! I’m sure that race will have some beautiful scenery.
Thank you so much! Northern California is so beautiful! It’s just amazing running through the vineyards!
Ooh I did not know you were doing the Napa half! Should be a perfect time to visit. We are doing the Napa Ragnar in November. Where are you staying out there?
We will be there for 5 days, starting out staying with a friend in San Mateo, then we are staying at the race hotel in Napa over the weekend, and then another hotel in Santa Rosa overnight on Monday, and back to my friend’s house in San Mateo on Tuesday. I did this race the past two years and was fortunate to stay at my friend’s amazing ranch just two miles from the race finish. They are on VRBO if you want to check them out! Here is the link.
That deep tissue massage sounds lovely. I am so overdue for a massage.
I am starting to schedule them regularly. It makes an amazing difference in how I feel overall!
Ha about changing the clock batteries! I am so like that. I start doing something then I move onto something else…LOL
I never taper before a half. I personally don’t feel like I need or want to because I don’t really “train” for them. You’ll do fine. Have fun and a glass or 2 of wine for me!
I swear I must have ADD. I am so easily distracted! I will definitely be enjoying plenty of wine on this trip, so I’ll be having a glass (or two) for you and many others!
Running a race in wine country sounds fabulous! I would love to do that!
I don’t have anything major coming up on the calendar but I need to rectify that soon.
Great week for you! I need to get on the massage train!
I’ve done a few of the races in their series and it just amazing running through vineyards! Obviously not much crowd support, but the views make up for it! I never used to get massages, but now I am hooked! I have an amazing guy who is booked through the end of November!
9 miles in that heat is a feat!!! It was so steamy last week. So happy for the cooler temps this week!
There was definitely a lot of walking on that 9-mile run!
I ran the Napa to Sonoma half last year. I didn’t check the weather before hand and was not so pleasantly surprised at how hot it was. For some crazy reason I thought it would be cooler there (northern California and all) or else why would they have a half there in July?
It was a pretty run then but there’s been fires since so I don’t know what it looks like now. Hope it’s nice for you!
I was there last year too, and I do remember it got pretty warm. I think we are expecting pretty much the same this year. This will be my 3rd consecutive year running it. The weather was perfect the first year!
Our weather turned nice overnight on Thursday (very early Friday morning), so that was a nice little break from the heavy heat & humidity. It’s back, though 😉
We are in the same boat with the weather, though I think you’ve had it a little worse than us.
Nice job on the bike ride! Have a great time at the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon. It’s beautiful up there.
Thanks! We took it slowly, but it was nice to get so many miles in. Napa to Sonoma is an amazing race venue!
Congrats on a good week despite the heat! That Napa race is on my bucket list – can’t wait to hear all about it!
It’s an awesome race for sure! I ran it in 2016 and 2017. You can find those recaps by looking under “Races and Goals” and clicking on the particular links. I am an ambassador for the Destination Races Wine Country Half Marathon series and have a discount code for all of their races except Napa to Sonoma, since it sells out so quickly.
You got a lot of running in last week, despite the weather. The Sonoma Half sounds gorgeous – have you done it before? If you can do a marathon without training, a Half should be a breeeze. 😉
Thanks! Yes, this will be my 3rd consecutive year running it. It’s an absolutely beautiful course and is the premier race in the Destination Races Wine Country Half Marathon series. They have a generous course cutoff time of 3-1/2 hours, so I’m not worried about finishing.
Solid week for you! Sorry it wasn’t much cooler here than it was in Florida. Have so much fun in Napa!
Thanks so much! It’s going to be warm for race day, just as it was last year. It’s also somewhat hilly, so I plan to take my time and enjoy the beautiful views.
A massage sounds absolutely amazing, especially given how busy of a week that you had. Maybe I can talk my hubby into us getting a couple’s massage later this month for our anniversary.
A couple’s massage would be so great! My husband and I did it once and he didn’t care for it too much.
wow you did great! I laughed about the battery changing tangent though 😀
I have been 4 weeks in training for the Warsaw marathon. it’s actually going well *looks around to knock on something wooden* I have never run in wine country but one day I’d like to do the Marathon du Medoc.
Your Warsaw race will be great! I am really trying to be good about training for my fall marathons and am especially looking to improve my strength training. I think that is a big factor for me. The Marathon du Medoc sounds beautiful…not too sure about the oysters, though!
Glad it’s got a bit milder for you – the same has happened here this week by the time I’ve got to reading all the wrap-ups. I’m training for an 18 miler I’m doing in August that I thought I wasn’t doing. I did 12.4 miles last weekend but am aware I need to practise with different running rucksacks as they’re required for this – ulp! Hope this week is going well for you!
Good luck with your August race! That is interesting that a rucksuck is required. I still have to start practicing with my water pack vest.
I think it’s because it’s run by the Long Distance Walking Association and has a 10 hour cut off for both the 26 mile and 18 mile options. It’s common for trail races here but this is a canal bank one. I’m useless at Camelbaks etc as I can never make them work!
Wow! That is awesome that those distances are offered at such generous cutoff times. My boys are very used to Camelbacks from their scouting days, but I have not yet embraced them.
I wish we had shady trails around here. That’s definitely where I’d be running. Same thing with biking…I’d love a nice long shady trail. I haven’t even gotten my bike outside the summer (shameful!). I’ve always wanted to run a wine country race. Have fun in Cali! Thanks for linking.
Most of my runs are in the sun, but it’s nice to know I have some shady options when it gets this brutal out.