Week 31 – Hot Herre

 

I know everyone is talking about the weather right now and honestly I’m one of those “it is what it is” kind of people when it comes to weather and… I rarely believe the weather forecast anyway (especially here!).  But seriously?  Enough already.  It’s blazing.  We are not used to this.  As I mentioned before there is no airco.  We cannot sleep!  It cools down at night but not in our apartment!   Even my ice pack solution for sleeping is not working.  And Mr. I-Could-Sleep-Through-an-Atom-Bomb is also not sleeping!  Poor guy!  I’m used to it but he’s mega-suffering!

So another week (what is it now 5 weeks like this??) of hot relentless weather. I’m done.  If it’s like this I just want to be on vacation, hanging out at the pool and sucking on gin and juice…

 

 

Anyway, last week planned vs. actual

Monday – rest or to the gym with Vincent Rest Day

I did manage a little lunch walk, but was too hot to go too far.

Another Monday Morning I arrive at work with sweat dripping down my back…

Tuesday – Training / Runiversity has a coopertest scheduled, not sure I’ll do that. Own Training – 7KM recovery run

The coopertest was cancelled but they decided to do a circuit training session. I really want to run during my time with Runiversity, so I skipped the circuit. Surprisingly, this was a good run. Warm, but good.

I’m not sweating, I’m shimmering.

Wednesday -RPM? RPM

Holy Moly this is a tough release this time around. I am really curious if I can get through all the quad work (attack climb) by the end of the release. Seriously feeling the burn. Oh and the amount of sweat under my bike is kind of rad.

I had to cycle over to the bike store to deliver my bike for a taxation and damage report to be done on the Thursday.  That was 7KM there and back before I even went to RPM.  Maybe that’s why my quads were burning?

Oh and Weigh-in?  I gained 100 grams.  To me that’s maintenance.  Trying to balance carb intake!

going for the punk rock look after RPM

Thursday – Bodypump? No BodyPump, just cycling to the bike store again to pick up my bike

I was soaked with sweat by the time I got home so I decided the only thing I would be doing would be stripping down to my bra and underwear and moving as little as possible.

My borrowed bike (courtesy of the bike shop… it was like pushing a freight train)

Friday – Training / Runiversity has hill training scheduled, may do intervals on my own instead. Hill Training @Runiversity

I got to sleep in a tiny bit (finally) and eventually I headed out to the health center as I had 4 clients that afternoon. Massage (deep tissue massage) is hard work and I was doing everything I could to not drip sweat all over my clients. Ugh. We still have no fans at the health center. I hope next summer it’s different. I was busy until 6pm, then quickly ate something and then got changed to go directly to training. Of course to do hill training I had to cycle up 3 hills to get there. Let’s say I was already warmed up and ready to go by the time I arrived. We did 3 sets of 3 times up and down a short uphill track. The point of the exercise was of course to have proper form and technique and to not stop even if your quads (are you seeing a theme here?) are exploding. I cycled home afterwards and basically showered and hung out in my sportsbra and underwear (another theme)

can you tell which one is me?

 

Saturday – RPM? RPM! 

Even though Vincent is on holiday, I still went to RPM. My favorite instructor was there so I had to! Another fabulous tiny lake of sweat under my bike again. Mission accomplished.

I raced home afterwards, took a shower and got dressed. At around 12:30 my friend Meagan was going to be in town with her husband and daughter. I’ve known Meagan for at least 20 years but haven’t seen her for 16. Actually her mom was one of my best friends here in NL when she and her (dutch) husband were still here. Meagan is obviously all grown up now and has been living in Germany for the last 6 years. They went to visit their Dutch family one last time while they were still in Europe and where I live is on the way back to Germany for them so it made sense to try to see each other. They go back to the States this week! Can’t believe it. 6 years and this is the only time we managed to get together. Boo.

We had lunch and a good chat and said so long… then I met up with Ron so we could cycle over to a different bike store for him to test out a new bike (A Merida. He had a Giant Fastroad but he can’t get that one anymore). So more cycling for me. He loved the bike (as much as you can love something you are kind of forced into getting because someone violated your property) and he got the full amount from the insurance so he decided to buy it.

We got home and I pretty much took another shower to cool up and then put on as few clothes as possible and did approximately nothing until after dinner. Ron was also in need for massage and well, I kind of owed at least that to him after he cooked me such a nice dinner.

Meagan and I saying “so long”

Sunday – Long Run Finally – 17KM, no walking, pretty much in one go on HR under 160

Slept terribly but managed to get out around 6:30am and was out at around 8:30. It was finally cooler and there was the most amazing breeze going on! I felt much better on this run, had eaten more carbs the few days before and feel like, at least for the distance, I had enough fuel. I still need to play around with it a bit, but I am certain now that it was energy and not that my legs suddenly didn’t work anymore. Only the last couple kilometers were brutal – but I think that’s because of the mental part of the game – anytime I’m near the end it seems to get harder! But also I was just done-er than done by the time I got home. I chilled out, showered, put on as few clothes as possible and watched Netflix for a while. Ron went out at 12 and he suffered quite a bit. I think it’s the heat and his lack of sleep.

We went for our Sunday night pizza, I had a lovely chilled glass of chardonnay (or was it two?) and we even had ice cream afterwards.

 

 

a point of interest on the Liberation Route in Westervoort

 

 

Reminds me so much of Dutch landscape paintings.

 

 

Before I knew it, it was time to prep for Monday again. Why does it go by so fast?

 

Week 32 Plan
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Runiversity (and it will be 36 degrees / 97F – UGH)
Wednesday – Bodypump
Thursday – massage clients
Friday – day off + Runiversity
Saturday – rest
Sunday – 25KM (going to manage it this time!!!)

How was your training week?  Did it cool off yet where you are at?  Did you race or are you prepping for a race? 

Comments

  1. The only thing saving my sanity in this humidity is that I’m not training for anything at the moment! I think you had a great week despite what Mother Nature keeps throwing at us. It will all pay off when it cools down…it will cool down at some point, right?! ;)

    1. Renée says:

      oh I hope so Michelle but so far…

  2. sounds like you had a great long run this week!

    1. Renée says:

      thanks Deborah!

  3. kookyrunner says:

    Ugh so sorry to hear about the awful heatwave that you are experiencing. It’s gotta be bad when you can’t even get to sleep. I was thinking maybe you can wet a piece of clothing, like socks, and put that in the freezer during the day and then sleep with them on? That way at least one part of your body would feel cool and it might help to cool down your body.

    Awesome job on your workouts this week, especially your long run!

    1. Renée says:

      what a great idea!!!

      thanks Kim!

  4. matmilesmedals says:

    I’m sorry about the heat wave… we’ve had them off and on all summer and I don’t have AC either. Two things that have helped:
    1) a rollerball with peppermint oil… I rub this on my back before I brush my teeth as I’n getting ready for bed and by the time I’m ready to lie down, I can feel the cooling sensation
    2) a fan…nor the same as AC. but the air movement helps. Is that an option?

    1. Renée says:

      hey Briana! I often sleep with ice packs and I have a minty cooling shower gel I use and then just shower at night right before bed. We have fans too, they don’t help that much… and then Ron complains that he’s cold in the night. Guess it doesn’t help that I’m pre-menopausal and having hot flashes all the time!!

  5. It’s still very hot and humid here in Chicago. We’ve had just a few decent days. I can remember sleeping on the cool tile floors in Chicago when we were kids and had no air conditioning. What will the weather be like for your Warsaw marathon? Hopefully it will be cool and all of this training in the heat and humidity will do you well!

    1. Renée says:

      I have NO idea what the weather will be like in Warsaw! perhaps I should investigate that!!

      I remember summers in Chicago, getting up, showering, drying off and then being wet again from inside humidity… I love Chicago but I don’t always love the weather there.

  6. Ha! Florida! Nope. Still hot. It is what it is, but I’m ready for it to be what it isn’t LOL!

    You had an insanely busy week! I just can’t understand how you manage to do something so physical with no fans or air. I would be sweating all. the. time. I shower tons during the summer and wear a lot of maxi dresses. I just can’t stand having to wear clothes.

    1. Renée says:

      clothes are super overrated in the summer. it’s crazy without airco but what can you do. though I’m going to look into how much it costs for an airco unit. maybe do it in the winter when the cost is lower!

  7. Coco says:

    We have the humidity, but we also have excessive air-conditioning — I’m under a blanket right now. :-O I hope Ron likes his new bike. My new bike had an unfortunate accident this weekend — rooftop bike rack + low overhead clearance = crushed hoods :-( Hopefully the bike shop will have it as good as new by the weekend.

    1. Renée says:

      OMG! I hope everything is ok now with your bike!!!
      Ron’s loving his new bike but hasn’t made it to ride to work yet (about 25 miles to where he works).

  8. debolton says:

    Despite the heat you didnt do so bad. I am loving it but it is hot and Im an indoor athlete.

    1. Renée says:

      thank you!

  9. Janelle @ Run With No Regrets says:

    The heat has been absolutely miserable, and it’s even worse when you add the humidity! But great job on your workouts and weight maintenance!

    1. Renée says:

      Thank you Janelle!

  10. Boo for sleep issues due to heat! That is so miserable! Hope it cools down for you soon!
    So fun seeing a long time friend! Those meet ups always make me happy :)
    I hear ya with the weeks! They seem to fly by!
    What did you think if body pump 106?
    Hope you have a great week!

    1. Renée says:

      i know you asked ages ago and maybe you won’t see this reply but I LOVE BP 106. I can’t believe we’ll be doing the mix soon!!!

  11. Smitha says:

    The humidity has been off the charts! I’ve made my comeback after an injury and getting back in the peak of summer heat has been hard

    1. Renée says:

      super challenging if you are just coming back from injury!

  12. Organic Runner Mom says:

    Oh man can I relate to the heat issue. It’s been insane here in NH. Good job for crushing your workouts anyways. I can’t imagine giving a massage in this heat.

    1. Renée says:

      thank you so much!

  13. Ice cream and wine sounds like a perfect way to celebrate a long run on a hot summer day. You definitely earned that treat!

    1. Renée says:

      right?!???

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