Weekly Wrap — Page 2

A few goals to wrap up the year

December 10, 2018 by Michelle 27 Comments

With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I can already feel that this month is going to go by in the blink of an eye. Here it is the 10th of the month already and I have yet to post my monthly goals. But first, a quick recap on the week that was:

50 degrees – Perfect running weather!

Monday – 3-mile run
Tuesday – 2-mile night run
Wednesday – 4-mile guided run with Coach Marc
Thursday – 1.25 mi power walk plus strength work
Friday – 1-mile walk and yoga
Saturday – 4 miles
Sunday – 1.25 mi power walk with the pup

Total 16.5 miles

Thank goodness for this Holiday Challenge! While the week started off with a beautiful 50+ degree morning, the nice weather was very short-lived. There were a couple of times I could have easily chosen to hideout from the nonsense Mother N was dishing out, but I was determined not to miss a day of this Challenge. So far, so good.

I had my first guided run with Coach Marc on Wednesday where he took me through a series of body sensing drills. It was a great refresher for me on many of the Chi Running principles. We ran on some great rolling country roads with almost no traffic, which was perfect to focus and practice without dodging cars. I know I must have been pretty absorbed in all Marc was sharing with me because I realized afterward it never occurred to me to once pull out my phone to take pictures. A “blogger fail” perhaps, but it was great to be wholly concentrating in the moment.

December Goals

While I hadn’t gotten around to posting them yet, I did set some goals for the month. I like to have monthly goals to keep myself on track, and especially at this time of year with so many demands on time, it can be pretty easy to let things slide.

My main goal for November was consistency – whether it was running or cross-training, and I think I did a pretty solid job at that. I kept the running short and easy and gave my nagging injuries a chance to heal.

So for December:

Finish the final 3 weeks of FASTer Way to Fat Loss
Start incorporating Chi Running focuses into my runs and run with Coach Marc at least twice
Pre-hab with PT exercises 3x’s/week
Complete the 40-day Holiday Challenge I started on Thanksgiving (today marks Day 19!)
Continue with regular acupuncture treatments – (I had two this past week and felt so good afterward!)
Return to kickboxing classes

Hopefully, these goals will keep me on track and building momentum for a strong kick off to 2019!

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Have you set any goals to close out the year? Have you started planning for 2019 yet?

Filed Under: #HolidayChallenge, ChiRunning, goals, Weekly Wrap

Wrapping Up Thanksgiving Week

November 25, 2018 by Michelle 26 Comments

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

For the first time in a long time, we weren’t on the road for the holiday. We stayed local and my brother hosted an awesome meal! My oldest son was home from school for the week, and it was nice to have a few days to just kick back and chill with the family.

My workouts for this week were pretty low-key too – here’s a quick recap of how things went down:

Monday: Yoga
Tuesday: T25 Cardio
Wednesday: Run evaluation with Coach Marc, followed by a 3-mile run
Thursday: 3-mile run

14 degrees with a feel like of 3 – Brrrr!

Friday: 1.25 power walk
Saturday: 4.5-mile run
Sunday: 1-mile walk plus yoga

Runner’s Revamp

The highlight of my workout week was meeting up with Coach Marc for a run evaluation. For these sessions, Marc works in partnership with a chiropractor Dr. Kelly for what they call “Holistic Injury Prevention & Runner’s Revamp” (HIPRR). After a warm-up run with Marc, they filmed and observed me running at various paces and then we spent quite a bit of time breaking down the film. Let me just say that watching yourself run in slow-motion is an eye-opening experience! Having each of them providing input from their different perspectives was so helpful, and I could have easily sat around talking about running all morning with them. My head was spinning by the end and thankfully they’ll be sending me all of their evaluations, along with next steps as Marc starts to build my new training plan.

Taking on the Holiday Challenge

For a little added motivation, I signed up for Race Cancer’s Holiday Challenge – the goal is to run or walk at least 1 mile each day from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve (outdoors mileage gets you Winter Warrior status). It’s the first leg of the Charity Challenge Trifecta, which includes the Winter Challenge (January 1 – 31) and Winter Challenge Overtime (Feb 1 – March 31). I did the Winter Challenge last January as part of the Black Girls Run! Boston team. I love that they added the Holiday and Overtime components for this year – I don’t know if I’ll end up doing all 3 components, but it is a great way to keep moving during the winter months. I also love that the challenge has a “3 strikes, you’re out” rule, so you can miss 2 days and still remain in the challenge – cause well…life happens, right? Holiday Challenge registration is open until 11:59 p.m on Monday if you want to join me 😉

So tell me, how was your week? Did you travel for Thanksgiving?

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

Filed Under: #HolidayChallenge, Weekly Wrap

Shaking Things Up

November 12, 2018 by Michelle 22 Comments

Happy Monday!

I missed last week’s Weekly Wrap because I was just coming off a week of dealing with a stomach bug, so needless to say there wasn’t much to recap. Thankfully, by Sunday, I was finally back to running and this past week was a decent mix of running, some yoga, and cross training in the form of leaf raking.

Time to Shake Things Up

While being sick is never fun, laying low did give me some time to step back and start to think about goals for the upcoming year. One thing I know for sure is that it’s time to get out of the cycle of injury; pseudo-recovery; pushing too hard; then back to injury – it’s been a frustrating cycle which has impeded the way I have wanted to train and race, along with impacting my joy of running. Time to shake things up…

So I think the first big step in the right direction is that I’ve hired a new coach. I first met Coach Marc when I attended his ChiRunning workshop last year. I really enjoyed the clinic and his style and have been thinking for a while that he would be someone I’d be interested in working with. I’ve occasionally been in touch with Marc since the clinic, but when I got an email from him a couple of weeks ago, it came at just the right time. We had a great conversation and by the end of our call, I knew this was a great step in the right direction.

I’ll be sharing more about my work with Coach Marc in future posts as we work together to build a year-long plan to get me to a fall marathon, with some fun races along the way!

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: running coach, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

Wrapping up October Madness

October 29, 2018 by Michelle 20 Comments

October Madness!

Is that a thing? It sure felt like it around here this month. Juggling long stints of single parenting, multiple work events, and lots of school activities left my head spinning and feeling a little discombobulated. And, while there was also some fun with family and friends mixed in, I am finishing October t-i-r-e-d!

On the fitness front, my schedule left me in a state of “do what you can when you can.” While there was some cross training on the Arc Trainer and a little time on the yoga mat, I stumbled on my consistency with my PT exercises as the month wore on, and my running success yo-yo’d. I seem to stall out around 4 miles, before the radiating pain in my right hammy flares. As such, my longest run of the month was just 6 miles – and, if you follow me on Instagram then you know that the wheels really came off the wagon on Sunday’s run and had me questioning my ability to return to 13.1 any time soon.

So, as we turn the page to November, the goal is pretty simple – be consistent! My schedule should be much quieter so that should help. I’ll also be spending some quality time with my massage therapist and checking in with the physical therapist. Will see if my mileage can be increased safely in time, but I’m determined to not let my lack of running cast a shadow over all I can do.

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: injuries, month in review, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

PT Update and Swapping Races

October 15, 2018 by Michelle 28 Comments

Happy Monday!

Well, I swear I blinked and the weekend went by! After last week where Mother Nature seemed confused over what season it was (80 degrees at one point then crashing back to the 40s at another), I’m hoping for some consistency this week in that fall weather that I love.

Between the crazy temperature roller coaster ride, a fair amount of rain, and a hectic work schedule, it was a little hard to find a rhythm last week. Somehow I managed to eek out 3 runs, 2 days of strength training, and a nice power walk catching up with a friend — I’ll take it!

PT Update & Swapping Races

I also managed to catch up with my PT Abby. It’s the first time I’ve had a chance to see her since the Ocean Road 10K so it was good to be able to fill her in and talk about next steps. While I have definitely made progress, the suspect hammy can still make running a challenge, especially once I hit the 4 – 4 ½ mile window – the fact that I got to 5 ½ miles yesterday was a big win in my book!

Of course, time waits for no one and as I watch the days tick by I’ve started to question whether running the Harborside Half makes sense. My fall goal is to get a half marathon in before the year’s done and luckily, I’ve been keeping an alternative race on the back burner – the Half Merrython. It will be held on December 2 which would buy me 3 more weeks over Harborside, and, based on the revamped training plan I’ve sketched out, the extra time should allow me to comfortably get to double-digit running before race day (barring a major hammy flare up). Abby was on board with this idea and gave me a new routine to follow daily to help get me to the starting line.

So it looks the Harborside Half will have to wait for another year. Thankfully, I had held off on registration, so it looks like it’s bye bye Harborside and hello Half Merrython – now it’s time to register!

Have you ever swapped out one race for another? Has fall weather consistently arrived where you are?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: race calendar, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

Putting a wrap on September

October 2, 2018 by Michelle 24 Comments

Hello October!

With a fresh month laid out in front of us, I’m putting a wrap on September and eyeing a few October goals.

Running – In September, I started to slowly pull myself out of “run when I feel like it” mode and attempted to return to something that resembles a training plan. My weekly mileage was starting to build when my cranky hammy made a return appearance last week just before the Ocean Road 10K – sigh. I didn’t let it stop me from running and enjoying the race though (recap to come). For October, the goal is to continue to add miles and finish the month feeling ready to take on the Harborside Half.

Strength Work – I continued to make daily PT exercises the goal and for the most part, this was a win. The exercises are beyond tedious and I’m so ready to be over them…but apparently, my hammy continues to have other plans. So I’ll keep focusing on them in October, but plan to add back in some time with the kettlebells to keep things interesting.

Cross-Training – My goal for September was weekly yoga and I’m happy to say “done!” I also managed to slip in some kickboxing classes despite my hectic schedule – and there’s hope I’ll get to the boxing studio more in October.

Other Stuff – Returning to meal prep, restoring my morning routine, and a little time for self-care were also on my September goals list. A bit of a mixed bag here – while I’d give myself high marks for making two trips to the massage therapist this month, meal planning was a bit erratic, and the combination of work and solo parenting while my husband traveled for work completely derailed any sense of a morning routine. All three of these will be goals again in October.

And that’s a wrap!

I’m joining Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And, with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: month in review, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

Harborside Week 3

September 23, 2018 by Michelle 33 Comments

Fall is officially here and best of all this past week Mother N got the memo and delivered some much cooler…dare I say, downright chilly at times, temps! You will hear absolutely no complaints out of me – just hoping it sticks around for a bit!

As I mentioned in last week’s wrap, this week was all about juggling. I was single parenting while J was on a business trip so I knew I was going to have to get creative if I wanted to get my workouts in. And I’m happy to say I was pretty successful fitting things in.

Squeezing it in

Instead of early morning runs, I settled for a couple of late afternoon 3-milers before school pick-up. There were also two “leg day” strength workouts, including a challenging session with my PT who wanted to see how my legs would respond to “stress” – translation, ouch! But, hands down, nothing made me happier than getting back to the kickboxing studio!

Last week I was convinced that yet another week was going to go by without a boxing class. But, as luck would have it, the heavy rain that swept in here on Tuesday (leftover from Florence) led to my son’s sports practice being canceled. So I picked him up early from school and had just enough time to drop him at home and then get to class.

It had been two weeks since I had seen the inside of this studio and while I held my own during the class I was working my tail off….and definitely felt it later! Love every minute of it!

The only thing I missed out on this week was time on my yoga mat – but I’m still hoping to get there before today is over.

Fun Mail

If you’ve been around here for a bit then you know that I’m a fan of StrideBox, and the September box they sent me did not disappoint!

I especially cannot wait to try the Protes protein popcorn and I love that this box included a stainless steel straw!

I also got a nice surprise from the folks at Headsweats as they sent all of the ambassadors tech shirts and stickers commemorating the company’s 20th anniversary!

And that’s a wrap on week 3!

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

Filed Under: #StrideBox, #TeamHeadsweats, half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap

Harborside Half Training Week 2

September 16, 2018 by Michelle 30 Comments

Happy Sunday!

I swear I blinked and this week went by! I was plagued by a migraine that slowed me down a little this week, but I did my best to get my workouts in. Here’s how the week played out…

Monday – Migraine hell. I managed to get through the work day, but not much else.

Tuesday – While I was definitely feeling some better, I was pretty sure a run was not the best choice, so I opted for my yoga mat.

Wednesday – It poured rain so I took my 3-mile run to the mill.

Thursday – I dodged the downpours and got 3 miles done. It was crazy humid, but at least there was cloud coverage. I also got a much-needed needed sports massage after work!

Friday – 60 mins of legwork with the physical therapist. Walking lunges, hamstring curls, glute bridges, single leg squats, and a ton of band work – hello jelly legs!

Saturday – My legs were not feeling it when my alarm went off so I opted to push my run to the afternoon – but the day turned out to be a pretty busy one and the run never happened.

Sunday – 4 miles on the struggle bus. This was a tough run from the first step. The hammy was quiet – I was just feeling off and never found a rhythm. I got to 4 and pulled the plug. Have I mentioned how tired I am of running in the humidity?!

Definitely a mixed bag of a week! On the plus side, my PT was really pleased with where I am and it looks like I could be “graduating” before the month is over. Unfortunately for the second week, I haven’t been able to figure out how to fit in a kickboxing class, and I miss it. And, since I’ll be single parenting it this upcoming week, I’m not holding out much hope for getting to the studio. As it is, I’ll need to be creative to get the runs done.

So that’s a wrap on week 2.

In case you missed it – check out my Fall Race Calendar

Are you still dealing with humidity where you are?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Weekly Wrap

Harborside Half Marathon – Week 1

September 10, 2018 by Michelle 30 Comments

Now that I’ve set my sights on a couple of fall races, it’s probably time that I get back to something that resembles a training plan! With just 10 weeks until the Harborside Half, I used this past week to get my training started.

Monday – Yoga
Tuesday – 3-mile run
Wednesday – 45 minutes of strength work including my PT exercises
Thursday – 3-mile run
Friday – Yoga
Saturday – 4.25 mile run. With temps in the mid 60’s, this was definitely my best run of the week. While my hammy still squawks a bit going uphill, it no longer feels so limited in the range of motion, which is a huge plus!
Sunday – Rest day

All-in-all a decent week. Since I haven’t run a half marathon since Fall 2017, I have no big goals for this race other than to finish upright and smiling…and uninjured! I’m happy I made my way to the yoga mat twice – I think yoga will do a lot to keep me from the injured reserved list. I am bummed that I didn’t make it to a kickboxing class last week. Now that I’m back to picking my son up in the afternoon from school, I’m still trying to figure out between work and pick-ups how to fit a class in. I determined to get to at least one class this week – ideally two.

And that’s a wrap on Week 1!

How was your week? Do you find it hard to make it to scheduled classes?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap.

And with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.

Filed Under: half marathon training, Harborside Half Marathon, Tuesdays on the Run, Weekly Wrap

Soaking up the end of summer

August 26, 2018 by Michelle 33 Comments

Happy Sunday!

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last joined the Weekly Wrap, so as I sit here lazing on the deck I thought I’d check in.

With nothing to train for I have enjoyed just running when I want to. And, given how hectic work has been leading up to a big event last weekend (where I got to don my race director hat again!), this do what you can when you can approach has fit the bill.

For the past couple of weeks, my runs have pretty much hovered around the 3-mile mark at whatever pace my legs have felt like moving. I’ve also spent a lot of quality time with my physical therapist, adding dry needling and electrical stim to the treatment plan.

And this week pretty much followed the same pattern:

Monday: Physical therapy – so much single leg work, glute bridges, wall sits, and hamstring curls…my legs were jelly.
Tuesday: 3-mile run
Wednesday: Another trip to the physical therapist and more legs of jelly.
Thursday: 3-mile run; spent the afternoon with the family enjoying mini golf, bumper boats, arcade games, and way too much ice cream 😉
Friday: Rest and a family trek to Mystic Seaport.
Saturday: 4.25-mile run
Sunday: Rest

With my big work event behind me, this week also meant the start of some much needed time off. I had Thursday and Friday off and will be off again Wednesday through Labor Day this upcoming week! I’m looking forward to more family day trips, lots of time grilling and chilling on the patio, and just soaking up as much of these final days of summer as I can.