Category Archives: challenges

sbbc week one

SBBC2013

Last winter, I had so much fun participating in the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge hosted by Amanda at Run to the Finish. I was so happy to hear there would be a Spring Challenge this year!

Basically, you get points for exercising (1 point for every 10 minutes), points for drinking water and eating lots of fruits and veggies (affectionately coined as “freggies” by the group), and tons of support via private Facebook group.

Most people check in daily, encourage each other, and share successes and failures.

Oh, and there are prizes! Last session, I won ProCompression socks in a random drawing one week, and some coupons for free Amy’s products during a Twitter chat. We all started out as winners this challenge, with free LockLaces sent to all participants!

I’ve just had a pretty successful first week. I did skip a boot camp workout due to a rough workout the day before — gotta listen to your body! I also had to skip a run due to calf soreness, but replaced it with yoga. Another boot camp class was cancelled due to “snow” (that never actually came). But I was still really active!

Monday: Bikram Yoga
Tuesday: Yoga DVD
Wednesday: Bikram Yoga
Thursday: 3.75-mile run, Yoga
Friday: Bikram Yoga, Boot Camp
Saturday: 11.2-mile run
Sunday: Tri class: .75-mile warm-up +  timed 3-mile run + 12.8 miles on spin bike with drills & hills

I really focused on drinking water — at least 64oz a day. I’m not always good about that, but I’ve downloaded an app on my phone for tracking, and the challenge is keeping me accountable. I’m usually good about eating lots of fruit and veggies during the week, but weekends are tough for me. I was a little short yesterday, but made up for it today with a little creativity in the kitchen. Banana pancakes, carrot juice (in my new Blendtec), and spinach-chickpea burgers were all new creations for me today!

I’ll be dialing down the exercise a little bit this week (well, maybe not the yoga) … I’m running the Shamrock Marathon next Sunday!

 

2012 mileage

i like to run., RWRunStreak2012, triathlon

2011 was the first year that I ever run more than 1,000 miles. I had to work hard for it with a 100-mile December, and finished out the year at 1,001.

I’m happy that this December, it didn’t take until the last day of the year to cross that 1,000-mile mark. I suppose it helps that I didn’t have any injuries limiting my running this year, but I also didn’t run a 50K in 2012. My weekly (and monthly) mileage never got quite as high as it did in the fall of 2011.

Total: 1,063

Finishing the year strong, huh? That higher-mileage December was likely due to my first-ever running streak this winter. The Runners World #RWRunStreak required at least one mile every day from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. It wasn’t even that hard! Sure, I had a few late nights on the treadmill (including a four-miler on the hotel treadmill at 8:30 on Christmas Night!),  but most of the time it was easy enough to hop on the treadmill or run down the street for a quick one- or two-miler.

Courtesy of PavementRunner

You can tell running is my first love if you look at my crosstraining. I’m only motivated during triathlon season 🙂
(January – March and probably part of April would have been on spin bikes during off-season tri training classes)

Total: 443.5

Oh, I really do love swimming … once I’m in the water. It’s so tough to motivate myself to go to the pool unless I’m taking a class! (April – May: cramming for early triathlons. June-August: masters swim class!)

Total: 40.5

Total distance traveled in 2012: 1,547.

In 2013, I won’t set any firm distance goals. I just hope to keep running (and swimming and biking) and racing all year long!

hbbc: weeks 4, 5, 6

HBBC2012

Oops. Thanks to a busy concert schedule and holiday week, I never got around to my weekly workout round-ups. I’ve been pretty successful keeping active, fitting workouts in whenever I can!

Catching up …

Week 4

Monday: Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Tuesday: 3.5-mile run
Wednesday: 1.2-mile run, yoga DVD
Thursday: 3.2-mile run, yoga class
Friday: 1-mile run, Workout of the Week, hip exercises
Saturday: Celtic Solstice 5-mile race (my husband joined me for his first-ever race!)
Sunday: 9-mile run

Yup, let that wine sneak in. Celebrating the end of holiday concerts!

Week 5

Monday:  Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Tuesday: yoga/stretching, 3.5-mile run
Wednesday: Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Thursday: yoga class, 4-mile run
Friday: 1-mile run, Workout of the Week
Saturday: 12.5-mile run
Sunday: 3.1-mile run

Photos/images from a blustery long run!

Finally, this past week.  I didn’t have as many twice-a-day workouts, and Christmas travel made things interesting. Proud that I knocked out four miles Christmas evening on the hotel treadmill!

And then I celebrated with some delicious chocolate ale 🙂

Week 6

Monday: 3-mile run
Tuesday: 4-mile run
Wednesday: 1-mile run, Workout of the Week
Thursday: Bikram yoga, 4.1-mile run
Friday: Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, strength workout
Saturday: 11-mile run
Sunday: 2-mile run

 

hbbc: week 3

HBBC2012

Holiday concert craziness continued, with rehearsals and/or performances every night with my choral group. I think the worst night was Wednesday, where our women’s chorus (smaller subset) sang with the youth chorus on their holiday program, and once that ended we had a two-hour Messiah rehearsal.  I was so exhausted when I got home, and the thought of packing lunch and dinner, plus workout gear and concert clothes to bring to work was stressing me out. (See, I would have to go straight from work to the sound check for Thursday night’s concert.)

So I decided to work from home on Thursday. Best decision ever. I slept for almost 8 and a half hours, and woke up feeling so much better. I went on a fantastic 4.25-mile run, and would have kept going if I didn’t have to work. I was probably as productive as I would have been if I had gone to the office — even with an extra lunch break for the HBBC #healthylunch twitter chat 🙂

I still managed to get most of my workouts in, and when I had to make compromises,  I was OK with that. I didn’t have as much time for yoga/stretching, and this week will likely be the same. I hope my legs don’t get too mad at me!

Week 3

Monday: Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Tuesday: 4-mile run
Wednesday: Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Thursday: 4.25-mile run
Friday: 1-mile run, yoga DVD
Saturday: 4-mile run, Workout of the Week (WOW) strength workout, yoga/stretching
Sunday: 15K race (PR!)

hbbc: week 2

HBBC2012, i like to run., RWRunStreak2012

I had a great week, and am enjoying the influence and encouragement of the other Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge participants. The Facebook group is super active, and I can’t help but to read and reply several times a day. And thanks to this challenge, I’ve started to incorporate more stretching/yoga into my routine. Two nights last week instead of sitting on the couch watching TV I rolled out my yoga mat and worked on my tight hamstrings/glutes. I think it’s helping — I wasn’t as hindered by the hamstrings during my Bikram yoga class this morning.

This week I was better about eating lots of fruits and veggies, too. Sneaking them in is the best way — is it still sneaking if I know they’re in there? In the photo below, that chocolate milkshake is made with avocado and banana. And those are pumpkin pancakes 🙂

The Runners World run streak is going well. I only had one awkwardly-timed workout where I was on the treadmill at 9pm getting my mile in … and actually, it turned into 2.1 miles. I thought I only had 10-12 minutes left of “Nashville” to watch, but it ended up being over 20 minutes. I felt really good running, so I didn’t mind!

Week 2

Monday:  yoga DVD, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Tuesday: 4-mile run, 40 minutes of stretching/foam-rolling
Wednesday: Bikram yoga, 1-mile run, boot camp class
Thursday: 3.25-mile run, lunchtime yoga
Friday: Bikram yoga, 2.1-mile run, Workout of the Week (WOW) strength workout
Saturday: 10-mile run, yoga DVD
Sunday: 2-mile run, 40 minutes of yoga/stretching