Thursday, February 1, 2018

What Have I Done For Me lately?


How often do you take stock of what you actually do for YOU?

Recently, I  realized that I'd been doing well in the self-service department. I have tried new workouts (Hello? Burpees galore!). I've let myself sleep-in a few times (with ZERO guilt). And I've been more mindful of my nutrition. Not bad, huh!

Would you like to hear the latest?


***Minimal Running Mileage. First of all, there's my fitness. We all know that I'm a runner. Hands down, no argument, running is my sport of choice. That said, I take great pride in that I don't let running dictate my life. I've often referenced how January is my off-season. Although I stayed a little more active than I anticipated (thanks to Rachel's Burpees & Planks & Push-Ups Challenge), I did well in keeping my running in check. My total January miles were 53. That's pretty low (for me), but it was necessary. The timing couldn't have been more perfect since the weather was especially cold. Momma N raged and I was able to sit inside and ignore her antics more than usual.
I was a good girl and kept my running miles at the minimum
***Runner's Fit & Fueled Course. I'll be the first to admit I'm not 100% clean and green with my diet. When Laura's class was offered, I jumped at the chance to learn more about the unique needs runners have in regards to nutrition and staying fit. She presented solid info on carbs, proteins, and fats...and when the optimal time was for each of their consumption. We also learned different strategies for fueling and recovery to not only enhance our training, but also to boost our performance on race day.

***Fight for Air Climb. This past week, I registered for the Fight for Air Climb (April 8th, Des Moines, IA). This will be my 7th time taking it to the stairs on behalf of the American Lung Association. This event is very near and dear to my heart. My late Mother-in-Law was a lifelong smoker, and suffered from COPD in her final years. I climb not only in her memory, but also in support of the numerous friends and family members who have successfully kicked butt and quit smoking. All climbers are required to raise $100 prior to the event, but I'd like to surpass that and reach $250. If you're interested in donating to the cause, my fundraising page is HERE.
Six years of climbing,  an Alumni pin and a 5-year pin.
***Continued Stair Climbing! You all know how I love my stair climbing. I have been consistently doing stair workouts every week since before Christmas. With the Fight for Air Climb happening in a few months, I'll continue to incorporate stair work into my weekly fitness regimen. A fun way to break up the monotony of stair training is to mix in some intervals of strength work or vary the climbing (taking the stairs "by two's" or "by three's"). As if stair climbing wasn't already cardio-intense all on its own, I created a new stair circuit workout this week...and added some supermans and burpees.  I did three sets in about 30 minutes...and I had a major sweat going on when I finished.
Care to give this a go?
***Planning, Planning, and more Planning. New for February is the Supermans, Squats, and Twists Challenge (also courtesy of Rachel). In mapping out my training schedule, I had to do a little bit of juggling to filter in all the exercises for the Challenge (on their appropriate days) along with my training runs. In addition to a couple of shorter-distance races coming up, I have a half marathon on March 17th, so I need to start upping my weekly mileage a bit and build on my long weekend runs.

How does this look for February?
M--supermans/arms/#nevermissaMonday (1-2 miles)
T--squats/rest
W-- twists/ #5at5 run (5 miles)
TH--superman/stairs
F--squats/rest
Sat--twists/long run (8-10 miles)
Sun--rest/short recovery run (2-3 miles)

...and I did a little Spring 2018 Planning as well, to get my long runs penciled in (as well as the other events on my roster. Yikes...where did all of those events come from anyways? (#denial)

Anyone else start with the long runs, then factor in the shorter runs afterwards?
Dang. My head is spinning. Having it all documented on paper (or at least on the blog) makes it more manageable...right? Right!

Anyways, that's what happening in my world for February. Do you have your February all mapped out? Any big races or events that you're training for?

I'm also linking this with Meranda and Lacey and Rachel for the Friday Five 2.0. 

And, since it's the first weekend of the month, I'm also linking with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date. What would you share, if we were having coffee and chatting about life?

***By the way...are you following me on social media? You can find me at these various platforms:
Let's connect : Facebook Instagram  Pinterest Twitter


64 comments:

  1. Sounds like you have a good schedule to get everything in! I am hoping to get back to a bit more of a normal training schedule this month but still keep my mileage on the lower side.

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    1. I know from the past 12+ years, I do much better with lower mileage. Every time I've tried the high mileage thing, I've wound up injured from over-training.

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  2. Lucky you, getting to avoid some of the brutalness that winter has thrown our way! Looks like a busy spring coming up!

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  3. I do not have any goals or challenges I am trying to fulfill for February. I never write any goals or workouts down. I guess since I am not training for anything, I just do what I feel like doing. I hope to continue my runs outside if it's not too cold out, and stay indoors to strength train when it is.

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    1. I've gotten in the habit of writing workouts down so I can remember them for future use.

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  4. You're so lucky that you have been able to avoid some of the brutally cold weather last month - Brrr!

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  5. You are in such a great place right now with balancing everything. I am always so impressed with your stair climbing which is so much harder than people think! See you tomorrow for coffee

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    1. Thanks, Deborah! You're always so sweet, supportive, and encouraging ;-)

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  6. Great plan! I always have to have a plan and write it down. Im visual so if I don't see it on paper its like it doesn't exist.

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    1. ha ha! Yes, if it's not documented, it didn't happen LOL

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  7. January was a great month to take an off-season from running. While I should have been training more vigorously for Gasparilla, my heart belonged to CrossFit. My February is planned!

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    1. You'll do great at Gasparilla regardless. You've got a solid base...and all those miles in the sun will be YOURS ;-)

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  8. Dang, you are all ready to go for Feb! I do like mapping things out when I have a goal or a race coming up. But I have nothing right now so I'm just doing whatever. Which is also good to do from time to time!

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    1. My January was a bit of "whatever" and I liked it that way. ;-)

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  10. I normally run in the mornings, but each weekend in January I've taken my time in the mornings and done fun things instead. I've run Saturday afternoons instead, and have enjoyed it.

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    1. I had a few afternoon runs in January. Although I prefer the early morning, it's nice to mix it up and do things different if my schedule allows.

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  11. My secret to not getting overwhelmed and actually getting things done is writing them down. No matter how many things there are, the very act of writing them down helps to bring some calm! Love the things you are doing for you - so nicely balanced.

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    1. Oh, I agree! Writing things down...on actual paper, is calming. I have to have a hard copy in my hands LOL

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  12. I really don't race a lot. I enjoy racing, but I find racing all the time tiring. So I'm a little choosy. Right now there's 2 halfs & the 18.12 mile race. A few shorter ones. Hopefully another half -- I'd like to add 2 states this year.

    And since I actually plan to train for a 5k in the spring for a change, next week officially starts "training". But I don't have to think much about it.

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    1. I love doing races, but (as you probably know), I seldom ever "race" many of them. I just love the excitement of the events.

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  13. I have ZERO RACES on the calendar and it's starting to CRUSH MY SOUL, KIM!!!!! I know you understand this. Some days I'm all "this is great! I love cycling!" And then other days I'm "MARATHONS ARE DUMB BUT I WANT TO RUN ONE NOW!" #sigh

    Thanks for taking part in my challenges. You kick ass. xxoo

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    1. I totally understand. And, for the record, marathons are not dumb. End of discussion.

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  14. The fit & fueled class sounds cool - I'm a sports RD so I love seeing people learn more about nutrition! :) I don't have February quite mapped out yet but I need to sit down this weekend and do a little planning.

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    1. It took me an hour or so to map out all of February (and pencil in some of the remaining spring stuff...). Too many races LOL

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  15. Nice job getting everything planned out. Now that I have my races for the first half of the year figured out I'm going to work on mapping out my plan this weekend.

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    1. It feels good to have it all mapped out...now if I can just adhere to it LOL

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  16. Great week for you! All your stair-climbing at home will make your Flight for Air Climb a piece of cake!

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    1. Let's hope!The Climb still is a challenge regardless how much you train LOL

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  17. I plan (or...possibly overplan) life in general, but I have yet to plan any races this year. Thinking about pulling the trigger on a trail race in April...

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  18. Self care is so incredibly important, so good for you for taking the time to step back and think about all of the things that you have recently done for yourself. You have a great plan for February. Good luck sticking to it this month!

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  19. I definitely plan my long runs first - and freak out and then go into denial when there aren't enough weekends between now and race day to get them in.

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  20. Whew! Great job getting workouts in last month! I need to go back to recording mine so I can keep myself accountable!

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    1. I have to record them...the short term memory is not fully functioning anymore

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  21. I've got some races planned coming up, but need to get my training plans on paper... it always helps to much. I've taken some down time in January too, I agree it's good to give the body a rest.

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    1. I always try to rest a bit in January, at least scale back the running.

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  22. Great job in January girlfriend! I need to step up my game in February for sure!! I need to make a plan and really stick to it!

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  23. Wow, your schedule makes my head spin, too! I'm impressed :)

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    1. ha ha...it does feel good to have it all laid out in front of me, though

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  24. I really like the idea of planning out your training. I am going to have to incorporate some of those exercises!

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    1. I typically don't OCD this much on exercises, but since I'm doing the Challenge, I wanted to incorporate them into my running/training.

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  25. Girl, you are the master planner!! :)

    I did enjoy Rachel's January challenge ...minus the burpees and I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the February challenge even more.

    I have thought about signing up for our local Fight for Air Climb ....I just may have to do it. You've inspired me!!

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  26. Your question about what you do for you made me think of that Janet Jackson song, "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" LOL!
    I've thought about doing the local Fight for Air Climb. Seeing your post makes me think I should try to do it this year. Going to look into it. Thanks for sharing your reason for doing the event.

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    1. Actually, when I came up with the title for the posts, the Janet song got totally stuck in my head.

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  27. I need to incorporate more stairs workouts. I'm in an apartment but our courtyard has a ton of stairs right out my front door, so I really have no excuses.

    Your February plan looks pretty solid. I'm flying by the seat of my pants this month (like most months). lol

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    1. And, I take it those stairs are outside? BONUS!!! Yes, get climbing ;-)

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  28. 53 miles!! That's awesome. Just wait til the weather warms up! Way to go!

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    1. Oh, I'm SOOO eager for warm weather. This winter can end right now, thank you very much.

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  29. Sounds like you had a great month of working out with still a solid running base. Rachel's challenge was just too much for me to even attempt, lol. Your stair workout looks great - I am also doing my annual stair climb in Philly, it's at the end of March - so I need to start training now!

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  30. I think doing the Fight for Air Climb is really bada**! I friend recently asked me to join her and I told her she was crazy! I said I would support her by donating! I love your stair training plan! I would die after the first round!

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    1. Like anything else, the climbing does get easier as your body acclimates to it. Of course, also like anything else, you can make it even more challenging by doing more flights or running them faster LOL

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  31. Way to get in some miles while doing other types of workouts also!
    I am with you, I need to plan out my workouts on paper!

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  32. I think you are a great example of how to get things done and NOT overdo. A great balance. Good that you take a bit of time off before you start training again!

    I just started my training program but there are so many things on my calendar, I just don't know how to fit everything in properly. My long runs are important. My intervals too. And then the recovery runs. I also want to keep doing the challenges and spinning. Oh yeah and on top of that I have a social life and two jobs! hahaha! I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead.

    Very admirable to do the stair climb. I have a friend doing Skate4Air for very similar reasons. Until when can we donate?

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