Did I Succeed?

Before the month of June is over, I thought it was high time I revisited those fitness goals I set for myself in May!

As a refresher, here is what I stated as my goals and the actual post on them is here:

So how did I do?

The HIIT workouts and weight training were nonexistent during the month and still have yet to make a reappearance in my life. I blame this on the lack of space we had in the basement apartment. As we got closer to moving out, the little bit of floor space I had completely disappeared. I know that once things get really settled in the new apartment, I will be working this back into my routine.

My weekly meal plan/prep received a little kick in the behind in May. I didn't give it the dedication as I have in the past (as seen here, here and here), but I did make sure to think about what I wanted to have for my lunches during the work week and made it happen. So what if it was the same meal everyday for five days? The variety will come back to me now that I have the time and space to prepare.

H2O, H2O, H2O, I drank so much H2O I could of floated away!

Lose 4 pounds - Didn't happen. I did lose 1.5 pounds though and I know that if I had added those extra workouts in, I would of knocked this goal out of the park. I am seriously not stressing over it. I have since lost an additional 1 pound and my pants have gotten considerably looser. I am heading in the right direction and that's all that matters.

Run the entire month of May (#31daysofrunning)...

If you follow me on Instagram (angelny29), or friends with me on Facebook, you already know the outcome of this huge goal.

I did write a post recapping the first 8 days, but then life got all kinds of crazy and things took a backseat, with blogging being one of them.

However, I did CRUSH this goal!!! I posted faithfully every day to my social media accounts with a snapshot of my running watch to hold me accountable. When all was said and done, I ended up running a total of 33 days straight. I ran the last 2 days of April and didn't stop chugging along until June.

I am still amazed at myself whenever I take a look at this:

Each of those blue entries mean I ran that day!

I ran 119.7 miles for a total of 21 hours, 5 minutes and 19 seconds and burned a total of 11,286 calories in the month of May.

I never, ever thought I would be able to run that many days straight.

Were there days I didn't want to lace up my shoes and go for a run? Absolutely. What got me through those days was knowing that I only had to run 1 mile that day if I wanted. That's 10 minutes or less of running for me. I can do that.

Did I learn anything from this experience or see any benefits from running every day? Absolutely. I learned that my body is quite capable of running every day without having to take a rest day. I just needed to remember that when I felt tired or sluggish, I need to run slower or keep it short.
I also learned that I can actually have an awesome long run despite not taking any rest days. Some of my best runs during the month were my long trail runs. The weeks my total mileage was in the 30's, I knew I needed to cut back a bit the following week. My speed also returned to me a lot quicker than if I had run only 4-5 times a week.

Would I do it again? Sure would! I always fancied the thought of extending the challenge to running 100 days straight, but right now I am in no hurry to jump on that bandwagon.

So talk to me. Tell me what kind of goals you've set, or would like to set, for yourself. Just remember, anything really is possible!

Summer's Here!

I spent some time on the first day of summer going through a couple of my favorite cookbooks and recipe files. Now that I have a much bigger kitchen, I am super excited to start cooking up some of my favorites!

While getting back into my weekly meal planning for work, I decided this week I would pick one of my summer favorites.

Veggie Wheat Berry Salad

 Lots of chopping ensued...

 

 Green Bell Pepper, Cucumber, Red Onion, Celery and Tomatoes all looking pretty in the bowl...

Prep Time: 20 minutes, plus soaking and marinating time
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4

1 cup wheat berries, preferably the soft wheat variety
1 lb tomatoes, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and finely chopped
3 celery stalks, cut lengthwise into thirds and finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
Several dashes hot red pepper sauce

1. Soak wheat berries in a big bowl of cool water for at least 8 hours (up to 16 hours max). Drain them in a fine-mesh sieve or colander. Pour wheat berries into a large saucepan, fill it about two-thirds of the way with water, and bring to a boil over high-heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until grains are tender with some chew still left, about 1 hour. Drain, then run under cool water to bring wheat berries to room temperature. Drain thoroughly.

2. Put cooked wheat berries in a large bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Tips:
I will generally take 1 cup of wheat berries and soak them in water overnight in a covered dish in the refrigerator. Cooking time has taken anywhere from 1 hour to 1.5 hours. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, but I add 2 tablespoons. I also opt to leave out the hot red pepper sauce. Finally, I do not leave out to marinate at room temperature. I immediately put mine in the refrigerator.

Bon appetite!

First 8 Days

Happy Thursday! Tomorrow is Friday and that means it's almost the weekend! I for one, can NOT wait!!!

I wanted to spend a little time updating everyone about how my personal running challenge is going so far this month. For those of you who haven't/didn't read my last post talking about my May Fitness goals, I decided to run every single day of May. Yup all 31 freaking days! Crazy, I know.

So now that I am a full 8 days into my little challenge, how is it going you may ask????

Well here is proof of Days 1-4 of running:

...and a little more proof of Days 5-8 of running:

All in all, I'd say it's going pretty well!

I'm actually a bit surprised if I must admit it. I have never run more than 5 days in a row, and at the time, I felt that was a bit much for me before giving my body a little rest. And let me just say that while I am "officially" ('cause like this is a real official challenge, lol) at an 8 day running streak, I am really at a 10 day running streak because I did run the last 2 days of April before I started this challenge. So all in all, my body and mind feel great!

It also doesn't hurt when I look at my Garmin Connect calendar and see all this:

Seeing all those blue running entries makes me feel a huge sense of accomplishment. Silly I know, but it really is a motivator for me.

I believe I mentioned in my last post, I am handling my "rest" days by running at least 1 mile, but no more than 2 miles. These miles are going to be slower miles which I think my body will appreciate and I know will help assist in recovery because I'm not pushing my body as hard as I would if it was a normal run day.

So far I have had 3 of those days. The first was last Saturday which was the day before my long run. The second was Monday as it was the day after my long run and I felt I wanted to take it a little easy. Finally, the third was today, because on Wednesday I did a speed/interval run that morning and those runs put a beating on my body, in a good way mind you. An easier run the day after is always nice since I tend to be a bit sore.

I have also returned to my before work running! I started hitting the track back up before work last Friday and so far this week have done it on Tuesday and Wednesday. The only time I am going to run in the gym is if it is seriously raining or if it is my short/recovery run day. I actually prefer to get my run done first thing in the morning, so I am going to try real hard to keep it to outside runs as much as possible. Unfortunately this morning was rainy, so I chose to take my run indoors during lunch today.

So hear's to the next 8 days of my running challenge!!! Let's see where it takes me.

I will leave you today with one of my favorite motivational running tank tops:

Truth! Gotta put in the work if you want the results!

Starting Fresh

It's May and that brings us one month closer to summer. Uh oh, you know what that means? Closer to those warmer temperatures where we'll be baring more of our skin! I don't know about you, but it's time for me to hunker down and shed those seven pounds that winter put on my body.

This month is going to be about getting back to my fitness basics and setting some goals.

Here's a looky loo at what I have in mind:

Running, weight training, meal planning/prepping and drinking a boat load of water are the fitness basics that worked for me last June when I seriously started my fitness journey and lost 30 pounds!

And here's a reminder that a month, or in this case five weeks, can make a HUGE difference:

The only item that isn't really basic is running all 31 days of May. I have never ever ventured into this kind of running. I have always been one to give my body at least 2 rest days a week.

So why am I having a change of heart on this type of running challenge? Because I have seen a few of my fellow fitness peeps complete that 100 days of running challenge and their bodies really transformed.

I'm not crazy enough to commit myself completely 100% to the 100 days of running just yet, but when I thought about what I wanted to achieve in May, I thought 31 days wouldn't be so bad. So my plan will be that the rest days I usually give myself will be replaced with at least 1 mile of running. If I feel better than I expect, then I may log more miles. It's going to be one of those see as I go kind of things. However, the 1 mile run seems doable and I feel it will give my body a nice active rest/recovery day without too much stress.

I'm also not going into this challenge completely unprepared. I have spent the past month running 4 times a week (with the exception of last week because I was sick) and logging between 20-25 miles a week. By doing this, I was able to get not only my mind back in the game, but also my body. I would NEVER attempt this challenge without having built back a basic running foundation first. I feel I have dusted those winter cobwebs off and I am ready to accept this personal challenge!

I look forward to posting weekly updates and seeing how I progress. Maybe I might be able to inspire a few of you to get out there and start moving. It doesn't have to be running, walking is excellent too. Let me know below what you're planning on doing this month and let's make it a positive one together!