#RWRunStreak 2016 Challenge: Week 1

Anyone who has been in my life over the past year, knows that I completed my first half marathon in the fall. This was a huge accomplishment for me considering the months and months of training that happens before any big race that I really didn't think I was going to be able to finish.

I spent over 6 months increasing my mileage, eating all the power food I could read about, and icing up every muscle that ached. I was on such a great schedule of running 3 times during the week and saving my long runs for Saturday morning. The race came and went and I thought I deserved a much needed break from running. And when I say break...I mean break.

Not the best idea. I went from burning all of those calories to doing absolutely nothing. The most exercise I got for the 5 months that followed the race was taking my dog for a walk. So needless to say, I gained a little bit of weight. Nothing dangerous, people would probably even call it vanity pounds but I could tell and I wasn't happy. I gave myself a little time to wallow in the realization before I mentally switched my brain into "fix it" mode. When the weather got warmer and the days got longer, I slowly started running around again. I turned my walks with my dog into runs and just started increasing my mileage. See, when I was training for the marathon I would take my dog on my warm up, which is about a mile around a path by our house, and then I would go back out and finish my miles for the day. I gave myself our April vacation as one last hurrah to eat and drink too much before getting back on the train of eating healthier.

Which brings us to this week. The best way for me to not lose steam with working out is to have a challenge and I thought the Runner's World Run Streak was just what I needed. The challenge is designed to keep you running throughout the summer (they also do one from Thanksgiving to Christmas). All you need to do is run at least 1 mile a day from Memorial Day to the Fourth of July which equals 36 consecutive days of running. When I saw that, I thought, I can do that. On my non running days, I'm almost always out walking my dog anyways so we might as well run it! (The dog is the most spoiled dog in the world, btw, who whines and scratches as my shoes until I take him out)

I want to chronicle this challenge on my blog so you can follow along, I need all the encouragement I can get! haha. Also, this helps to be accountable for keeping up with it. So here we go!

Week 1 

Monday, May 30

Day 1/36: 2.5 miles

Great, easy run at a 9:53 min/mile pace. Followed by my go-to Pilates moves for stretching and ab & arm work. I also added in a 4 mile bike ride that evening with Nathan!

Tuesday, May 31

Day 2/36: 1.02 miles

Our (mine and Remus's) go-to path around the college to start the morning off. Followed by my trusty Pilates moves.

Wednesday, June 1

Day 3/36: 1.02 miles

I was feeling kind of blah today. We did our normal loop and I skipped the Pilates moves and just did some stretching. I'll get back to it tomorrow! Went for a 5 mile bike ride with Nathan to get some ice cream. Just butter pecan because nuts are tootttally good for you :)

Thursday, June 2

Day 4/36: 1.02 miles

My legs felt sooo heavy from the bike ride last night. This run almost killed me and I hadn't even gone that far. See, I'm still in the beginning stages of starting my tolerance all over again. But I finished and topped it off with some Pilates and stretching. I'm feeling pretty cramped today so I'm going to try and do some deep stretching when I get home.

Friday, June 3

Day 5/36: 1.5 miles

Could I BE more tired today? I was slugging around that 1.5 miles this morning. Remus was practically dragging me. Did I mention it was raining? Not exactly something that gets my energy up and at 'em on a Friday morning. But since Fridays are usually a rest day for me, I just tried to take it at an easy pace. I skipped the Pilates afterwards and just did some deep stretching. I need coffee and a miracle to get through today.

And, yes, I realize it hasn't been a full week yet but I just wanted to get this blog post up so I don't have to do it this weekend. So here are my mileage goals for this weekend and I'll let you know if I met them!

Goal for Saturday: A speedy 2 miles with a Pilates recovery.

Goal for Sunday:  An easy paced 2.5 miles with a Pilates recovery.

Wish me luck! And good luck to anyone who is out running too.
Let's see how next week goes!

xoxo