We had a FUN week in CLE! The week included:
And, of course, some daily running. It got chilly here in the mornings, but the days were gorgeous! I was glad to be able to get in a few walks and runs during the daylight and enjoy some of the sunshine after last week’s rain.
Here’s how the week looked:
Some weeks I feel on fire — I could run forever, wake up as early as I need, and just keep going. And other weeks, I’m tired, my body is sore, and each mile run feels harder and harder. This was one of those weeks — random parts of me were feeling sore and I was tired in the morning, and I’m just proud for getting outside most days. This week, my goal was to get outside and get in a file miles each day, plus keep up my diastasis recti exercises as much as possible.
Anyway, here’s what the week looked like:
I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I LOVE summertime. It is my favorite season of the year. Yes, it’s hot. But I love the longer daylight, the morning LIT runs, sleeping a little later (no school bus!) and the carefree feeling all around.
This week brought the end of June (!), a celebration for my oldest (he turned 6!) and the start to a long weekend.
Anyway, here’s what the week looked like:
Well, I’ve got my heat training done for the summer just this week. June in Cleveland can be a variety of temperatures – 50s, 60s or even 70s and 80s. But this week we nearly broke records with highs in the upper nineties and “feels like” in the 100s!
Thankfully, I run in the morning but even then, I had some hot runs. It was in the 80s at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday and Wednesday’s run may have “only” been in the upper 70s at 5:30 a.m. but it was so humid it felt like I was swimming! Because I didn’t have anything on the calendar for training, I was able to just take it easy and run what I wanted both days. But it wasn’t easy!
Then, Saturday we had signed up for a 5K that was in our neighborhood – and the temperatures broke just in time. Race time temps were in the 60s and breezy – nearly perfect! So perfect, that I ended up winning a medal … but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Anyway, here’s what the week looked like:
Was it really only just a few days ago that I was running through the streets of Cleveland with thousands of others, in my first in-person Cleveland half marathon since 2019?
Okay, okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. But yes, just a few day ago, I completed the Cleveland 5k/half marathon challenge series, running a 5k on Saturday and half marathon on Sunday. As a race ambassador, I was able to take advantage of some amazing perks. Even nearly a week later, I’m still feeling proud and grateful for the whole experience — so here it is.
I know that it’s October and fall officially began a few weeks ago, but WOW, it has been warm. It has been in the upper 70s all week, and while I’m not eager for winter to be here, I don’t mind the warm weather when I’m not running!
Luckily, I’ve been able to get outside when it’s not too hot and I had another good-ish week of running. Why the -ish? Well, I’m still nowhere close to where I have been or was before pregnancy (or even where I was at this point postpartum after my first kid), but I’m so happy to be out there! I’m grateful to be (so far) injury free, able to run during the day when I want and enjoy daylight (since I’m on maternity leave), and I even got in a virtual 5K this week AND a 6 miler that made me confident enough to run the Cleveland Marathon 10K in a few weeks.
Here’s what the full week looked like:
Well, here I am, 30 weeks pregnant (10 more to go!) and writing a race recap that I didn’t know I’d be writing.
It’s not a true race recap – like most of my races this year, there were no water stops, starting line, finish line or even crowd support. This weekend should’ve been the Cleveland Marathon race weekend. Every other year, since they announced it, I’ve participated in the Challenge Series (where you run on Saturday and Sunday and get a cool medal and additional swag!), but this year, the race is virtual right now, with a fall race (schedule TBD) in-person.
This year, I’m excited to hopefully run a fall race — I’m looking forward to have something to train for after giving birth and getting the okay from my dr (hopefully in early September). As long as the race is early October or later, i should be fine with running it hopefully!
But, I couldn’t let the virtual event just happen and not participate, especially as a race ambassador. So even though I’m by no means in racing shape these weeks, AND the fact that we were out of town, I knew I couldn’t NOT join the event. So, I signed up for the 5k, with the goal of running the entire thing (these days most of my runs are actually run / walks) and crossed my fingers to hope for the best.
Here’s how the “race” went:
Last week may have started out with 80 degree temps, but we are finally cooling down and it feels more like fall again around here. So, our weekend was full of fun fall activities.
We started off Friday night with dinner out – pizza!
And Saturday included one of my favorite fall activites- apple picking!
FW liked the Jonagold apple.
I love these guys.❤
After apple picking, we had lunch and did some baking. We made cookies to bring to a dinner we had planned that evening.
Saturday night, we went to my friend Emily’s house. She has two kids also and invited us and few other our friends with kids over for dinner. She made tacos and it was a great way for all the kids to run around and play with one another. There were only blurry photos because the kids were always moving!
Sunday morning, we had plans – we were doing the Happy 5K race in my neighborhood. B and I ran with the kids (and their strollers) for the run.
After naptime, we decided to hit the playground. FW had brought his class stuffed whale home for the weekend (thus the whale in so many of the above pics) and kept mentioning he wanted to take him to the playground. So we did!
And for dinner we kept it simple. B’s parents had been out of town over the weekend, so our usual Sunday family dinner plans were cancelled. We ended up staying in and making which hit the spot. Oh, and of course we had leftover cookies 🙂
Some questions for you:
What a busy, fun weekend! It felt nonstop with tons of activities packed into the 2 days. Which means that it was of course another weekend that went too fast.
The weekend started with a 5k race on Friday evening. The Sunset Sprint 5k is a fundraiser for a board that B is on, and I decided semi-last minute to run it.
It takes place right next to the beach, so we had a little picnic and spent some time on the beach after the race.
And caught the gorgeous sunset.
Saturday morning I did an easy run and then it was time for my future-sister-in-law’s shower!
There were so many treats, including these amazing miniature wedding cakes that my mother-in-law made.
It was fun showering the bride-to-be and I can’t believe the wedding is just 2 months away!
I didn’t get home from the shower until late afternoon, so we really only had time for a little excursion with the kids. We walked to the nearby playground and had some fun while they ran around.
Saturday night, after the kids went to bed, B and I watched a movie. I stayed up for a WHOLE movie and really enjoyed it! We watched About Time – have you seen it?
Sunday morning started with a run – this time with the whole family. B pushed LM and I pushed FW in the stroller.
After the run, it was time to spend the later morning/afternoon with B’s family. This week is two of my brother-in-laws’ birthdays, so we spent some time celebrating with the family and enjoying an amazing brunch.
look how gorgeous this salad is!
FW and LM had a great time playing with their cousins and chowing down.
The rest of the evening was spent low-key – we did some meal prep, yard work, shopping and NAPTIME. Any day both of the kids nap at the same time is amazing.
Some questions for you:
I’m not a nighttime runner. I pretty much always start my day with runs. I don’t even like running after work. So, when B told me that there was a 5k race on a Friday night that was a fundraiser for a board he is on, I was hesitant. I had run the race last year for fun after LM was born. But, I was home on maternity leave. This year, I’d be working all day and well – as I said – I’m not a fan of nighttime running.
But who doesn’t love a good 5k fundraiser? So, I signed up on Wednesday and ran it Friday. Here’s how the week looked:
Some highlights:
The race of course! Strollers weren’t allowed (dogs and walkers were…), so B watched the kids while I ran. I admittedly start the race with a cramp but felt like I was flying the first mile.
The second mile included a big uphill, and the last mile had a downhill. I ended the race with an official time of 25:43. The race was along the beach, so we had a great view. And we got some beach time afterwards.
Was it a PR? No. Was it the fastest I’ve run in a while? YES. Was I glad I ran it? Of course!
Questions for you:
I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.
I Crashed The Web 