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?

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