After gorgeous weather for the Lawyers Have Heart last weekend, temperatures soared into record-breaking territory on Monday and Tuesday (98F!) and then plummeted into the 50s with rain most of Thursday, all of Friday, and into the weekend, setting us up for a mucky Memorial Day weekend.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial
A Mucky Memorial Day Weekend
Last weekend on my way to the race venue, I took a detour to visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial. I think it is one of the most powerful memorials in D.C. It always gives me chills.
The individuality of each soldier and the immersive environment drives home the sacrifices our service members have made.
I don’t remember learning much about the Korean War in my A.P. History class, but 5.8 million Americans served in this war, and 36,634 Americans lost their lives. This picture I took another time shows the mural wall that augments the immersive feel with more soldiers depicted in the granite, and the inscription “Freedom Is Not Free”.
Weekly Run Down
The theme of the week was recovering from the Lawyers Have Heart 10K. Even though I didn’t set any records, my legs were tired and my left hip has been cranky. Thanks for all your support over my disappointment—I am pretty much over it and ready to move on—hopefully my hip won’t hold me back.
I was looking forward to Peloton’s new challenge, but had to approach it carefully. Robin tends to wear yellow when she’s teaching a particularly challenging class, and Peloton is leaning into this lore by creating a challenge around it.
I like that you only have to take 2 classes a week and you can choose from tread classes and bike classes—this week I did one of each.
Sunday was a true recovery day—just a walk with Scooby!
Monday I eased back into my usual routine with a stack of easier classes—core, upper body, and a 20 min recovery ride.
Tuesday I braved warm temperatures (mid 70s at 5:30 am) and took Scooby out for a 4-ish mile run.
Tank top weather already!
Wednesday’s highlight was Hannah F’s ride with Melanie C — a/k/a Sporty Spice! Melanie rode side-by-side with Hannah, and the class vibe was part fitness, part girlfriends catching up, part interview—and all fun!
Thursday I warmed up with a lower body workout before taking Robin’s yellow-coded rolling hills class. I prefer climbs to cadence intervals, so it was the kind of hard I enjoy.
Friday’s focus was Robin’s yellow-coded HIIT run. After walking Scooby I did a pre-run warm-up plus additional pre-hab exercises before hopping on the tread. Robin’s class had one block of flying sprints (increase pace 3x over 90 sec), one block of 30/30 intervals, and one block of 20/40 intervals.
Saturday I took Scooby for a drizzly walk, and then headed to my basement for a solid indoor workout: 30 min strength with Jess Sims followed by a 45 min ride with Hannah F.
A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.
Do you have a favorite solemn memorial or contemplative site?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
We visited the Korean Conflict memorial a few years ago while on a bike ride in DC. It was my first time seeing it and you’re correct, it’s one of the most powerful memorials in DC.
Enjoy our lovely weather these next few days! 😉 Glad you had better weather for your race last weekend.
That memorial does look powerful. A nice reminder of what Memorial Day is all about.
Sounds like you had a good week! How is your hip feeling? Those “yellow” classes do sound hard! Hope you have a nice weekend in spite of the weather.
That memorial is really powerful! I like the immersive design. The way the figures seem to rise out of the landscape makes you stop and look.
And what a week you’ve had: record heat, then cold rain, then muddy conditions, all on top of race recovery and a cranky hip. I hope you will feel better soon!
I always think that memorial is so well done and very understated but at the same time, very moving. Our weather is pretty horrendous as you know so our plans kind of got changed. Looks like a solid week for Peloton workouts
It seems that the Korean War is so underrepresented–no one talks about it! I’m glad that the memorial is so moving. I have yet to come to DC, but when I do, I’ll add it to my list.
Glad you’re finding workouts that you like while you let your hip heal. I hope the weather improves for you soon!
My grandfather served with the Marines in the Korean War. I came home and told me we learned about the Korean Conflict and he was fit to be tied. At the time, it didn’t really impact me, but the horror our men and women in service must go through in wars. It’s heartbreaking.
I had not been to DC in a long time, so when we returned (with our youngest), eight years ago, I was overcome with emotion in seeing the Korean Memorial. It’s so life-like! You guys have really been hit with rain…I hope it comes to an end soon.
We seem to have great weather during the week. It’s Tuesday and the weather is lovely!!
What a weekend! Those temperature swings are brutal for running. I actually use vidglory.com to create short highlight videos from my race footage – it uses AI to automatically pick the best clips and add music. Really fun way to relive those Memorial Day moments even when the weather does not cooperate. Hope your hip recovers soon!
Those temperature swings are wild — 98F down to the 50s in just a couple days! We had something similar here and it completely messed up my outdoor running plans too. That Korean War Veterans Memorial photo is beautiful though, there is something powerful about visiting those memorials on a long weekend when they are actually less crowded. Hope you got some good rest despite the mucky weather!