Is mid-January too soon to be looking forward to vacation in late July? We registered months ago for a four-day guided hiking program in Yellowstone National Park, and finally got the phone call finalizing our reservations. While I’m confident we will be able to handle the moderate-rated “brisk aerobic hikes” it doesn’t hurt to practice our skills. This week we ended up hiking close to home, at Roosevelt Island and around Lake Accotink.
Hiking Around Roosevelt Island
Even though we ride past Roosevelt Island all the time, it had been a few years since we crossed the bridge to hike around the island.
Brr!
It was so cold, I didn’t take many pictures, but I did take a few of my husband playing in the ice under the bridge.
And I had to get a picture of Theodore Roosevelt.
The Swamp Trail around the island is only about 1.5 miles, but between that, the Woods Trail up to the plaza and back, and the stretch over the bridge to the parking lot we covered almost 3 miles. My husband was game for more, but I was ready to go home and warm up by the fire place.
Hiking Around Lake Accotink
By Saturday, the frigid weather had given way to a heat wave with temperatures inching up towards 60F! We had friends visiting and decided that a regional park would be a safer bet on the first day of the government shut down, even though national parks were supposed to be open. We decided on the trails from Wakefield Park around Lake Accotink, in Fairfax County, Virginia.
It’s a gem of a park nestled in among neighborhoods.
While you can see houses along part of the trail,
most of it is more bucolic.
There was still some ice on part of the lake, but I bet it will be gone tomorrow.
This hike was about 5.3 miles, and a fantastic way to enjoy our warmer weather. The only down side is that it appears to have aggravated my PF, which I thought was nearly better. 🙁
Weekly Wrap
After putting together last week ‘s weekly wrap, I realized I had spent $90 on my fitness classes (2 x OTF, 2 x CycleBar, 2 x Core Power Yoga). While my health and well-being are worth it, I don’t need to go to studio classes every day. I dialed that back a bit this week with two at-home workouts.
Monday: 45 min strength workout at home + 3 mile hike
Tuesday: CycleBar
Would CycleBar’s red theme make it a red letter day?
Wednesday: Orange Theory Fitness
I forgot to pair my new heart rate monitor with my Garmin before class, and when I tried to pair it there my Garmin detected all the heart rate monitors in the room, so I had to wait until later.
Got into the orange zone for about one second on the water rower!
Thursday: Strength workout at home.
I hopped on the elliptical for a 10 minute warm-up for the first time in ages. I wanted to see if it would aggravate my PF, but couldn’t quite tell,–which probably means it did.
Friday: CorePowerYoga
I realized that my crow pose is usually more like flying frog pose, and paid more attention to positioning my legs for a proper crow. It’s probably good that I can’t look in the mirror while I’m doing arm balances because I’m sure all my poses are way off. 😉
Saturday: Orange Theory Fitness + 5.3 mile hike
I really liked the floor workout we did:
– lateral step ups on a bench holding medium weights
– upright front rows with medium weights
– hammer grip front raises
– chest flies on the bench
– sit ups with alternating leg reach
Back to my Garmin data!
Sunday: First ride of 2018!
The weather wasn’t quite as nice as Saturday, but the clouds cleared out halfway through our ride and it was pretty amazing for January. This ride would have felt easy last fall, but it’s a good start for the year.
I was planning to start running again next weekend, but now I’m not sure what to do. The smart thing would be to take more time off, but right now I am ready to run and deal with the pain afterwards. Icing Saturday night seems to have helped, but there’s still tenderness that wasn’t there before. Tune in next week to see what I decide.
Do you participate in the Weekly Wrap
link up hosted by Holly and Wendy?
Its a great resource for support and motivation.
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
It’s never too early to be looking forward to a vacation, lol. I actually want to plan a summer vacation but I just don’t know where I want to go – at least I have time to think, lol!
Great job on your hiking and workouts this week!
I’m so bad at planning vacations – I have to delegate to my husband because I am paralyzed by indecision.
Vacation? I’m just looking forward to summer in general. We are heading to Florida for spring break (last week of March), but by then our weather usually is behaving. Hope that PF is feeling better soon!
Thanks. I am beyond ready to be better.
I always go to Wisconsin in the summer. But I’m for sure going back to see Holly for our waterskiing. Other than that, no. It’s tough because it’s the busy season for my husband at his work, so we don’t get to do much together.
Oh, you will have so much fun with Holly, and waterskiing, and in Wisconsin!
Oh no, it’s never too early to start looking forward to a vacation!
Is Roosevelt Island near NYC or am I thinking of another place?
This particular Roosevelt Island is in Virginia, just across the river from my office in the Georgetown section of D.C.
Start that vacation count down now! lol
Looks like you got a lot of fun workouts in! Did you find a replacement resistance band yet?
Im with sara.
IT IS NEVER EVER EVER EVER TOO SOON!!! 🙂
xoxo
I did! I’ll tell you more after I test them out. ‘-)
Nice ride! You beat me to the punch. I haven’t ridden outside yet this year. The hiking vacation in July sounds wonderful. I think you’ve got the idea to prepare/train before you go. We don’t travel much during the summer (except for a beach vacation in June) since we like to stay home and go to the lake instead. I’m sorry to hear about the PF. I hope that clears up quickly. Thanks for linking!
The lake is a vacation in itself right — especially when friends can visit! Our weather has been so cold, the thaw this weekend was impossible to resist.
That looks like a really nice area for a hike! It was so nice here this weekend there were bikers out. It’s never too early to plan a vacay. There’s a chance I’ll head to CO for a half marathon in August and a small chance we’ll take a family trip to China in June/July.
Is August when RNR Denver is? Too bad you’re not doing the Denver Colfax Half I’m doing in May.
Looks like a great place to get in a hike! I haven’t planned a summer vacation yet, but we don’t usually do much of one, work on the ranch tends to interfere, and then it’s fire season and hard to get away. we do try to get away for a quick weekend though.
Hah! You life is so different from mine. I only have to hope my clients don’t come up with some urgent legal issues. Glad you can get some time away.
It is great when we have these little heat waves in January. Good for you for getting on your bike too. I am bad about that in the winter
The weather was pretty spring-like this weekend.
Lake Accotink looks beautiful! I’ve never heard of it before. The Yellowstone vacations sounds like it will be a lot of fun.
It’s really tucked in a neighborhood — I think I first went there for a daycare picnic for my daughter decades ago.
I am so ready for my summer vacation! And my upcoming fall racecation. Those things cannot come soon enough! Along with the sun and the warmer temperatures. lol
That guided hiking thing sounds really cool, actually. That sounds definitely like something we would enjoy doing. 🙂
I’m really looking forward to it — hopefully all the government shutdown nonsense is over by July!
I look forward to vacations, no matter when they are. I don’t have anything big this summer, but I know I’ll be taking days off after year-end to recover from a chaotic month.
It is good to have something to look forward to! I had too many years of no vacation and am trying not to fall back into that trap.
I also look forward to vacations, no matter what time of year or where they are. Next one will be in FL. I haven’t done CorePower yoga in over a year, I miss it but happy to folks doing it!
I haven’t been to FL for pleasure for ages! Maybe as long as it’s been since you went to Core Power. 😉
Our usual summer vacation will be pushed back to early fall as Major Hubs has a deployment just around the corner. But the consolation prize is that we are looking at a European vacation!!
I love hiking and you will love Yellowstone. We vacationed in Jackson Hole a couple of years ago where we did quite a bit of hiking in Grand Teton. Though we did spend a full day in Yellowstone, we didn’t do any major hiking there. But the hikes in the Tetons were just incredible. You mentioned it aggravating your PF …well, one of the hikes in the Tetons is what got my Post Tibial Tendonitis flared up as well!! Hope that PF calms down soon for you …I know you’re anxious to get back to running!
Yeah, I was thinking today about how I need to get rid of this PF before our major hiking trip. Funny how slow my brain was to process that risk.
We do a lot of traveling, so we have several trips being fleshed out. We are also planning some home renovations, which will eat up some budget, but we will figure it out.
I don’t think I could manage cycling right now. It’s just so cold and humid and damp. Mr PugRunner has been getting on his bike religiously, and I’m so proud of him for getting out there. I’ll stick with running for now.
I would give yourself a tiny bit more time. Take care of yourself!
I’m much wimpier about cycling weather, but it was fine this weekend! I had to keep my headband on to keep the sweat out of my eyes.
Great job on your workouts for the week! I hope you are able to get back to running soon! I have several running friends who have had PF. No summer vacations planned yet for us!
It is such a tenacious injury – it’s notoriously hard to get rid of. 🙁
What a beautiful place to hike!! So scenic!
I can’t. Wait. For. Summer…
… when we’ll be complaining about the heat!
It sounds like you were able to get some good practice for your hiking trip–even in the cold temps!
Saturday’s hike was much more pleasant than Monday’s!
Its never too early to start being excited about an upcoming vacation. Because the logistics, number of people involved, etc. I’ve had to start planning some family vacations almost a year in advance.
What a gorgeous hike! It’s been too long since I’ve done something similar. You may have just motivated me to hit the trail!
I like your Saturday workout too! I might have to give that one a try.
Sounds like a nice week! So cool you will be going to Yellowstone! We were there last summer and had a blast! Check out Mt. Washburn if you can! It’s a really cool hike to a lookout.
I totally understand dialing back on the paid classes. It’s so easy to do stuff at home with the right amount of motivation!
summer vacation? nothing planned yet. still thinking about it. we are going to Boston in April, so we need to be careful what we plan the rest of the year. I’d like to do a RnR race too in the fall, Philly or Vegas maybe??? All depends on the price. Could be cheaper to stay in Europe.