To do list:

- 5 hours of work

- 3 pages of thesis

- 30 Day Shred video

- jumping jacks for SOA

- laundry and/or clean bathroom

How’d I do:

- Spent entirely way more than 5 hours on stuff for work.  Which is fine because I needed to get a lot done today.

- Got 3 pages of my thesis written.  Making some progress since I have a more firm schedule for things. (Note: multi-tasking on thesis is not a good idea…I discovered 3 of the pages I’ve written in the past few weeks belong in a completely different chapter, so I had to remove them and put them 2 chapters ahead)

- Did 30 Day Shred video (which could not have been accomplished if not for my all day cleaning marathon yesterday resulting in actual floor space to work out in and a huge garbage bag full of clothes to donate).

- Jumping jacks for SOA —  53 in a minute period

- Didn’t get up early enough to do laundry so I cleaned my bathroom instead.  Laundry will be put on tomorrow’s list.

Some misc things going on:

- I created a running calendar for the remainder of the month.  As I’m trying to build up a running base now that I have nothing in the immediate future going on, I figured I needed some sort of rough idea of runs and miles for said runs. (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, “long run/race pace” Saturdays in the future!)  

-  I have decided for the immediate future that I’m going to stick with to do lists and not time schedules because I’m pulling weird sleeping hours so my wake up times vary and if I have a time schedule I feel off if I don’t stick with each and every hour.  To do lists are just as productive to me because it tells me what I need to do but not how long I need to spend doing it.

- Thanks for all the race photo comments!  I went with the 3rd one because it shows my face the clearest.  I was able to crop out the time before purchasing the photo—yay!  And it only cost me $12 for 5 X 7 photo shipped, so that’s like super super awesome.  I wish other races cost that little instead of the $40 for one print.  Then again this was a small town affair, so I guess I’m spoiled a bit.

Well today didn’t go according to plan.  My schedule was pretty dead on until noon when I was so tired that I passed out in front of my computer.  4 hour nap? Yes please!  So I missed my gym time and pre-dinner job application writing time. Which was fine, I finished a job application and another I can start tomorrow, and I was just going to run for dinner and then eat afterwards.  I actually decided I would just run in the neighborhood.  But somehow I dragged my butt to the gym, and am I glad I did!

Ran 1.5 miles with a 12 minute/mile pace!  The treadmill was set at 5.1 mph THE WHOLE ENTIRE TIME.  How did I manage that one?  Well as I was getting ready to climb onto my treadmill someone on the bikes called out “Hey girl with the Five-Fingers,” so obviously I turned around.  He motioned for me to come to him and he said “I’ve been in here all last week and seen you run at a 13-14 minute pace, why don’t you push yourself and try to a 12 minute pace, I’ll push you after you’ve warmed up”.  Challenge on man!  I jumped onto the treadmill for a half mile warm up with my ipod blaring loudly (I was in a real funk, still kind of am, but running helped me clear my head a bit) and after the half mile I took my headphones out and he came over and started talking to me about my form and just distracting me from the obvious pace, he ended up covering up the speed and incline (he pushed it up to 5 for incline!!!!!) and I made it through.  Ends up he’s a seasonal triathlete, ran 12 marathons, and has been a running coach at the Y for some time.  After I was finished I thanked him and went on my merry way.  Definitely felt great after that!

A.M. Workout:

30 Day Shred

P.M. Workout:

RWRunStreak Day 16 — 1.5 miles @ 18 minutes

Stationary Bike — 3.51 miles @ 15 minutes

Swimming — 1.25 miles @ 85 minutes  <—I ran into some issues getting lanes because of swim classes and had to be shifted several times, I couldn’t do a lot of my swimming at my regular pace because these kids tended to kick water entirely way too much creating too much disturbance in the water.  But a workout is a workout and I wanted to get it in.  Also, 85 degree water?  YUCK!

So how has everyone else’s 2nd day of SOA been?  Getting those goals in order?  Meeting your buddies?

WHERE did March go?  Oh, that’s right, 2 weeks of traveling and 2 weeks of anticipating traveling can do that to a person.

March goals:

1. ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF NEW YORK CITY! No regrets whatsoever. For 4 days I am going to be with TWO friends (the 2nd just surprised me the other day that he’s going to join us for some NYC shenanigans) I haven’t seen in 4 years, on spring break, running a half marathon. It doesn’t get much better than this. So this happened, and this happened, and even this happened.  No regrets whatsoever.

2. Make sure to get running workouts in for each new city I’m staying at overnight. (Atlanta, NYC, Birmingham, Montgomery) Running workouts=trail, park, etc.; only excuse is if it’s late or pouring rain.  While I only stayed overnight in 3 places (Atlanta, NYC, and small town in Alabama), I ran in ALL THREE OF ‘EM!  Atlanta was just on the treadmill, but NYC was the obvious race and Alabama was running and hiking.

3. Watch what I eat. Yes, it might get a bit ridiculous, but last semester’s trip was pretty good all in all, just got to remember limits and portions. Ugh, this was a bit more difficult.  2 rounds of fried food from Captain D’s.  The rest was pretty dead on alright, just a few little indulgences from ice cream, but salads, and grilled chicken I pretty much lived on.  And a frozen pizza, no regrets as it was after my 2 hour hike.

4. Keep up with schoolwork and group projects. Traveling for 2 weeks is going to keep me busy, especially during a busy part of the semester.  Difficult indeed.  So difficult that I got home at 6 and stayed up until 11 doing my homework assignment due at midnight.  But it was finished and completed on time, plus everything else was done on time.  Now to freak out over what has to be done in April.

5. Finish NYC Half Marathon in under/at 3 hours. While it wasn’t under 3 hours, and it wasn’t directly at 3 hours, I FINISHED the NYC Half Marathon, something that I had been worried about for weeks with my pace.  And that’s what counts is finishing.  Next half I’ll worry about time goals, this half it was about finishing it.

5 out of 5 goals complete!

April goals:

1. Survive the final 4 weeks of 1 graduate degree and maintain my sanity.  3 group projects, 1 research paper, 2 presentations, 4 weeks of discussion posts, and 3 online classes left for my graduate degree!

2. Lose 6-8 pounds. While my goal of being under 200 is most likely out of reach for my May 5th graduation date, I can still do the best I can in losing weight this month. (Note: I haven’t had a “lose XY pounds” as a goal in months)

3. Total mileage for the month: 64 miles (see below for breakdown)

3a. Swim 3 times a week at a mile per time — 12 miles in the month. 

3b. Bike 2 times a week at 2 miles per time — 16 miles in the month

3c. Run 36 miles in the month (approximately 3 miles each running time, 3 times a week)

4. 30 Days of 30 Day Shred — no excuses, Do Life buddy and I are challenging ourselves with this one!

So bring on April…it’s all about working out, eating right, shedding pounds, and finishing up one of my graduate degrees!

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3 

Week 4 summary:

Total Runs — 7 day(s) / 7 days

Total 30 Day Shred —  day(s) / 7 days

Total Biking — 3 day(s) / 7 days

RWRunStreak — 38 day(s) / 38 days  

Total for December Challenge Workout:

Total Runs — 31 days

Total 30 Day Shred — 5.5 days

Total Biking — 5 days

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3 summary:

Total Runs — 7 day(s) / 7 days

Total 30 Day Shred —  day(s) / 7 days

Total Biking — 2 day(s) / 7 days

RWRunStreak — 29 day(s) / 38 days 

Week 3 COMPLETE.  I’m amazed, like seriously amazed, that with each passing day I feel my body changing, becoming more of a runner.  

I need to get back into 30 Day Shred.  I looked at my calendar for the rest of the month and I think I’ll be doing it Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursdays.  It fits best with my schedule until the New Year.  I’ll be running a 5K to celebrate my 1 year tumblrversary and then Race Epic on the 31st.  And most likely because I’m insanely crazy and will want to kick off the new year right, a 5K on January 1st.  

And more biking to come this week as well.  Last weekend was good, this week’s schedule was crazy, but starting tomorrow I’ll be back to a usual routine and can manage better workouts in.

All in all, 3 weeks down, and another 9 days to go to round out this challenge.

A list of all the glorious things happening:

- waking up early in the morning everyday to run before starting my day

- hanging out with a good friend as she’s visiting this week and this week only (hence morning workouts)

- making smart food decisions this week as eating out will be a common factor while hanging with said friend

- enjoy the first night of Hanukkah on Tuesday 

- enjoy Chinese food and a movie on Christmas (yes…I’m that Jew…although this year it might just be a Netflix movie)

- start back up with some 30 Day Shred workouts

- get out on the bike some again this week

- relax and have fun

Sorry for posting this late—for some reason it was queued up but didn’t publish.

You can find Week 1 of the December Challenge Workout here.

Week 2 results:

Total Runs — 7 day(s) / 7 days

RWRunStreak — 22 day(s) / 38 days

Another week of the challenge complete!  Didn’t do 30 Day Shred this week as I needed to give my muscles a break, but it’ll definitely be logged for next week, that’s for sure!

Crazy how I’ve been running for 22 days straight now, right?  I’m amazed beyond belief that it has lasted this long.  There were a few times that I didn’t know if I’d make it or not, but I survived and came out on the other side