Michelle

Five More Things About Me

April 14, 2023 by Michelle 13 Comments

Happy Friday!

Thanks for joining Darlene, Jenn, Renee, Zenaida, and me for another edition of Fit Five Friday! This week we’re inviting you to share five words that describe yourself – you are, of course, welcome to share any fitness/wellness-related post. I’m deviating a little to share five things about myself – I shared five things a couple of years ago which you can read here. It was a fun post to write so why not another one?!

Five More Things About Me

Home Decor — I love home decoration. I can happily spend time pouring over paint chips, fabric samples, etc. Home stores are one of my happy places! This will hopefully serve me well when the remodeling project begins.

Beach — Speaking of happy places, I am truly happy when I am near the ocean regardless of the season.

Swimming — While I love being on or near the ocean…I cannot swim. Oh, the irony!

Sushi — I’m pretty sure that I could eat sushi daily.

Candles — You will often find lit candles in my house or on my deck when the weather cooperates. My boys often tease me for buying more candles – I find them soothing and a subtle scent can be very relaxing.

Tell me something about you!

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Please share the link-up love by visiting and commenting on your hosts and at least two other Fit Five Friday bloggers!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, Friday Five

April Coffee Chat

April 7, 2023 by Michelle 24 Comments

As we ease into a new month, this is the perfect time to settle in and catch up over coffee. For this week’s Fit Five Friday, I’m linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date, so grab a mug of your fave beverage, and let’s chat.

April Coffee Chat

Over coffee, I would share how excited I am to have my college boy home for an extended Easter weekend! He got home last night and with the way his class schedule lines up with the days off, he doesn’t need to be back on campus until Wednesday!

Over coffee, I would tell you that once again I’ll be volunteering for the Boston Marathon. I’ll be working bib pick-up on Friday afternoon so if you’re running come see me!

After sharing my contractor woes over the past couple of months it seems only fitting that over coffee I would tell you that we have finally received some bids and have settled on a contractor. Now we need to get past the town’s conservation commission – sigh. Please send me some patience…

Your turn…what would you tell me over coffee?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, Friday Five, Ultimate coffee date, Uncategorized

Welcoming April

April 2, 2023 by Michelle 22 Comments

After the cray cray that was March, I am giddy to be turning the page to a new month and setting some new goals! But first, here’s a quick look back at how this week’s workouts played out.

Welcoming April

Monday — Core and Hip Mobility work. I woke up feeling very creaky so I decided to focus on some hip mobility work
Tuesday — Peloton Bike and 1.7-mile walk. I was determined to not let an uber-early commute to the office and crappy weather get in the way of getting a workout in so I hit the bike at o’dark thirty. I slipped in a walk later in the day when the weather improved.

Wednesday — 3 miles. The weather was spring-like and my legs were feeling good – perfect timing since I had Team Wilpers 20-min distance test to kick off the Spring Run Challenge on tap. Wanting to get at least 3 miles, I ran this as a tempo run with the 20 min. block in the middle.
Thursday — Rest day.
Friday — 2.6 miles and Core. The Challenge called for a VO2 max run – it’s been more than a minute since I’ve attempted a programmed speed workout. It was fun to do something different.
Saturday — Upper Body Strength & 2-mile walk
Sunday — 5 miles. I woke up listening to the wind whipping around the house so there was no sense of urgency to head out – coffee first!

April Fitness Goals

If you’ve been around here for a while then you know I like to set monthly goals to help keep me accountable and on track. I missed setting any March goals, so here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish in April:

Opt outside every day – I’ve been missing my walks and with the increased daylight and hopefully Spring weather, it feels like a good time to get back to walking on my non-run days.
Daily stretching or mobility work
Increase long runs to 8 miles
Complete the Team Wilpers Spring Run Challenge workouts. The challenge is an 8-week challenge from March 27 – through the week of May 15. The Challenge will be a mix of easy running, incline training, and interval work which should align nicely with my May race.

Have you set any goals for April?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Filed Under: goals, Uncategorized, Weekly Run Down

March Runfessions

March 31, 2023 by Michelle 10 Comments

Happy Friday!

For this week’s Fit Five Friday I’m heading over to Marcia‘s Runfessional – I’ve got a couple of runfessions to share before stepping into the new month.

I runfess that March was just a hard month – I don’t mind being busy but this has been 31 days of a frenetic pace! The work-life balance was way out of whack and I feel like everything took a hit!

While I tried to hang on to running 3x’s a week, I runfess that I let go of trying to finish the Team Wilpers Half Marathon Challenge. With no half marathon on my race calendar any time soon, I didn’t see the harm in stepping back. But, ever hopeful that April will be better, I’ve signed up for the Wilpers Spring Run Challenge which should line up well with my upcoming 10K.

Last month I runfessed that my eating habits had gotten a little lax. I started the new month with the best of intentions to improve but then…yeah March happened. Again, there’s always April, right?

How was your March? Any Runfessions to share?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Please remember to link back to your hosts and share the link love by visiting and commenting on your hosts and at least two other Fit Five Friday bloggers!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, Runfessions

A Mixed Bag

March 26, 2023 by Michelle 32 Comments

A mixed bag – that seems to be the best way to sum things up since I last checked in for the Weekly Run Down. There has been some solid running, but a bit of crankiness has returned in my right hip area as my streak of consistent PT/hip mobility work hit some bumps. Overall, my workouts have been on the minimal side…but April is coming and with it, my version of “march madness” will wind down considerably.

Yes – just a few more days…in the meantime, here’s how this week in workouts played out.

A Mixed Bag

Monday — Rest Day. Despite trying to do all the right things following Sunday’s 6+ miles, my right hip was oh so unhappy, so I skipped the recovery run and opted for extra stretching.
Tuesday — 2.25 mile walk, Core, and Hip mobility work. Despite a long day in the office, I did manage a couple of miles at lunch with a colleague and some core and hip work after the late commute home.
Wednesday — 3 miles. The hip area felt less cranky and this run felt pretty good! And the bonus – shorts weather (see the header photo)
Thursday — 1-mile walk, Core & Lower body strength.
Friday — 5.5 miles & Yoga for Runners. I took advantage of having the day off and the weather to get my “long run” done. There was a little squawking from my hip over the last half mile so I followed up with one of the Yoga for Runners classes on the Peloton app.

All smiles and ready for the weekend!

Saturday — Upper Body Strength & Core
Sunday — 3.25 miles. I’ll probably queue up another Yoga for Runners class once I finish my coffee.

Such a beautiful morning!

Looking back over the past few weeks I think jamming workouts in where I could had me short-changing myself on proper recovery and I’ve paid for it a bit. Now with 8 weeks to go until the Mystic 10K, it’s important that I’m consistent in both my workouts and my recovery efforts.

In case you missed it:

5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

How’s your March been? Training for any races?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Filed Under: Weekly Run Down

5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

March 24, 2023 by Michelle 7 Comments

Thanks for joining Darlene, Jenn, Renee, Zenaida, and me for another Fit Five Friday link-up! This week’s suggested topic is “5 Sources of Mental Clutter for Your Training” – of course, you are always free to share any fitness-related post.

Much like the clutter that can take over your physical space, mental clutter can clog your head space causing you to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Mental clutter can get in the way on many fronts including your training.

5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

The “Shoulds” – How many times have turned yourself in knots stressing over what your training “should” look like? While it can be inspiring to see what others are doing in their training, it’s important not to get caught up in the comparison game. What works for someone else may not work for you – as the saying goes, “you do you!”

Projecting into the future – Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s looked ahead at a hard workout or long run on a training plan and started to worry. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself during training is to stay in the moment – run the workout you’re in and don’t worry about the miles to come. Trust the process!

Hanging on to a “bad” performance – Everyone has a tough race at some point and while it’s human nature to replay what went wrong, at some point it’s also important to chalk it up as valuable experience and move on. Ruminating over a tough run or race can be very defeating.

What might go wrong – Stressing over the weather or the impact of missed workouts on a race day is certainly not going to help you to reach the starting line in a good frame of mind. Let go of things you can’t control and focus on the things you can have an effect on.

Comparison with the past – Similar to the “shoulds” is the “I used to’s”. Runners can often get caught up dwelling over the paces they used to be able to run, stressing over why they can’t match those times (or distances). Letting go of comparison with your past self and embracing where you are can go a long way to eliminating the mental clutter.

Do you deal with mental clutter?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Share your fitness-related link, link back to your hosts, and please share the link love by visiting and commenting on your hosts and at least two other Fit Five Friday bloggers!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday

Sleep like a Runner

March 17, 2023 by Michelle 42 Comments

Did you know that today is World Sleep Day?

World Sleep Day is an internationally recognized event created by World Sleep Society to raise sleep health awareness among researchers, healthcare workers, and the general public. The importance of getting a quality night’s sleep continues to gain attention as more studies show the correlation between sleep, good health, and longevity. And yet for many of us, present company included, sleep can be tough to come by.

I’ve written a couple of posts over the years on the topic of sleep and in honor of World Sleep Day, I’m re-sharing my post on how to “Sleep Like a Runner” for this week’s Fit Five Friday. (This post was originally published in April 2017 and has been updated)

Sleep Like a Runner

As runners, we spend time on training plans – focusing on building mileage and improving paces. There’s an effort to cross-train and do strength work. Some runners embrace their rest days while others begrudgingly will give their legs need a break. We focus on our nutrition, fueling, and hydration. But there’s one critical aspect that many of us may not be giving enough attention to…sleep!

Lack of proper sleep can really impact your ability to focus, think clearly, and your overall mood — and if you’re a runner, this lack of sleep can have a huge impact on performance and recovery.

During sleep, growth hormones stimulate muscle growth and repair, bone building, and metabolism – all helping with recovery. Sleep deprivation slows the release of growth hormones, and when these hormone levels are down, cortisol (stress hormone) levels are on the rise. Too much cortisol in your system can also disrupt your body’s ability to recover properly. Lack of sleep can also impact glycogen storage – clearly a big deal for endurance running.

So I’m teaming up with Casper to provide some tips to help you Sleep like a Runner!

This last point is a big one for me! Using technology before bed has been linked to an increase in stress levels. I know personally, it can be hard to turn off my phone or step away from my laptop. If you find yourself tethered to your electronic device, try to power down a little bit earlier each night until you can get to at least 1 hour before bed technology-free.

Disclosure: Thanks to Casper for this graphic. I was not compensated in any way for this post. All opinions expressed here, as always, are my own.

Do you prioritize your sleep?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, #SleepLikeARunner, Recovery, Sleep

Roaring through March

March 12, 2023 by Michelle 22 Comments

Things have been off the chain since March came roaring in! Work life has been beyond busy pushing many things, including blogging to the back burner. Thankfully there is light at the end of the tunnel – another week or so to go. In the meantime, I am enjoying having my college boy home for spring break!

And, yes, the workouts are still happening, providing some much-needed sanity. Here’s a quick peek into my week in fitness.

From Sunday’s run

Roaring through March

Monday — 1-mile walk, hip mobility work & PT exercises
Tuesday — 3.5-mile walk, Core, & Upper Body Strength
Wednesday — 3-mile run. In honor of International Women’s Day, I received some great gear from the Brooks Empower Her collection – a collab with Dick’s Sporting Goods. Together they will donate up to $500K in support of girls running programs based on purchases of the new line.

Thursday — Peloton Bike & Core
Friday — 3-mile run & hip mobility work
Saturday — 1-mile walk, Core & Upper Body Strength
Sunday — 5.5-mile run

Based on the forecast for the week ahead it looks like Old Man Winter will once again be crashing the party – I heard the word “Nor’easter”, sigh. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that I can work around both the weather and my very full schedule to stay off the treadmill. Wish me luck!

How was your week? Are you seeing signs of Spring?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down. Join us!

Filed Under: Weekly Run Down

March Coffee Catch Up

March 3, 2023 by Michelle 29 Comments

February went by in a blink and just like that we are ushering in a new month! It’s the perfect time for a little coffee catch-up, so I’m linking up with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date. And, of course, it’s Friday so that means another Fit Five Friday link-up! So grab a mug of your fave hot beverage and let’s chat. (This post contains affiliate links).

March Coffee Catch Up

Over coffee, I would start by giving you a quick update on our contractor saga…we have found two more contractors who have actually returned our phone calls…wish us luck! Moving on…

Over coffee, I would tell you that I just finished a galley copy of Des Linden’s book, Choosing to Run. This was a fantastic read! This book provides not only a great look at Des’ career, her willingness to gamble on herself, and the mindset and tenacity it took to gut it out in the crazy tough conditions of the 2018 Boston Marathon. I’m a huge Des fan and this book did not disappoint!

Over coffee, I would tell you how blown away I am by the welcome kit Brooks recently sent out to the Run Happy Team – so much goodness from tights to tops to bras to socks to hats…and of course, shoes! My favorite items are the Run Happy Team half zip and hoodie – so cute!

This photo doesn’t do the welcome kit justice!

Over coffee, I would tell you that we broke down and revived our Netflix subscription. Since then we have binged Wednesday which we both really enjoyed. I took advantage of my husband’s business travel this week to catch up on The Home Edit. So now to figure out what’s next.

What would you tell me over coffee? Any streaming suggestions? Any fun new run gear?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, Run Happy Team, Ultimate coffee date

Winter’s Making a Comeback

February 26, 2023 by Michelle 26 Comments

After an amazing stretch of mild weather for February, we came crashing back to reality this week as Old Man Winter made it clear he was not ready to leave the party. Icy conditions and a sub-zero wind chill meant spending some quality time with my treadmill. Here’s a peek at how the week played out.

Winter’s Making a Comeback

Monday — 2.5 miles & Core. While I don’t usually run back-to-back days, I wanted to shift to my new workout schedule so a Monday run was needed. I had the day off for Presidents’ Day and it was 50 degrees so it really wasn’t too hard to get out the door for a short loop.
Tuesday — Rest day
Wednesday — Upper Body Strength, Core & Hip mobility. This class was recommended in one of the Peloton Facebook groups, and it’s become an instant favorite!

Thursday — 3.5 miles, Core & Hip mobility. An ice/snow mix hit early in the morning so this was a treadmill run.
Friday — Peloton bike, Core, & Lower Body Strength
Saturday — 6 miles. My longest run of 2023…and on the mill no less! Temps in the teens before factoring in the wind chill made running outdoors a hard “No” for me. I’m not going to lie – this many miles on the mill for me was not easy.
Sunday — On the plan: Peloton Bike & Yoga. I keep saying I need to get to my yoga mat…today’s the day!

The highlight of the week was hitting my February goal of returning to a 6-mile “long run”. The slow and steady mileage build seems to be paying off and I’m excited to see what March will bring. The forecast for the week ahead is filled with snow and freezing temps – I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can get outside for next week’s long run.

In Case You Missed It:

My February Runfessions

Is it feeling like winter where you are? How do you feel about treadmill running?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down. Join us!

Filed Under: treadmill run, Weekly Run Down

Five More Things About Me

Five More Things About Me

April Coffee Chat

April Coffee Chat

Welcoming April

Welcoming April

March Runfessions

A Mixed Bag

A Mixed Bag

5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

Sleep like a Runner

Sleep Like a Runner

Roaring through March

Roaring through March

March Coffee Catch Up

March Coffee Catch Up

Winter’s Making a Comeback

Winter’s Making a Comeback

Hi, I’m Michelle

Subscribe to Running with Attitude

Recent Posts

Search

Categories

Disclaimer