January Recap

Miles: 53.16 (+ ~59 miles in the pool)

X-Training: 10 (4 elliptical, 6 swim)


Rest Days:  8

Race(s): Goofy Challenge - January 7 & 8 (Walt Disney World Half Marathon - 2:08:29 and Walt Disney World Marathon - 5:22:07)

New gear: Newtons! With my 3 week running break I haven't had a chance to run in these yet, but I'm really looking forward to working them into my shoe rotation in February!

Workout goals:
Smart recovery from Goofy - I got through my 21 day run break and am excited to get back to running. I think the break was good for me physically and mentally.

Mix things up during my running break - I managed a steady rotation of elliptical, pool running and swimming.  I also started doing planks on a semi-regular basis.

Swim - I got myself back in the pool and am on my way to getting back in swimming shape!

Non-workout goal: Clean start to 2012 - I tackled 2 of the 3 closets in my apartment but I still have a ways to go.  Still, I got rid of a ton of stuff including a VCR, phone and answering machine.  Not sure why I've been storing this stuff for years!


I'm very happy with how January turned out.  I kicked it off with races that I had been looking forward to doing since I ran my first marathon back in 2009 and had a blast running both of them.  It was also a lot of fun to spend time with a friend who I hadn't seen in a while and visit Disney World for the first time in my life. During the rest of the month I spent more time at the pool than I probably have in the last 6 months combined.  There were lots of easy "running" miles in the pool and I kick-started my swim training for the 70.3 relay in May (it is nice that I am only responsible for 1.2 of those miles!).  The first two weeks off from running were great, but the third one was hard.  By that point it was a challenge, so I had to make it through all 21 days!  While I know there were a lot of physical benefits to taking this running break, right now I feel like the biggest benefit was mental.  I went from feeling burned out before Goofy to being really excited to run.  I just hope that I can carry this feeling through the rest of the spring!

February Preview

Workout goals:
Smart return to running - I know that 3 weeks isn't a really long time off, but I want to make sure I don't jump back into running too quickly.  It's also been much longer than 3 weeks since I last went to a track or tempo workout.  So my plan is to do two weeks of easy running and then in the third week I'll add a tempo workout.  I don't know exactly when I'll start up interval workouts too, I'll let someone else make that decision.

Swim - My goal is two times a week (at least).

Planks and strengthening exercises - In January I started doing planks a couple days a week as well as some piriformis stretching and strengthening exercises.  I was starting to have some nagging right piriformis pain before Goofy, so I need to make sure it doesn't progress to anything more serious.

Races: None - My legs need some time to build back up before I race again.

Non-workout goal: Continue the apartment cleanup - I've gotten a good start, but there is a ways to go.