Weekly fitness recap

Awhile back I promised a running/fitness update, so here it is! I recently hit 100 workouts this year and so far through Gympact, I have made $32.43. Not exactly rolling in the dough, but hey, I got paid that just for working out, which I was going to do anyway! Why not?

Anyway, on to the update.

Throughout student teaching I have had some highs and lows with fitness. During my first placement I did awesome. The building I was in was full of young teachers that made fitness a priority (not that my second placement didn't - I'll get to that) and there was a para educator there that was a fitness instructor at the YMCA. She organized a group fitness class every Wednesday in the building and any teacher was welcome to join. I jumped on this, and so did my mentor teacher. It was such a great bonding experience with the other teachers to run through the halls and do circuits together. I loved it!

During my second placement Dam to Dam training began. Luckily, this school was very close to my favorite place to run, Grey's Lake in Des Moines. It's a 2 mile loop around the lake with connecting trails that lead out into Des Moines or into the downtown area. I love it! I spent many afternoons after school trying to running around that lake.

Then, my good friend Emily suggested me as a mentor for See Us Run Des Moines, a local running group that mentors high school students for the Des Moines IMT Marathon in October. I thought this was just the boost I needed, but I was not planning on running a marathon this year (or maybe ever!). I decided to still go and see if I could still mentor but run the half as I had planned on. So, now that student teaching is over, I am running with SRDM 2-3 days a week and I will hopefully be able to mentor students either as a volunteer or actual mentor. We'll see!

Something that really fuels my running and fitness in general is social networking. I use the app Runkeeper to keep track of my runs and the site is linked to Facebook and Twitter. If I choose, I can post my runs on there for all my friends and followers to see. Friends on Runkeeper can already see it no matter what it is. Knowing that this run is going to be seen by others, is motivating for me... it is a little shallow (maybe?) but it works for me. Have you ever seen those signs along race courses that say, "Don't stop now, someone is watching?" It's kind of like that!

Another motivator is this here blog. I like when other bloggers, such as Amber or Chandra, recap their weeks and what they did. So, I think every Monday or Tuesday I am going to recap each day and what I did to benefit my fitness level. Here is last week:

Sunday: Rest, driving home from Spencer, IA

Monday: Rest again (oops)

Tuesday: Long run, 9.25 hard miles. I planned to take this run slow, and I took "slow" to a whole new level. This run was the hardest run I have ever done. I ended up with pain in my shoulder (???) and was practically hunched over and limping by the time I left. When I got home I foam rolled like crazy and hopefully this week my long run goes much much better.

Wednesday: 2 mile walk with a client

Thursday: 2.5 mile morning run

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 4 mile "long" run with SRDM. This was my first Saturday workout with the group, and I *almost* didn't go. I am SO glad I did. We ran from Roosevelt down to the Ashworth Trail (which is gorgeous and feels like you're in a forest). The route was hilly and probably just what I needed. I left feeling fantastic and so glad I went!


Wow, writing all of that out like that was a little surprising. I ran a total of 16 miles. I felt like I did more than that! This goes to show how beneficial it will be to recap here what my training has looked like. Although I write things down in my planner and Runkeeper and Gympact have a record as well, nothing can replace reflecting on the week later.

I am looking forward to recapping my workouts each week!

How do you keep track? What are you training for these days?