As I sit here sipping my coffee, I think this is the first morning this week that I don’t hear the wind. They say March either comes in like a lamb or lion and this week we certainly heard the lion’s roar in the form of the wind. Here’s how this week’s workouts went down.

Weekly Run Down Week 9

Monday — 20 min ride, 20 min Upper Body Strength, 10 min core, and 10 min stretch. Wind advisory outside so I was happy to stay indoors. I snagged a PR on this ride and this upper body workout left me with jelly arms..but in a good way!

Tuesday — Rest day plus 10 min core and a stretch.
Wednesday — 3 miles, 10 min core, and a stretch.
Thursday — 20 min ride plus 5 min cooldown ride, 10 min arms toning, and 10 min core. This ride had a lot of in and out of the saddle with heavy resistance – my legs were fried by the end. The playlist was a good one!

Friday — 1.5 miles, 10 min core, 20 min yoga. I woke up with everything feeling creaky – the yoga was so needed!
Saturday — Double workout day! I repped my state in the Zooma’s International Women’s Day 5K in the morning and then jumped on my bike for a 20 min ride, plus 10 min core, and 10 min stretch later in the day.

While I haven’t had much motivation for virtual races I liked that ZOOMA is using proceeds to help sponsor Women for Women International, an organization that supports women in countries affected by conflict and war.

Sunday — As I noted at the start of this post, I’m still sipping coffee, but with the wind being a non-factor, I’m sure I’ll be heading out for a few miles.

March Goals

As you know, I like to set monthly goals. I’m keeping it simple for this month…

• 60 run/walk miles
• Continue with daily core workouts
• Focus on hydration – 64 oz/daily – I’ve let this slide a bit so I need to follow my own tips and get back on this!
• 3 strength training sessions/week – 1 upper-body, 1 lower-body, and 1 full-body

How was your week? Did you set any goals for March?

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

It’s been a long month…but here we are on the last day and ready to step into February. Before I lay out my goals for the upcoming month, here’s a quick run down of this week’s workouts:

Monday — Peloton 20-minute ride, 20-min Bodyweight Strength, and Yoga. This may have been my favorite class combo of the week, but boy oh boy I had forgotten how challenging Pigeon Pose is for my very tight right hip!

Tuesday — 3-mile run and Yoga.
Wednesday — Peloton 20-minute ride, 10-min Core for Runners, and Yoga. Took another of the Year of Yes rides and snagged a new PR!

The satisfaction of a new PR!

Thursday — Yoga and a rest day.
Friday — 3-mile run plus Yoga. It was -8 with the windchill so I was more than content to hop on the mill for this one.
Saturday — Peloton 30-min Britney Spears Ride, 20-min Britney Spears Full Body Strength plus yoga. Such a fun combination, but I was really feeling it after the 100 squats!
Sunday — As I sit and write this over coffee, yoga is done and the plan is to run 3 – 4 miles. Right now it is a balmy 7 degrees with a feels like of -2 so I’m waiting on the warm-up. As much as I actually don’t mind winter running, single-digit temps and my Raynaud’s Syndrome don’t play well together!

February Goals

I had 4 goals for January:

— Daily yoga
— Peloton Winter Launch Challenge (1 class/day)
— 62.5 miles
— Return to mindful eating and leave the deserts alone

I hit all but the mileage goal – to be honest, I let go of the mileage goal pretty early on as I prioritized getting my hip to a happy place. And, now that I’m running pain-free I would say that was a wise call. There’s still plenty of time left in the year to hit my ZOOMA Run Club goal of 750 run/walk miles.

So here’s what I’m targeting for February:

— Daily stretching or yoga
— Matty’s enCORE28 Challenge on Peloton (daily core classes)
— 50 miles
— Pre-hab/PT exercises 2x’s/week

The theme here is to keep doing the things necessary to keep my hip happy, while building some mileage.

How was your January? Any big goals for the new month?

In case you missed it:

Five Runfessions for January

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

Today marks the last day of a glorious week off! It was super low-key, providing the mental break I seriously needed. I’m now feeling refreshed and ready to take on some new goals for the month. But first, here’s how the past week’s workouts played out.

Monday — 4 miles. My right hip was feeling pretty wonky after just 2 miles so I was pleased to eke out 4.
Tuesday —  Rest to give my unhappy hip a break.
Wednesday — Peloton 25-minute ride, 15-min Bodyweight Strength & 10-min stretch
Thursday — 3 miles. And with this run, I wrapped up 2020 with 646.4 miles. I also had a deep tissue massage which did wonders for my hip.

Friday — 2.3-mile walk and 20 min slow flow yoga
Saturday — Zoom ride with blogger friends followed by 30-min full-body strength & 10 min yoga for glutes. Thanks to Kim for organizing the ride!

Top Row: Coco, Renee & Kim Bottom Row: Marcia, me, & Kim

Sunday ––  I chose to sleep in this morning and as I sit here lingering over coffee I still haven’t decided what I will do today. The only thing I’m certain of is that there will be movement and yoga…as you’ll see in my goals below.

January 2021 Goals

Given all that took place in 2020 and all of the uncertainty that remains, I am reluctant to set any big running/fitness goals for 2021. Thanks to the ZOOMA Run Club, I have set a run/walk mileage goal of 750 miles – that’s 62.5 miles/month which feels doable, especially without any big races to train for.  I have always liked to set monthly goals to help keep me accountable and provide a focus, and that’s how I plan to continue to roll in 2021.

So here’s the plan for January:

— Daily yoga
— Peloton Winter Launch Challenge (1 class/day)
— 62.5 miles
— Return to mindful eating and leave the deserts alone

In the closing weeks of December, I really let all forms of recovery slide so the return of a cranky hip on Monday’s run was not a complete surprise. I’ve often toyed with the idea of daily yoga and now feels like a perfect time to give it a go. Some sessions will be longer than others, but I look forward to seeing how I feel with some focused effort on my mat.

Any suggestions for online yoga classes? Have you set any goals for 2021?

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

I’ve missed the past couple of weeks of the Weekly Run Down link-up. This is not a reflection of lack of interest in what others have been up to, but more a combination of life in general, and also feeling like my workouts have taken on “groundhog’s day” feel, i.e., same stuff, different day.

While things have been quiet here in my little corner of the blogosphere, the workouts have been happening. It’s been a pretty steady mix of running, Peloton rides, and strength training, with the occasional visit to the yoga mat, and plenty of walking. I wrapped up November with 80 miles, along with completing the “Swolvember” challenge focusing on strength training and the first couple of legs “On holiday for the holidays” focusing on cycling and running – both Peloton challenges created by members of the BreakThrough Crew on Facebook. I also knocked out the BAA’s virtual 5K. All-in-all a pretty good month.

December Goals

So we’re finally in the homestretch of this crazy-train year and I’m keeping my fitness goals simple.

• Complete my last two virtual races for the #FinishStrongChallenge
• Continue to tick off more of the “On Holiday” workouts on Peloton
• Be kind to my body with daily stretching, rolling, and/or massage gun

Thanks to Deborah and Kim for the link-up!

How was your November? What are you looking forward to this month?

And just like that, we’ve put another month in the rearview mirror. Before I get to my goals for November, here’s a quick run down of this past week’s workouts.

Monday — Peloton Cycle plus Strength classes. Felt great to get a strong start to the week!

Tuesday —  Rest Day plus Core-tober continued. Struggled with a migraine all day so I waved the white flag.
Wednesday — Peloton Cycle plus Core. I had no interest in running in the rain so I swapped in a ride instead.

Thursday –– 4 miles plus another day of Core-tober. The endless rain continued so hello treadmill.
Friday — Yoga.
Saturday — 6 miles and the last day of Core-tober.

Yes, that is snow in the background!

Sunday — Started the day with a 2.5-mile walk, and at the time of writing this post, I’m still debating whether there will be yoga or a ride later.

November Goals

On the fitness front, October was a pretty solid month. I hit my goal of 80 miles and completed the Peloton Core-Tober Challenge (29 core workouts from the BreakThrough Crew instructors). I also completed my first virtual half marathon…and yes, there has been time on the new Peloton bike!

So what will November bring? Hopefully, more of the same! For running, at a minimum, I’d like to repeat October’s mileage. But, with one more virtual half to complete before the year’s over, I’m also aiming to increase the distance on the “long” runs, so perhaps I can bump up my overall mileage in the process. I also have a virtual 5K and 10K lined up.

The BreakThrough Crew on Facebook has created some fun new challenges – “Swolvember” focusing on strength training and “On holiday for the holidays” focusing on cycling and running – which should help to keep things interesting.

Lastly, my sleep really suffered in October, so I’m making it a priority to get more rest this month.

What have you got planned for November?

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

Hello October!

I make no secret of my love of Fall weather, and I always feel like October is when Fall is at it’s best. And since we’re at the beginning of a new month, I’ve set some goals. But, first here’s a quick run down on this past week.

Monday — Strength training

Tuesday — 3 miles

Wednesday — 2.25 miles

Thursday — 3 miles & Day 1 of Core-Tober

So happy to see October arrive!

Friday — 2-mile walk & Core day 2

Saturday — A stack of Peloton workouts

20 mins of core?!

Sunday — 4-miles, yoga & Core day 4

October Goals

While I did hit the mark on my yoga and strength training September goals, I fell short of my mileage goal of 75 miles. I finished with 60 miles and would like to see that number bumped up this month. So here’s what I’ve got planned for this month.

• 80 miles
• Complete the Peloton Core-Tober Challenge (29 core workouts from the BreakThrough Crew instructors)
• Complete the Detroit Free Press virtual half marathon
• Strength training 3x’s/week
• Weekly yoga
• Break-in my new Peloton bike (9 days and counting until delivery!)

What are you looking forward to this month?

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

For as much as I usually like to set monthly goals to help keep myself accountable and focused, I somehow never got around to setting any for the month of August. Say what?!

Somehow, despite my rather lackluster interest in running lately, I did exceed to hit my baseline goal of 50 miles/month. But on the whole, August was very much a “do what you feel like” kinda month.

For September, I’m climbing back on the goals bandwagon, but first here’s a quick run down on the week that was….

Monday — Yoga. Chelsea is quickly becoming one of my favorite yoga instructors.

Tuesday — 3-mile power walk and core work.
Wednesday — 2.5 miles and strength training.

Thursday — 3-mile power walk and core work.
Friday — 1.6 miles and strength training. Robin’s upper body classes are no joke – my arms were jello when this one was done.

Saturday — 3.1 miles and core work. The weather was ideal – now if there was just a way to bottle it for the rest of the year!

Sunday — 2.5-miles power walk, core work, and PT exercises.

On the whole, it was a pretty low-key week. I’ve been enjoying the combination of short runs followed by strength training and can definitely see that trend continuing – especially while my desire to run long remains low.

September Goals

• Run or Walk Daily
• Run 75 miles
• Strength for Runners classes or PT exercises, 3x’s/week
• Core Workouts, 4x’s/week
• Strength training (upper body or full body), 3x’s/week
• Weekly Yoga

My staycation ends today and school for my youngest son starts this week, so I’m going to work on planning out my workouts again. These goals should help to give me a little structure.

Do you map out your workouts when you’re not training for a race? Did you set any goals for September?

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