Goal Setting for February and Goodlife Fitness Giveaway!
Happy Monday everyone!
It was an eventful weekend, including a long run, going out with friends, a hot yoga roomie-date with Ange and a birthday party celebration at home for my little sister.
So many takes to get a decent picture of our crew.
The dog will look at the camera even if I need to MAKE it happen…
The original 3.
Last week’s training was hard mentally. My coach reigned back my running because I am still in full on recovery mode and although some pain is normal in a stress fracture site as you return to full training load, it is a delicate balance and we are being more careful than aggressive right now. I want to storm Boston and I can only do that if I am healthy.
Because of this, my coach has me doing pool running which had me in the pool a LOT this week. I was not a happy camper because I spent a lot of time dodging people doing their water aerobics classes, my skin was dry and my signature scent this week was Eau de Chlorine. Ick.
TRAINING THIS WEEK
Monday: Pool Running Intervals – 1 hr
Tuesday: Swim 2750 m (50 min), Elliptical workout (1 hr), Core work
Wednesday: Pool Running Intervals – 5 KM simulation.
Thursday: Swim 2500 m (50 min), Cycle (1 hr)
Friday: Easy day – 20 min cycle, 10 minute core workout, 1 hour hot yoga
Saturday: 1 hour run (12 KM)
Sunday: 2:30 hr cycle with tempo/threshold work, race simulation.
I can’t wait to get back to running, but I am trying to be as patient as possible. Getting a coach is the best thing I could have done to ensure that I slowly but steadily prepare for my races.
It is so hard to believe we are in February already! I decided to cool my jets on making goals for January to settle into the year but I am ready to make a few specific goals this month with a nod to my 2015 goals.
1. Get my domestic on! I have a big old bag of lentils burning a hole in my cupboard and I want to learn to cook with them better. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments. I also am tag teaming with Angela to make some super cool things like kombucha, kimchi and sauerkraut and am excited to figure out the processes.
IN FACT, Ange and I prepped this little kombucha jar yesterday! And yes it looks awful.
2. GIVE. I have some big volunteering goals for February including a massive collection of potatoes for our local food bank and some strategy meetings for local charities. I also want to donate blood mid-month as well.
3. Connect with three business mentors. I had said to connect with one mentor a month to grow personally, professionally and athletically. I had a few meetings with a sports mentor in January and now it’s time to focus on my career.
Sunday morning coffee with a running mentor.
4. Do more snow sports. I tried to get out cross country skiing this weekend, but I needed to do the workout on the bike instead because I couldn’t find my boots! I was invited to join the local varsity team for training sessions so starting this week, I am looking forward to get coaching in how to XC ski at a higher level. I am hoping to hit the slopes at least once to go snowboarding.
5. Do a slow and steady build for Boston this month with a challenge from Goodlife:
In honour of Heart Month, GoodLife Fitness has teamed up with the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre to host the Healthy Heart Challenge – a 28 day opportunity to increase your heart health in February.
Beginning February 1st, the Health Heart Challenge gives access daily cardiac stats and trends, fitness advice, nutrition tips, recipe ideas and more. Dr. Paul Oh from the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto and GoodLife fitness experts will inform Canadians about the latest research on heart health and provide helpful advice on how to manage heart disease risks.
Sign up for the challenge here.
I will also be holding a giveaway for this! If you sign up for the challenge, mention it in the comments and you will be entered to win a Goodlife Prize Pack.
The winner will be announced at the end of February. Good luck!
Lentils…go on Pinterest. Although I usually use canned ones in most recipes but soups. Even then some call for canned. There are some good soup and stew recipes with dried ones though too.
Ha, love it. I will do some Pinteresting this afternoon!
I’m so excited for our kombucha making!! And the kimchee and sauerkraut and everything else. You’ve been awesome with being patient on the training front. I’m sure it’ll all pay off come April! 🙂
Fingers crossed. Sometimes it feels like forever!
I have signed up for the challenge!
Also, I love your blog. I am an avid road runner but I just started getting into trail running and love your advice and race recaps.
I have signed up for the challenge!
I’d love to ferment my own food, especially sauerkraut.
Wait wait wait! Do you give blood often? It really takes a toll on the body. I can’t even believe I’m discouraging you from such a heroic act but seriously, if you can wait until after Boston, do it. I give blood (my son has a blood disorder) and it wipes. me. out. Google the affect of blood donation on endurance athletes and you’ll see what I mean. But… if you’ve done it before mid-training season and your body handles it with no problem, then just ignore me. Every body is different. I just know that for me, I had a hard time and I didn’t want you to do it and then all of a sudden be like, OH NO! K, way too long of a comment, sorry. (ps. your patience and pool running will pay off and you’re going to shine at Boston!!! Excited for you).
Whoa. Thank you SO much for this, Suzy. I will look into it!
No prob. Let me know what you think!
Share your kombucha with me? I’ll bring cookies. 🙂
YES YES YES
I am so glad you couldn’t find your boots this weekend, I would have been so embarrased to ski with you LOL! I’m going to second the “whoa” on blood donation. I feel bad about it too, I’m a regular donor, but I’m waiting for my next appointment until after Around the Bay. I have low iron already, and am dealing with that, and my doctor gets stabby when I talk about purposefully depleting my iron through donation.
Awesome goals! Looking forward to our running date next weekend (if your coach permits…).
I also signed up for the Goodlife Health Heart Challenge. Thanks for sharing!
I’m going to add to Suzy’s comment about donating blood…I read that apparently WADA considers this doping now (because you get younger, more efficient blood cells or something) so check that part out too! I donated for years and only noticed about a week setback in my training (it felt like training at elevation), but can’t anymore.
Second thing: LENTILS! OMG you have to try making muffins with them. I have some recipes here:
http://www.ourfreshkitchen.com/baking/muffins/spiced-lentil-muffins/
http://www.ourfreshkitchen.com/baking/muffins/chili-chocolate-lentil-muffins/
And my favourite lentil comfort food:
http://www.ourfreshkitchen.com/meals/quinoa-lentil-bowl/
Happy cooking!!
Signed up for the challenge.
Great job at giving blood. I usually do a workout before or early in the day, it pumps the blood faster, and as long as my next day is a little lighter (usually a squash match), I have never had any issues.
Looking forward to hearing how the kombucha turns out – considering an experiment as well!
Sounds like a GREAT weekend! Family and yoga is always restorative in my books!
Lentils are great in stews and chili’s. I love to use them in soups!! Also great as a curry dish over rice of quinoa. I make this frequently, and have some recipes on my blog. They are a great addition to your diet!!
Lentil curry on rice? We have a winner! I am totally making this over the weekend!
I signed up for the challenge!
Good luck with your training for Boston! Looks like you are progressing well (I am reading your blog in descending order…brand new to it!)
I’ve always wanted to make kimchi at home but it’s kind of intimidating. My grandmother used to make her own sauerkraut alllll the time so it can’t be that hard. Maybe one of these days 🙂
I also signed up for the heart healthy challenge. A little bit of motivation like this is always good.
I signed up for the healthy heart challenge, even though february is almost over, I’m hoping this will motivate me to finally work out. I’ve been running 50-60km a week since graduating from uni a few years ago, but since December, I’m lucky if I run 3k a week. The snow and the frigid temperatures are turning me off, so I’ve just been watching a lot of tv and eating a lot of timbits. I have a bunch of late spring races that I need to start shaping up for, so I’m hopeful once the weather warms up to … -5, i’ll be hitting the pavement again.