Greetings from Central Illinois! Preston, little man, and I flew to Illinois Friday afternoon because on Saturday my dad was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. It was a very exciting weekend, filled with lots of celebrations and family activities, and of course the time flew by way too quickly. I’m quite proud of how well little man has been holding up, given that he has been completely off of his normal schedule since Friday, and today will be no exception, given that we’ll be flying back to Virginia today.

The family with the Bishop following the service
The whirlwind of activity, and getting ready for our quick trip, made it difficult this past week to keep up with my training routine, but I did the best that I could and am happy with what I was able to fit in.
Monday, March 20th
The weather on Monday was absolutely gorgeous, and I tried out a new running routine. I ran 1.26 miles to little man’s daycare, pushing an empty BOB stroller. Then after picking him up I ran another 3 miles. Surprisingly, it was actually easier to run with him in the stroller than with the empty stroller, because I felt like I was constantly having to push the stroller down into the ground during my run to daycare. I’m sure as Spring continues on that I’ll do more of my afternoon runs in a similar fashion.

After my daycare running “commute”
Tuesday, March 21st
Little man had an afternoon doctor’s appointment, but thankfully it was early enough that Preston was able to take little man home with him and I was able to go to the gym on my way home from the doctor’s office. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by a 25 minute full body weight training session.
Wednesday, March 22nd
Little man and I had an appointment at the chiropractor, and by the time that we got home it was time to start the dinner, bath, and bedtime routine. It wound up being a rest day by default.
Thursday, March 23rd
Even though we had to pack up for our long weekend away, I made it a priority to still fit my run in. The pressure of needing to get back home helped motivate me to push myself and complete a fast pace run. I was quite pleased with my speedy splits and overall pace: 9:30, 9:11, 9:34, 9:27, average pace of 9:25.
Friday, March 24th
After going to work for a couple of hours in the morning we headed to the airport. After a delayed connection, we finally arrived about 2 hours late. During our delay our gate was changed four times, and with each gate change we had to change concourses at O’Hare airport, so I did get a lot of walking in during our connection. The whirlwind of family activity kicked off right away, and by the time we arrived back at my parents’ house I was absolutely exhausted.
Saturday, March 25th
Despite the fact that it rained most of the day, and the constant family activity, I did manage to squeeze in a 6 mile run. I would have liked to have time for a slightly longer long run, but I did what I could in the time that I had. The rain and need to dodge puddles made for very inconsistent splits, but I still got my run in and that’s what was most important.

During my rainy afternoon run I experienced a first: having to wait for geese to cross the trail!
Sunday, March 26th
I woke up in the middle of the night with a migraine, probably from the constant activity and dehydration. Between not feeling well and the continued back to back activities, I had to take another rest day.
Total Weekly Mileage – 17.84 miles (1.62 miles more than week 1)
Total Loudoun Half Mileage – 34.06 miles
QOTD: How do you make sure you keep up with your training while you’re away?
I’m linking up with Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for the Weekly Wrap link up. I’m also linking up with Courtney for the Training Recap link up. Be sure to check out their posts as well.
Great job squeezing it in, despite travel, weather, delays, etc. It’s not easy! Congrats to your dad!
Thanks Marcia!
I can see where it would be difficult to run with an empty stroller. Seems like you’d need the weight in there to keep it steady.
Congrats to your dad! Was that the big news/special event you were waiting to share on the blog a few weeks ago?
The weight of a toddler definitely helps hold the stroller down and keep it more steady.
And yes, his ordination was the big news. 🙂
Congrats to your dad! That’s quite an accomplishment!
Thanks Wendy! We’re all quite proud of him.
You had such a busy week! I think it’s hard to keep up with workouts when you are traveling. I’ll be traveling for work this week and I’m trying to map out how I will get in my workouts. Luckily the hotel I am stay at has a gym.
Staying at a hotel that has a gym definitely helps with staying on track while away.
Saw your photos over the weekend congrats to your dad and very sweet that you all got to be there with him
It was great that the entire family could be there to support him.
Sounds like a really busy week so great job squeezing the workouts in! That’s a great idea to run to the day care with the stroller.
It definitely helps in being able to maximize my time.
That is so cool about your dad! How amazing!!
Agreed!
Still sounds like a great week! I often get headaches too when I haven’t drank enough water! I bet your son LOVES to go on his stroller-runs!
He does love our stroller runs together.
well done on your training – you did what you could which was great! I do always try to fit in my trainings but sometimes you gotta be flexible, right?
I would have been so annoyed with those gate changes! ugh. but what could you do, right
No option but to keep walking back and forth.
I always have to make sure I hydrate when I travel. I get headaches when I’m dehydrated, and they can be awful! Great job fitting everything in around traveling, it’s never easy.
It never is!
Congrats to your dad! Wow….four gate changes at the airport? Air travel is not what it used to be, huh!
Definitely not.
What a busy week! Congrats to your Dad! Good job getting your workouts in.
Thanks Lacey!
Congrats to your dad! How exciting!! You must be such a proud daughter. 🙂
I have the worst airport story. It’s so bad it’s made me stop flying. I’ll drive now, thankyouverymuch.
Yikes!
Congrats to your dad! 4 gate changes at Ohare sounds like a nightmare! Hope your migraine’s passed.
I’m feeling much better now, thanks.
Good job getting in your workouts! I try to squeeze them in when I’m on the road as well. It’s always fun having a random run on your Garmin when you look at your stats and where you’ve run!
Most definitely!
What a terrific honor for your Dad… and way to go on fitting in your training. Hope the migraines are not too bad.
I’m feeling better now, thanks Elle.
It can be so tough to keep up with workouts while traveling. I like to run while I am away, but I also get really tired due to the traveling and being off schedule. Great job getting in your workouts and congrats to your dad!
Why does traveling have to be so exhausting?!?
Great work! It’s so easy to get dehydrated and run down when traveling, especially when on the go. I hope you’re feeling better. You did a fantastic job of getting everything fit in, and still had time for fun and celebration! Way to go!
Thanks Jennifer!
Congratulations to your Dad! So great that you were able to be there! I can’t imagine all those gate changes and concourse changes at O’Hare – how stressful and exhausting that must have been.
Very!
Great job fitting it all in and congrats to your dad. What a beautiful picture!
Thanks!
Great job this week! It’s always a challenge squeezing running in with everything else but you always find a way to make it work. When I travel, I always make time for running, even if it’s just a couple of miles.
A couple of miles is better than no miles.
Great job this week! I actually love training when I am away when I can get it in! It’s always fun for me to run in new places.
It definitely is.
Congrats to your dad and family- sounds like an awesome family celebration. Travel and family always make for tough training- you did a great job!
Thanks MB!
You did awesome squeezing everything in! I would have never thought about it being hard to push an empty stroller, but I understand what you mean — it was probably bouncing all around without any weight in it. Congrats to your Dad. I know you enjoyed the time spend with your family. I usually wake up before anyone else, so I get my runs in early while travelling. Thanks for linking, Kathryn!
It was my intention to get up early except that early morning thunderstorms got in the way of that plan. 😦
Congrats to your dad, Kathryn! 🙂