Kaylya

I did pretty good. Consistent with strength while not on vacation, and met my (very modest) running goal. Didn't go to the gym on vacation, or explore the resort on a run, because I did so many stairs... I probably did 20 flights (in chunks of about 5-8) most days. Got my weight back on a downward trajectory (so easy for a couple months of stress + focus being elsewhere to undo a year's worth of work..)

Similar to my January Challenge, with a bit more running. Objective is to keep up with consistent strength work while getting into a good position to really ramp up the running come March to do some spring races. Priorities: 1. Strength. Perfect: 3x per week. I really want to be consistent at this. Acceptable: Missing a total of 3 workouts during the challenge. A strength based yoga class is acceptable for one workout every 2nd week. 2. Food. Continue to use Plan To Eat for my dinners; Bring lunch to work at least 4 days per week; keep track of not so healthy stuff I eat. 10 alcoholic beverages over the challenge. 3. Cardio & Running: At least 45km of running for the month. At least 2 runs per week; preferably 3 in the last 2 weeks. I want to build up a long run from ~5km to at least 7km so I feel ready to run home from work as soon as weather & lighting cooperates, which might be the last week of the challenge. Pick out a spring race to target & possibly start an intermediate 5k schedule (Jenny Hadfield's?) if needed.

Got to the gym on Tuesday. Got out skating with a friend tonight, around 8km, and walked more than usual too. Walked at lunch and apparently I was walking so fast Google Fit logged much of it as running...

Got in a run today which puts me over the 20k mark for the month. One more run to meet my goal

Shoulder seems good. Got in 3 strength workouts this week (the first at home with body weight and dumbbells, other two at the gym), and 5km at run club.

Never did get out to the gym or for a run around the resort, but, thanks to one of two elevators in the building being out and not wanting to wait for it I did climb lots of stairs (enough to make me breathe heavy for the last couple flights). I was pretty active most days (pretty sure I averaged over 10k steps per day) and kept things fairly reasonable on food; focusing on veggies & protein and not going too crazy on sweets - there was, of course, a lot of alcohol. Unfortunately I seem to have done something to my shoulder. Will get out for a run today and re-evaluate shoulder situation for weights tomorrow.

Yesterday was a rest day, after starting the new year with a strength day followed by a running day followed by another strength day. I'm on the board for a bit over 5k, so less than 20km to go to meet my running goal

Winter has finally come. Which means it's generally less pleasant to run outside, and, there's some uniquely winter activities I like to enjoy while I can, which dig into days that are actually pleasant for running. This does make it the perfect time to build up some muscle though. Priorities: 1. Strength. Perfect: 3x per week. I really want to be consistent at this. Acceptable: Missing a total of 3 workouts during the challenge. A strength based yoga class is acceptable for one workout per week. 2. Food. Planning! High protein breakfasts! More specific goals to come. 3. Cardio & Running: Running is on the backburner but I don't want to stop completely. Do at least one 5kish or more run per week, and at least 2 active days aside from the strength. Minimum running goal is 25km for January (slightly above last January). If I get to 40km that would be amazing, but it's not a priority. All of Jan, not just challenge days because it's easier to track that way in Runkeeper. Going on vacation for week 2. Goals for that are more like do something active every day (maybe I'll set up a step goal on my pebble), jog around the resort at least once, visit the gym at least once, TBD limits on drinking and desserts

Gyms have front desk staff, managers, etc. There's people who design, make, sell, & maintain equipment. Rogue has postings right now from software developers to welders. There's people who make stuff like activity trackers (e.g. FitBit, Garmin) and websites and apps (Runkeeper, MyFitnessPal). Then there's stuff like physiotherapy where you could specialize in sports injuries.

You don't need to stare at it the entire time. Doing so would be a bad idea unless you're on a treadmill Quickly glance every now and then. It's not like you have to be perfect to the second for the programs to work. Most sport watches should also allow you to set up at least one timer, if not more than one, so you can set it to beep for at least one of your intervals. Do you plan to have your phone with you for running? For some programs, like couch to 5k (aka C25k, a popular beginner program - takes you from one minute walking/one minute running to running 30 minutes over about 9 weeks), there's apps dedicated to the programs. There's also a lot of phone apps that can keep track of your running through GPS, and a common feature of those is being able to set up interval timers with audio cues. They may also have some pre-designed programs you can set up through the watch. I use Runkeeper. If you don't want to take your phone, but do have something that can play mp3s, there's various podcasts with audio cues for the timing, particularly for C25k. I've followed Podrunner Intervals before, their First Day to 5k is basically C25k mentioned above. One other point - I'm not sure what time period you're thinking of for the Marathon, or what your starting point is, but, I personally think that, for someone starting out as fairly sedentary, it should be more of a 2 (or more!) year goal than a 1 year goal. Running puts a lot of stress on your bones and joints, and your body adapts over time, but if you try and do to much too soon, you're likely to wind up injured. Now, I say this as someone who's been running for a while but has no plans to ever tackle that distance (there's lots you can work on to get faster at shorter distances as well )

I toss frozen spinach (or kale) into a lot of things but I don't have a "recipe". Like pasta sauce, stew, eggs. smoothies...

This picture sums up our weather nicely: http://imgur.com/VDKW0ir Dec 24th got up to 17C. Which is crazy warm for here in December, let alone late December. It'd be warm for October, more typical for September. I wore capris and a t-shirt for my run. Overnight of the 26th and into the 27th it got to more normal temps with a bit of freezing rain and snow. Dec 28th was my first run in full on winter gear. It was about -10C. Overnight of the 28th to the 29th we got a blizzard. Now it's what late December should look like I'll get out tomorrow and make it 510km for the year

Winter has finally arrived. First big snow storm today, glad I have the week off and didn't have to go anywhere Christmas Eve I went out for a run in capris and at t-shirt. I would have done shorts but I tripped on a root a few days earlier and my knees are ugly. I think it was 17C; not just a record for Christmas Eve but the 2nd highest day ever recorded in the entire month of Dec here. Christmas Day was also pretty warm but less record breaking at more like 7C. It's now back to more average temps with highs below freezing.

Vive le solstice d'hiver! (Or, Viva el solsticio de invierno). As someone who knows both French and Spanish*, that was driving me nutty *well enough to know that Viva was clearly the wrong word, poorly enough that I wondered if solstice was indeed the same in French and looked it up and found that it is, but it's masculine

Challenge summary: A+ for running. B- for strength - I was hoping to consistently get at least 2 workouts per week, which I got most but not all weeks, and I never got 3. Overall for fitness goals, I'm giving myself an A-, it got skewed towards running mainly because it was just so gosh darn nice out for this time of year. Other goals.. kinda lost consistency as time went on.

I wondered what the video was for Run - made me think of this old school Flash animation - "Xiao Xiao 3" (I started my search with Ultimate Stick Fight) (Newgrounds.com dates it to April 2001, but their sound doesn't work) Which then reminded me of Drum Machine, from 2003 Did my tree

Went for a somewhat shorter, somewhat hungover run on Saturday after a christmas party on Friday Yoga on Sunday, and another run home tonight. December is already my 4th most running in a month this year and I should take over October next run. I will probably be able to run home twice this week, but that's likely the last of it. Looks like we're heading back to more seasonal temps by the weekend, and there's logistical issues when my lightweight puffy jacket isn't enough in the morning, and safety issues when you add icy and below freezing to just dark. Wednesday looks like a high chance of ice, Thursday may be ok.

Ran home yesterday. Ended up running a little bit extra to cross at a different spot rather than waiting a whole light cycle after I misjudged my timing (I thought there was no way I'd make it so I started walking, turns out had I kept running I would have and instead I just missed it) at the last light on my route

Ran home today, after doing a long run yesterday. That probably makes for my most running in a 2 day period ever STR tomorrow, then rest on Wednesday as I've got a special thing at work and can't run home, then run home again Thursday

Just thought to check how much I've run since this challenge started. I'm just over 100km! I didn't set myself a distance goal, but if I had it wouldn't have been that much for the whole challenge!

Was planning to go out on Saturday, then thought I wouldn't have time, then it turns out people were running late and I would have been able to... was kinda sad since the weather was gorgeous for Dec on Saturday. Though it turns out it was still pretty nice today. Ate too much candy Anyways, I ran for 8.5km today! Which brings me to 24.1km for the week, aka, my most running in a week that I've tracked with Runkeeper I haven't been meeting my strength goals, but at this point I figure I'll make hay while the sun shines with running. Still looks pretty mild (aka highs and often even lows above freezing, no snow!) for the current long range forecast. I would really love to have at least one week over 25km this year, which I'm now poised for. Once the weather gets shitty for running outside, STR will be more of a focus (If I'm in the gym, I much prefer lifting heavy things to running on a treadmill!).

Rested Tuesday, ran home Wednesday, and did some STR + a short treadmill run tonight.

Rar, 83.4km for November, beating April of this year by 1.5km 63km to run in Dec to get to 500km for the year.

Awesome! Before you know it you'll be at 10!

So I was just thinking "Didn't I post a distance goal for the year at some point?" Got the 10k under 1:05 and the Sprint Tri back in May & June. The 5k time seems unlikely, I'll keep it in mind for spring I am at 430km for the year, which makes my bronze goal achievable if I come close to my November volume in December.