1,000

Hooray for me!

I did it -- yesterday I hit 1,000 running miles for 2014. It was an easy 6 on the treadmill because the wind chill was in the single digits, but hey -- I'll take it!

It wasn't my best mileage year; I ran two marathons last calendar year to make 1,313 with all the training. But 2014 was only the second time I've broken 1,000. Since I started running seriously and tracking my mileage, I've been in the 600-900 range for the last few years.

A thousand miles! And two years in a row! Now I need to work on bringing that average pace down a bit. =)

December goals check-in: Let's call it a Christmas break and only 10.45 miles to go

Not much to add from last week, but I'm so close!

Well, it was definitely an interesting week. I had a total of four family Christmas get-togethers, and there was definitely some slack-age when it came to running and swimming. But I had a lot of fun with family, so to me it was worth it.

I also ate WAAAAAAAAY too many cookies and sweets. But, you know what, that was pretty much worth it, too. Yum!

Let's take a look at last week:

Swim goal: Get to the pool twice weekly.
Swim actual: Got to the pool once. I just didn't feel like going through all the trouble of getting to the Y on the day after Christmas, so I got some inside work done instead.

Bike goal: Get on the trainer three times weekly.
Bike actual: Got on the trainer three times. I have now been successful at this FOUR weeks in a row! I had to do a bit of schedule finagling so I could take Christmas Day off, but I made it work.

Run goal: Hit 1,000 miles by the end of the year.
Run actual: With all the holiday craziness, I only got two runs in this week: a very easy 5K with my husband, and a comfortably speedy 5-miler by myself. But, it was still 8 additional miles toward 1,000, and now I only have 10.45 left to go. That works out to 3.5 miles today, tomorrow and New Year's Eve, and since we're getting a cold snap, 3.5 sounds about right before I die of boredom on the treadmill. Ha!

Weight lifting goal: Six times this month.
Weight lifting actual: I did do a weights video and my plyo moves, making my December total four sessions.

Pre-hab goal: Six times this month.
Pre-hab actual: Didn't happen this week, so I'm still at two total for December.

Yoga goal: Six times this month.
Yoga actual: Didn't happen this week, so I'm still at two total for December.

Weight goal: Lose three pounds.
Weight actual: I haven't weighed myself again since I remembered mid-month, and to be honest, I'm a bit scared to see what the number will be after I've been inhaling chocolate chip cookies and apple pie all week. Not so scared that I've actually stopped inhaling chocolate chip cookies and apple pie, mind you.

I knew last week would be light because of the holiday, so I'm pleased I got in as much training as I did. This week, my goal will be to finish 2014 strong and start 2015 with a bang.

December milestone mileage

Woo hoo! I passed 100 miles for December today.

Hey hey, look at that! I passed 100 running miles today on my jaunt around the neighborhood. It was a great run, too -- high 40s, sunny, trying out a new shirt I got for Christmas, and each mile was a bit faster while feeling nice and easy.

You can see that until I started seriously training for my October marathon, my running mileage was nothing to write home about. What a difference having a goal makes! I've already started thinking about goals for next year.

Hopefully I can keep this momentum going to finish off 2014 strong and start 2015 just as strong.

December goals check-in: Making progress and a Christmas-inspired stepback week

WOW, I'm almost there!

I had to sacrifice a couple of workouts for Christmas shopping, but overall it was a good week.

I'm thrilled that I'm so close to my goal of hitting 1,000 miles for the year. When I added my mileage up at the end of November and got 886, I wondered whether I should go for it or not even bother. Well, kids, this is an example of how you should set the bar high! And other inspiring messages, yadda yadda.

But let's take a look at the whole picture:

Swim goal: Get to the pool twice weekly.
Swim actual: Got to the pool once. I made a conscious decision to skip a swim and go shopping with my mom on my other planned swim day. Could I have gotten up at the buttcrack of dawn and made it to the pool earlier that day? Sure, but that wasn't a priority. I'm writing this one off as life getting in the way. (And I don't regret it, either -- our power shopping got the vast majority of our gifts bought.)

Bike goal: Get on the trainer three times weekly.
Bike actual: Got on the trainer three times. Hooray! I have now been successful at this three weeks in a row.

Run goal: Hit 1,000 miles by the end of the year.
Run actual: I'm calling it a stepback week, but really, an off-season 27.75 miles isn't too shabby. This included one speedy run with my hyper dog (she only pulls for the first 5 or 6 miles) and a bunch of runs on the treadmill. One day I absolutely could not put my foot in front of the other any longer and called it at 3. The next day I felt great and did an extra mile of speed work while watching Christmas movies. I guess it just goes to show you how that we all have "off" days and "on" days.

My overall yearly running total is now at 981.44 miles, which works out to a 4-miler every other day through the end of the year. I have at least four family gatherings between now and next Sunday, so while my schedule will be tricky, I am confident I can do it!

Weight lifting goal: Six times this month.
Weight lifting actual: I did get in one full round of heavy and body weight lifting and my plyo moves, making my December total three sessions.

Pre-hab goal: Six times this month.
Pre-hab actual: I got in one round this week, making two total for December.

Yoga goal: Six times this month.
Yoga actual: I got in one session this week, making two total for December.

Weight goal: Lose three pounds.
Weight actual: I actually did remember to weigh myself earlier in the week, and I was down two total pounds. HOWEVER, I am sure that number will fluctuate before the end of the year, as I plan on enjoying plenty of Christmas treats. Still, two pounds down is a good start. I'm sure my 1,000-mile running goal is helping keep those chocolate chip cookies from staying around too long. =)

Overall, I'm very pleased. This week will be much busier, but if I can ride the momentum and knock out my key workouts, I'll be happy. Christmas only comes once a year and I plan on enjoying myself and taking it easy.

My thoughts swimming in a full pool

It was like this, but in a pool.

I've been lucky swimming during the day and only finding a few other people -- and sometimes no other people -- in the pool while I'm there.

Here's what was on my mind when I got to the pool the other day and every lane was already taken:

Oh, dang. Someone in every lane already. Darn it! That's what I get for trying to swim at lunchtime. OK, let's see -- any other women? Yep, that one on the end -- wait, no, that's a guy in a tri suit. In the pool in December? To each his own, I guess. I'll give tri suit guy a break. Hmmm, that guy is pretty slow, I better leave him alone. That guy is taking very wide flip turns, I'll leave him alone, too. OK, that guy is stopping. "Mind if I jump in?" OK, cool. Wait a minute -- dang it! He's doing the backstroke wearing fins! Oh well, too late now.

OK, swim, swim, swim. Do de do. He's actually staying on his side pretty well for doing the back stroke. I can't swim that straight on my back. Do de do, swim swim swim. Wait, did tri suit guy get out? Let me take a look... yep. Maybe I'll sneak into his lane... WHOA, where did that splash come from? Did that dude just jump into that lane? OK then... I guess I'm staying here.

Is that new guy wearing board shorts? Dang, he's faster than me and he's wearing board shorts. Ugh, I'm so slow, why do I bother? Well, he has to take more breaks than me... I guess I've got him on stamina. Oh, he wants to race, huh? Yay, I beat board shorts guy back to the wall! Do de do, swim swim swim.

Did my lane mate get out? Cool, I'll swim in the middle for a while. Swim swim swim. Hmmm, there's a guy waiting for a lane, I'll be nice since the other guy let me in without a fight. "Hop in, I'll scoot over." OK, back to my side. Do de do. Did board shorts guy get out already? What time is it? OK, one more set and then my cool down. Wait... where is everyone? Am I the only one left in the pool?

And for my next swim I resolve to come a bit before or after the lunchtime pool party. Although I must say the company was entertaining, at least.

If you're going to go down...

Get in mah belly.

... go down in a blaze of glory, my mother says.

I spent a good part of the day Christmas shopping and another good part of the day stressing out over the holidays. So, yep, I turned to ice cream, guac and chips. (However, I also had some real food for dinner.)

Unnecessary? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely yes.

Oh, well. Back on the wagon tomorrow.

December goals check-in: Adding in some "other"

I'm getting closer and closer.

Hey hey. Not a bad little week over in my corner of the world. Let's check in to where I wanted to be by the end of December:

Swim goal: Get to the pool twice weekly.
Swim actual: Got to the pool twice. Hooray! I was successful at this two weeks in a row.

Bike goal: Get on the trainer three times weekly.
Bike actual: Got on the trainer three times. Hooray! I was successful at this two weeks in a row.

Run goal: Hit 1,000 miles by the end of the year.
Run actual: I logged a solid 35 miles this week, which bumps out last week as my best week since the marathon. That included a "track practice" which turned out to be a couple of women who happened to be running around a nearby dark track (oops -- but, I made it work) and two other runs outside. I have to take advantage of these relatively mild Michigan December temperatures because we'll be under three feet of snow before too long.

My overall yearly running total is now at 953.69 miles, which means that if I average 2.75 miles daily (thanks to yesterday's 12-miler), I'll hit 1,000 miles by Dec. 31. Hooray! I'm on my way.

Weight lifting goal: Six times this month.
Weight lifting actual: This is where I saw the most marked improvement from last week. I actually got in two sessions this week: one round using heavy weights and body weight, and one video. I followed both with some plyo exercises, which are my favorite exercises to hate. So my December total is, um, two.

Pre-hab goal: Six times this month.
Pre-hab actual: I got in one round this week, making one total for December.

Yoga goal: Six times this month.
Yoga actual: I got in one session this week, making one total for December.

Weight goal: Lose three pounds.
Weight actual: Not sure where I am with this, as I haven't hit the scale since my initial weigh-in. I never seem to remember in the morning before I eat breakfast. However, my crappy eating habits have waned a bit in the last few weeks and I've been training consistently, so my (hopeful) guess is that I'm down a little.

So, there you have it -- after a good start I was able to build a bit of momentum. I don't expect the next few weeks to be any easier with the holidays and related craziness, but I'm hoping that this solid start helps me to stay on track. Let's see what else I can accomplish in the next two and a half weeks.

December goals check-in: A+ in swim/bike/run, F- in everything else

One week of December down, and I think I'm off to a pretty good start.

First, the good news:

Swim goal: Get to the pool twice weekly.
Swim actual: Got to the pool twice. Hooray!

Bike goal: Get on the trainer three times weekly.
Bike actual: Got on the trainer three times. Hooray!

Run goal: Hit 1,000 miles by the end of the year.
Run actual: I logged 32.5 miles this week, which is my best week since the marathon. Considering I'm not officially training for anything other than life, it's a pretty darn good total. Hooray!

OK. Now the bad news:

Weight lifting goal: Six times this month.
Weight lifting actual: Nothing yet. Boo.

Pre-hab goal: Six times this month.
Pre-hab actual: Nothing yet.  Boo.

Yoga goal: Six times this month.
Yoga actual: Nothing yet. Boo.

Weight goal: Lose three pounds.
Weight actual: Well, I remembered to weigh myself. It wasn't pretty. But now I have a starting point, right? We'll see where I am after another week or so.

So, where to from here? Keep going with my base in swim/bike/run, and build on what I have. And somehow, somewhere, try to fit in everything else when I can. Story of my life!

It's not too late for some December goals

Can I make it to 1,000?

It's only Dec. 2, so I don't think it's too late to throw some goals out there.

I've been taking it easy after my October marathon, and have really only started biking and lifting weights in the past few weeks. I did make it to the pool yesterday for the second time since my last tri in August, so that's something.

Anyway, here's what I'll be working toward this month:

Swim: Get in the pool twice a week, and try at least one pool that's not my usual.

Bike: Get on the trainer three times per week.

Run: Hit 1,000 by Dec. 31. With the 5.5 I already did today, that leaves just more than 108. That works out to an average of 3.75 miles per day.

Weights: Lift six times this month, a combination of videos and my body weight/heavy weights routine.

Pre-hab: Get through my rotation of hip, ankle and foot strengthening exercises six times.

Yoga: Do six sessions of this, too.

(Six just seems like a nice number -- once a week might not be often enough, but I don't want to commit to twice a week, either.)

Weight: Lose three pounds. I keep forgetting to weigh myself in the morning, so I still don't know what this exact number will be. And while I'd like to lose more, I think this is a reasonable goal considering the holidays and all the eating I WILL be doing.

I'm off to a decent start already, and am looking forward to continuing to build my base this month. Yay training!