I spent last week counting down to the Pennsylvania Dutch Farm To Fork Fondo. It’s the ride I’ve been looking forward to since we signed up in January, and training for since mid-May.
How I love the Farm To Fork Fondo logo!
While I have a cut-back pattern I usually follow the week leading up to a running race, I didn’t give much thought to what I should do the week before this ride. After struggling through OTF on Monday and feeling tired when I headed out for an easy run on Tuesday, I knew I had to make some adjustments so my legs would have something to give to those Lancaster hills on Saturday. Although I generally suck at taking it easy, I had to get my priorities straight.
Weekly Wrap
I love all my workouts and hate missing even one. That shows through in my recap for the Weekly Wrap link up hosted by Holly and Tricia and this week’s guest host, my Ultimate Coffee Date co-host, Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner!
Monday was a tough tornado-style workout at Orange Theory Fitness, where we spent 5 then 4 then 3 minutes at each station. We did a lot of core moves during the floor sessions, including both tucks and roll-outs on the ab dolly.
Tuesday I planned on a 30 minute run and 30 minutes of strength training, but I wanted to do a “monument tour” run for a Relive video (you can see it in my Runfessions post), so I ended up doing a 3.5 mile loop from my office and around the reflecting pool.
#nofilter needed for this spectacular view
I also ended up spending about 45 minutes doing strength exercises, pushing the limits of my muscles and my schedule!
Although I had decided on Tuesday that I needed to cut back on my workouts, I still went to indoor cycling class on Wednesday, since it was the only time I would “ride” before the Fondo. As usual, it was a great workout with a good balance of hills and sprints.
I did change my workout plans for Thursday, opting for a strength workout at home instead of another run + strength combo. I focused on upper body and core to give my legs a break–although I did take time for some much needed foam rolling.
I started Friday with my 6:00 am CPY2 class at CorePower Yoga, hoping the hot yoga would do my muscles more good than harm. I was glad it was an upper-body/arm-focused class that didn’t wear my legs out, but included enough downward-facing dogs, pigeon poses, and spinal twists to stretch out my tightest muscles.
I still felt tired Friday afternoon, so after we checked into our bed and breakfast I took a nap until it was time for packet pick-up. We also went to bed early, right after the Farmer’s Dinner, so when the roosters cock-a-doodle-doo-ing woke us up on Saturday, I was ready to go!
Stay tuned for the recap!
[Tweet “Counting Down To The #PADutch #FarmToForkFondo #weeklywrap”]
How do you count down, gear up and cut back before a big event?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
I can’t wait to hear all about the ride! I really would love to join one of these years. Hope you are resting your legs today.
Maybe next year! Although I’m already wondering if our Yellowstone vacation is going to conflict. :-/
Cliff hanger! Can’t wait to hear about the ride. Nice week of workouts! It’s a good thing that you listened to your body and decided to change up your routine to make sure that you were feeling fresh for the bike ride. Hopefully you were well rested. I’ll be back to catch up on it!
Hah! I didn’t meant to be a tease, but it takes a while to get my thoughts together. 😉
You had a great week of workouts. I love how much cycling you have done this summer!
Looking forward to your recap!!
I’m surprised at it!
I hope your ride was worth the anticipation! Looking forward to your recap.
I’d imagine those monument views never get old.
I definitely cut back the week leading up to a race. I like ‘fresh legs’! I can’t wait to hear all about your ride. Be sure to give all the tiny details as I’ll be soaking it all up in preparation for an upcoming ride or two myself!
As if I need encouragement for an even longer recap!
I always taper before a race, but it depends on the length of the event (I don’t do much cutting back for a 5K, though). Your ride sounds fun…I remember reading about it last year 😉
You’ve been looking forward to this ride for a long time I hope it was a good one! Looking forward to your recap!
Hey, was a pleasure to read. I’m also beginning to cycle more this year as I had a long break and forgot how fun and good for your body cycling really is!
Yes! You can work different muscles, give others a break and see different sights from your bike!
I felt find by the end of the week, but feeling a bit run down again today is again derailing this week’s schedule. Sigh.
Hope you had a marvelous ride!
…and we’re hanging! Can’t wait to hear how the ride went!
Hope the ride went well! It sounds like such a fun event and hopefully the cutting back the week before paid off 🙂
I do countdown. It helps since RnR has countdowns for each race, but I do mark when I’m 100 days out from the race. I may not be training, but I always feel 100 days from the race is a good mark.
You had a great week! I can’t wait for the full recap on your ride!
I still have yet to try Orange Theory. They recently opened one in my town so I will have to heck it out. First class free right?
Busy week for you! I am excited to read your recap of your ride!
Farm to Fork sounds like such an awesome event! :]! I’m looking forward to hearing about your ride as well–I recently got a bike and am hoping for more chances to go riding again soon! :]
Looking forward to the monthly coffee date this weekend!