no training plan

November Goals

November 1, 2017 by Michelle 22 Comments

It’s a new month and with race training temporarily on hold, it’s time for some new goals!

Move every day! — 30 days of movement – be it a run, a walk, time in the gym or on the yoga mat. I will move every day!

#RunNovemberChallenge – When I saw Jessy’s post, I knew I wanted to do this. It fits perfectly with my daily movement goal, and I like that I can mix running and walking.

Strength Train 3x’s/week — Strength work must be a priority. Period.

150 minutes of planking — Last time I did 5 minutes a day was back in April. And, while I’m a big fan of planks, I’ve been inconsistent in my planking lately so I thought it would be fun to challenge myself with a time goal.

I’m already eyeing some early 2018 races, so I’m hoping these goals will help to set me on the right track.

Do you set monthly goals? What do you have planned for November?

Filed Under: #RunNovemberChallenge, goals, no training plan, planks

Weekly Wrap – Just cruising along

June 11, 2017 by Michelle 19 Comments

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last joined Holly & Tricia for the Weekly Wrap – How’d I let that happen?! Kim is this week’s guest host so be sure to stop by and say hello!

As I mentioned in my June goals, I’m not following a training plan at the moment – just kind of taking workouts as they come. So how did this week go?

Monday: Yoga and chiro visit. Based on the feedback I gave my chiro, he thinks I’m progressing nicely so we’re going to see if I can get to the first week of July before my next appointment!

Tuesday: I usually run on Tuesdays, but the combination of a torrential downpour most of the day and a crazy work day, made it easy to push this run to Wednesday.

Wednesday: We finally got a break in the rain, so I celebrated Global Running Day with a 3-mile run.

Thursday: Strength work – my usual focus on hips, glutes, and abs, followed by some trigger point work with my massage therapist.

Friday: Since I ran Wednesday, I’d plan to run Friday…but remember the never-ending mulch pile in my driveway? I decided I just couldn’t look at it any longer, and I knew with our town’s big lacrosse tournament this weekend if I didn’t tackle it then it would most likely still be there on Monday. So I spent a couple of hours hauling mulch around and I’m happy to say the pile is gone! Talk about a total body workout!!

Saturday: The whole family spent the day at the lacrosse tournament – we left the house by 7:30 and didn’t head home until close to 6 pm! And, did I mention the temps jumped to the high 80’s? Yeah, we were all toast!

Sunday: Being on my feet all day Saturday took its toll, but I really wanted to get a little run in before day 2 of the tourney. So I tacked on another 3 miles.

As you can see, there was not much running this week and I’m totally fine with that. Temps are supposed to hover in the 90s for most of this week so I’ll be pushing the clock back to run as early as possible – otherwise, there will be a lot of cross-training this week 🙂

How do you fair when not on a training plan?

Filed Under: no training plan, Weekly Wrap

A couple of December goals

December 7, 2016 by Michelle 12 Comments

It’s amazing to me to think that we are in the final days of 2016. I feel like the year kicked off a sprint pace and never let up. So now that my race season is over, it’s the perfect time to regroup and refocus before diving into training again. With that in mind, I’m setting just a couple of goals for this month.

Strike a balance….Without a race to focus on, it seems like the perfect time to up my strength game. So the goal is 3 days of strength work and 3 days of running.

Keep a good base….In the past, I have slacked off on my mileage at this time of year, but this time around I’d like to keep my weekly mileage around 18 – 20 miles.

Roll & Stretch….Daily rolling and stretching are necessary, and with things being more low-keyed I can make the time for this. (And my body will thank me for it!)

All things in moderation….I’ve done really well with my weight loss goal this year so why go and blow it in the last month, right? But, I also don’t believe in denial…so I will enjoy all the tempting holiday treats in moderation 🙂

So tell me, how are you planning to wrap-up the year?

Filed Under: goals, no training plan, refocusing

Back to Reality

June 16, 2014 by Michelle 8 Comments

Ah yes…after a glorious 8 days away, I’m back.

We had a fantastic vacation – spent time in some great tropical locations, got up-close and personal with both dolphins and stingrays, hiked waterfalls, snorkeled, kayaked, and spent enough time in both pools and the ocean that we should all have gills! We each got to try something new – for me it was zip-lining 🙂 And overall, we had great family time – completely unplugged! If you haven’t tried a cruise, I highly recommend it!

OK so before I get completely carried away with exclamation points…

Now it’s time to settle back into reality…and with that some form of a normal workout routine. While I do have the BAA 10K coming up on Sunday, the early weather forecast is showing that it’s going to be a hot one, so this will more likely be a leisurely run through Back Bay. Fall training doesn’t begin until next month, so I plan to spend the next few weeks focusing on core work and cross training and running without much concern for time.

So fill me in…how was your week? When will fall training start for you?

Filed Under: general musings, no training plan, vacation

Slow and steady progress

November 25, 2013 by Michelle 13 Comments

Sitting here a little bleary-eyed thanks to staying up to the wee hours of this morning to watch my beloved Patriots pull off an amazing comeback against the Broncos…so with my second mug of coffee in hand, a little randomness to start this Monday…

While making the decision to not run my half in December wasn’t easy, I must admit that the lack of pressure to hit certain paces or log enough miles has been kind of refreshing. This has been a tough fall running-wise and only now am I starting to see that I needed a break mentally as much as physically.
This past week I logged more time strength training than running – that’s a first!
Saturday was my longest run in weeks – 5 miles, including 3.1 dedicated to the Hope for the Philippines 5K. It was great to participate in this virtual run to help provide some aid to those so hard hit in the Philippines.
Saturday was also my first run with my running buddy E, who’s also been nursing an injury. I’ve missed those Saturday morning runs! We keep reminding each other that slowly but surely, we’ll build those miles up again. I’m really grateful that I have her to rely on as I try to get back into the swing of things.
Of course I’ve been looking at 2014 races and I’m getting excited for the first half of the year – could be the year of the 10-miler! (More to come on the race calendar soon)
And because I cannot resist

Filed Under: #13in2013, football, injuries, mileage shrinkage, no training plan, Patriots

Random runs, chiro visits and other randomness

November 21, 2012 by Michelle 11 Comments

For whatever reason it was a flury of chaos around my house this morning…so it’s a bullet points kind of day.

I must admit it feels kind of funny to wake up every morning and not have my runs and workouts pre-determined by a training plan. I’ve been heading out the door with no real destination in mind, just running to run and when I’ve had enough or am crunched for time, I head back.

Signed up for my first race of 2013 – going to run the Wampanog Old-Fashioned 10 miler again. J and I ran it back in February (you can read the race report here). It’s a really well organized local race and I like the course. I also like racing this distance and hope to find a few others to do next year.

I’m headed to my second appointment with a chiropractor this morning. I attended a gait analysis clinic this past weekend where this chiro was the guest speaker. While I’ve had a gait analysis done before in running stores, it was very different to have it done by someone trained in the neuromusculosekeletal system the way he was…plus it helped that he’s a marathoner. I’m going to work with him for a few weeks and see how my ITB responds.

We’re staying local for Thanksgiving this year – my brother’s hosting and I’m really looking forward to a lowkey day with the family. The plan’s to either hit an early yoga class or get a run in, then finish cooking and head to my brother’s place for a day of food and football!

Are you running a Turkey Trot?
Traveling for the holiday or staying local?

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Filed Under: chiropractor, no training plan, randomness, Thanksgiving, Wampanoag 10