On Thanksgiving Day, I went for a little 4 mile run. It was a beautiful day and quite warm for late November in the upper Midwest. My heel felt fine, as did my hip. I was so glad that I was able and that I took the time to run. As I ran along one of my typical neighborhood routes, I realized that my base is almost back. I think another couple of weeks of mostly easy runs and extending my (slightly) long(er) runs out to 5 and then 6 miles on the coming Saturdays, and I will be in a position to start a training schedule around Christmas for my next half-marathon and to start pushing myself a little bit more to do some speed work and hills without worrying that I'm trying to do too much too fast. And a new Garmin Forerunner is on its way to aid me in my training so that's exciting! I'm hoping that my new toy will help me to take it outside about 50% of the time even when the winter weather is less than inviting.
In the meantime, I continue to rebuild my running foundation and have been logging my points for the HBBC. To help keep myself accountable and to help me remember when I've already updated the spreadsheet, I'm going to be keeping a weekly log here. During the first week of the challenge, I earned 18 points.
November 19: 1 point.
- I did 20 minutes of yoga.
November 20: 4 points.
- I ran 3 miles.
- I did 20 minutes of yoga.
November 21: 3 points.
- I ran 2 miles.
- I did 20 minutes of yoga.
November 22: 1 point.
- I ran 30 minutes of cleaning.
November 23: 4 points.
- I did 30 minutes of house cleaning.
- I lifted weights for 25 minutes.
- I did 30 minutes on the stair climber.
November 24: 5 points.
- I ran 4 miles.
- I ate seven servings of fruits and vegetables.
November 25: 0 points.
- I toyed with the idea of going to the gym, but staying home all day on Black Friday just really appealed to me so much more.
People who have run outside lots during harsh winters with snow and ice, how do you motivate yourself? What gear do you use and find especially helpful?
yay for a new Garmin and great job with your points this week.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a treadmill but I do have an elliptical to get me through the worst weather. Totally not the same and that gets my butt out the door in all but the harshest conditions. Once I get started and get warmed up it is really pretty enjoyable doing winter running.
I need to get some gear, too. I want to get back to running with my run club. I haven't been running with them as I didn't really want to get up so early on a Saturday but now they moved the run time back to 8 am, so I want to start going with them. I just need to go into our running store and start figuring out what all I need.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the new Garmin! Sounds like your return to running is going well. I'll usually get outside in the winter but if it's too bad (icy), then I'll just hit the treadmill!
ReplyDeleteGlad your heel and hip are cooperating with you!
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of lucky here in TN as far as the winter weather goes. I don't have too much weather to contend with. My only inconvenience is that it gets dark earlier, and I have to drive into town to run where there are street lights.
I love that you ate seven servings of F&V on Thanksgiving! I think I ate at least 7 servings PLUS about 27 servings of meat etc!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time running outside in the snow. The cold is not as bad, but I am afraid of icy roads/sidewalks! I also noticed that in Des Moines they did not plow the sidewalks half the time, so there was nowhere to run! So I ended up running on the treadmill A LOT!
Teach me how to get rid of hip issues...I'm excited for your training! Half marathons are the best
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your hip in on the mend some. Good job with the point system, looks very interesting, keep up the excellent work!
ReplyDeleteI went to the chiropractor several times for active release technique and graston massage and that helped a lot. I think the thing that helped most, though, was taking 2 weeks off from running entirely, stretching, icing, and foam rolling.
ReplyDeleteIf pizza is a vegetable, I'm guessing pumpkin pie is too? Just kidding :) I really admire your discipline and I think that you create some structure to set yourself up for success. It's inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI run outside in the winter because I do not like winter much, but running is helpful for my mental health. I don't like treadmills very much. I often wear wool socks and I always layer up including a warm hat. Luckily, Jack (my dog) loves running in all weather, which is motivational.
I was expecting the weather in Germany to be a lot colder than it has been. The coldest has been about 25 degrees when I went running but lately it has been above freezing. I don't run when it's icy outside because I'm so scared of falling and hurting myself
ReplyDeleteGreat start on HBBC! I don't necessarily like it but if I didn't run in the cold I wouldn't get to run 3 months or so out of the year. Layers with a wind breaker (specifically for running) on top works for running in the cold. I saw hand warmers at Dicks this weekend. I wonder how well they work?
ReplyDeleteI remember a training run last year when my water bottles froze!
Thanks for linking up!
I always slept in some of my running clothes so I wasn't as cold getting out of bed. I used YakTraks in ice and snow and layers were honestly the most important thing. I also loved my gloves and headband. I wrote a post about it a month or so ago.
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