Week 1 #HolidaySweat Challenge Recap

Week 1 of the #HolidaySweat challenge is complete and in the book. I was pretty busy this week preparing for overnight house guests and company on Thanksgiving. My husband and I are a great team, so I was able to get in my workouts early in the week and on Thanksgiving.  

Success until the late nights and long days caught up with me. I woke up on Friday morning with a chest cold that had settled in pretty good by Saturday morning. Not wanting to infect my yoga friends, I skipped my Saturday morning Vinyasa II class at the studio. 

I managed to salvage Saturday with a very slow 3 mile walk/run interval run on the TM and a 5 mile run outside on Sunday in the warm weather. Resting and listening to my body does not come easy to me, but I know that I won't be able to make it through the busy month of December if I don't start with a full tank now.

Holiday Sweat Week 1: 

Day	Water	Freggies	Workout & Check in	Notes
Monday	1	1	2	Yoga/stretching
Tuesday	1	1	4.25	Ran 3.25 miles on TM
Wednesday	1	0	3	Modified TRX workout/yoga
Thursday	1	1	4.1	Turkey Trot - 5K
Friday	1	0	1	Just a social media check in
Saturday	1	0	4.0	3 miles of interval running on TM
Sunday	1	1	6.0	Ran 5 miles in the neighborhood

As for my personal goals, I ran a total of 14 miles which is just a bit shy of my weekly goal. I did get in some quality stretching time and did one at home yoga practice. 

Week 2 Goals:

• 15 miles running
• 3 yoga practices
• lower body strength training
• hitting my freggie/water goal each day and aiming to hit the challenge freggie goal.

Have a great week!

2 for 1 Turkey Trotting

Thursday morning I joined the running club and a friend for a local Turkey Trot. We [carefully] ran the 4th Annual Stow Gobbler in Stow, MA with a few inches of snow on the ground. The course is winds through a beautiful neighborhood with some small rolling hills. It was every more lovely this year with the snow on the trees. 

It was about freezing at race time an like me, my iPhone doesn't perform well in the cold so I didn't get any photos along the course. After stuffing it in my in my shirt for the last two miles, it warmed up enough to get a few pics at the finish line.I wish I had more photos of how beautiful it was that morning. 

After getting some photos with my friend Susan and with the running club I bundled up again and headed back to my car for a quiet ride back to the house and my awaiting company and kitchen.  This was a race in a race for me because I also participated in the OutRun CF Virtual Gobble Wobble supporting Cystic Fibrosis patients. 

Here I am with my wonderful hubby in his shirt when I got home. He jumped on the TM and "virtually" ran up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia using iFit. How fun is that?! I can't wait to try out some of the iFit options. 

10 a.m. - workouts complete 3.1miles of #HolidaySweat completed. It was then on to prepping a wonderful meal while reflecting on how fortunate we are. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Treadmill Fairy

I put my favorite running shoes under my pillow and the Treadmill fairy paid us a visit.

Actually, this is the Christmas gift my Lovie and I decided to give ourselves. Romantic - don't you think? We'll still give each other a stocking, so it won't be just the kids opening presents. Who knows, maybe Santa will bring me some fun workout gear...

I prefer running outside to the treadmill, but once the temps drop below freezing my asthmatic lungs protest (and I am a cold wimp). It isn't as bad when there is little wind and the sun is shining. Given how short the days are here in New England right now, I don't have many daylight hours to work with that fit that profile. The treadmill makes it a bit easier for me to do intervals and speed work too since I'm not always motivated to include hills/speed work. 

Last winter, I did my treadmill running at the gym. I really don't use the gym much other times of the year because I prefer to get in my resistance training through yoga and body weight exercises. It also felt like I was sicker than usual last year no matter how often I washed my hands at the gym and before leaving the gym. Gym germs - who knows? 

After weighing all the pros and cons and deliberating for a few weeks and then doing the researching we decided to move forward with our purchase. For the next few months most of my runs will be done inside with the exception of an occasional lunch time run at work on a warmer day or a meet up with the running club on a weekend. 

Both my husband and I are looking forward to logging our miles on this guy. 

Today was the first day of the #HolidaySweat Challenge. I earned my water and freggie points and since Monday is usually my rest day, I spent some time after the kids went to bed working on stretching out my hamstrings, hip flexors and outer hips. Tomorrow morning, I have a 5:30 a.m. date with the new treadmill though.

Are treadmills boys or girls? I am inclined to call this one a boy and am thinking he needs a name. . .


Going with the flow - Kim

Gearing Up or the Week

Today started with chocolate chip Minnie and Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes for my daughter and some quiet girl time before the boys woke up. Then it was quickly off to swimming lessons for the kids and lunch time before we knew it.

The Pats played at 1:00 so off to the playground I went with the kids to run them around a bit so Daddy could watch the game in peace. He isn't feeling so well today which could definitely have an impact on he upcoming week. I'm hoping he kicks whatever he is fighting.

I don't know how many Sundays we have left to enjoy "sweatshirt" weather at the playground. Wonderful playground equipment around, but they always end up spending at least part of our visits as mulch movers (which they could do at home in their own play area, naturally). 

Swimming lesson + playground = calm, tired kids. So I escaped for a short run on the Rail trail. I am trying to monitor my heart rate and do more runs in my aerobic zone which feels so slow. But I was happy to get in a 4.5 mile run and enjoy about 45 minutes to myself followed by a nice, long stretch session. 

We have a busy week coming up. Family arrives on Wednesday and there is much cooking to do! This year we are going cook a pastured turkey from a local farm. Usually we smoke or fry the turkey but since the turkey is fresh, we are roasting this year this and oven space will be at a premium on Thursday as we are a one-oven household. I think our menu is just about set for Thanksgiving: roasted sweet potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips, sauteed green beans with pine-nuts, dressing (we don't stuff our turkey), home-made cranberry sauce, salad and apple pie. Good thing I am taking off on Wednesday so we can prep sides and pie crust. 

This week also kicks off the #HolidaySweat Challenge so I am looking over my schedule to figure out where my workouts will fit in between work and hosting guests for a few days. Of course there will be a TurkeyTrot on Thursday morning to start the day! Current forecast is low 30s and maybe some snow. Brr.  

Have a great week!
--Kim

#HolidaySweat Challenge

This summer I was really happy with my running progress. I set and hit two specific goals in addition to small training goals and other local races. 

I successfully ran my 10K goal time of sub 55 minutes at Beach to Beacon in August and ran 10 miles (my furthest ever!) in less than 1:40 for the Skirt Sports virtual 10 on 10 in September -- and stayed healthy! No Achilles pain, no PF and no new problems.

I know that in order to hit my next distance (half marathon) and speed goals (sub 54 min 10K), I need to strengthen my hips, Achilles and hip flexors. This is also evident in my yoga practice too as I am currently struggling with Ardha Chandrasana. 

In addition to building strength in these areas, I also want to stick with running about 15 miles a week and getting in 2 home yoga practices to supplement the class I take at the studio.

Now I have goals but with no races planned until it gets warmer and I need to stay on track through hectic weeks ahead. 

#HolidaySweat Challenge

Run to The Finish and Sweat Guru are sponsoring a 6 week health and fitness challenge to keep us on track. Hooray - I'm in. 

You can learn more about it and join the fun here.

Cheers to a healthy and festive balance over the holidays!

As if life wasn't busy enough. . .

As if life wasn't busy enough - I'm starting a blog!

Welcome to Run Flow Go! In this space I will chronicle my efforts to keep my crazy, always on the go life together by running and keeping up with my Vinyasa yoga practice. 

I will write about my fitness and healthy living activities along the way sharing what I learn including workouts, staying fit as a family, recipes and how to keep it all together. I also craft with the kids, sew and bake - I hope you will indulge occasional sharing of a project.