I’m back from my girls’ trip! I mentioned last week, but I was lucky enough to spend last weekend in Santa Barbara with my best friends from high school. We always talk about doing a yearly trip away, but our last weekend away was before the pandemic. It was overdue and I’m so glad we were able to make it happen! I had brought some running clothes with the hope that I would maybe be able to get in a run, but I was so lucky to go for a short run every day and two of those runs were with my friends! And on the beach. Another day included a 3+ mile hilly hike. We had so much fun, and it was great to get in both fun and activity.

This week’s post is sponsored by JET LAG. Okay, JET LAG isn’t a real sponsor, it’s just that this week’s runs were made possible, or harder, by jet lag. In Cali, I woke up early every morning thanks to jet lag. On the way back, I could barely wake up, thanks to jet lag. It works both ways!

Anyway, here’s how the week looked – complete with a few days in Cali and then back to CLE:

Sunday: 4 mile run, 3.5 mile hike, planking and push ups –  Thanks to jet lag, I woke up early and was able to get in a short run before most of my friends even woke up! I ran along the beach, which was beautiful and so peaceful, before heading to run in downtown Montecito, where we were staying.

After the run and breakfast, we all went out for a hike. It was a beautiful but hilly hike with lots of ups and downs and shade and sun, and streams and waterfalls and I loved every minute of it. After the hike, we relaxed at the beach.

Monday: 3.61 mile run – We had plans to get on the road for breakfast by around 8:15, but since I had run solo on Sunday, two of my friends decided to join me on Monday. It was great! We ran a little faster than I usually do – that’s how it is when I run with fast friends! The run included some beach running, where we saw some dolphins in the water! And of course had to take some photos along the way.

Tuesday: 5 miles running, push ups, 2 mile lunch walk – This was ROUGH. I took a redeye back Monday night, which meant I only had about 2 hours of sleep — on a plane! So going for a run was impossible. I decided to go to wake myself up, but my legs were dragging. Of course I was glad to go, but man, I was on the struggle bus! Thanks to no sleep AND jet lag.

Wednesday: 4.3 miles running, planks and core workout – Oh man, jet lag killed me again this day. It was my first “full” night of sleep back at home and I didn’t take a nap or anything Tuesday, so waking up Wednesday was HARD after only 2-3 hours of sleep the night before. I don’t remember snoozing through my alarm but apparently I did, several times. So much that I didn’t have time for a full workout – but I’m glad to still have gotten outside! I would’ve run more, but I wanted to devote time to a core workout.

Thursday: 5.1 miles running, pushups, planking and core workout, 15 minutes on the bike, 3.1 mile walk – Oh jet lag, how I hate thee. I was TIRED waking up, but still was able to get outside for a run. It was a little “chilly” (upper 60s), which felt great! I then got in 2 different walks during the day – one at lunch time to pick up the kids at a friends’ house (Their mom was able to watch them while I was working, which I was so grateful for!) and one before work started to pick up some pastries for GM and to bring to the big kids’ friends’ house.

Friday: 3.84 mi run, 30 minutes cycling, light arm workout, core, planks and pushups, then 1.5 mile walk – I am not going to lie – the morning didn’t go as planned, but that was okay with me. It was my last summer Friday, and I decided I would take advantage of my later start time by going for a longer run. I woke up a little earlier (than my usual summer Fridays), and just as I was leaving my room my oldest, FW, came out of his room and asked if he could run with me. He said he had been up for a few hours and couldn’t sleep. I could have (should have?) said no, and suggest he go back to bed and then let me get in my run and he could finish with me for my last mile. But, since school starts next week and I could tell he wanted to go run (maybe he was anxious about school?), I said yes. We ran about 1.6 miles without stopping, and then kept going running/walking until about 3.8 miles. I’m proud of him! After our run, I got in some cycling with my extra time, plus core work, planks, push ups and a few minutes of an arm workout.

Then, we got in a walk to a bakery for some treats before work started. After we walked back, we enjoyed pastries on the porch. So, not a bad start to my last summer Friday! Yes, that’s 2 croissants in 2 days for GM. He was a happy boy.

Saturday: 6.3 miles running, push ups and planks – I was grateful to be able to run alone, in the sunshine. Some days, I feel so lucky to be able to run, and this was one of those days.

 Total: 32.2 mi of running plus some hiking, indoor cycling workouts, planking and push ups

Questions for you:

• Do you get jet lag?
• Do you have different waking hours in the summer?

I am linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.