Happy Monday Morning FitFam and welcome to April!
I got so much positive feedback about #MyMarchMaddness that I’m thinking about making it an annual thing?!? Well, we’ll see what next year brings….?
So a couple of weeks ago I started training to run a 10K in the 2016 Calgary Mother’s Day Race. I have been following the Nike Running App training program and have been really enjoying it. However, I found out this weekend that I won’t be able to run that particular race because of a scheduling conflict. I plan to keep on training and do another race in May or June. I did not run or workout this weekend, and was able to REST, REGROUP and REFOCUS.
REST is so good for the body, mind and soul! I try to be very careful in my fitness regimen not to over train or over exert myself, because I don’t want to get injured and be forced to be out of the game for an extended period of time. It’s a testament to this that since I started on this journey over a year ago, I have not sustained a single injury! As hard as it is for me I know that I have to consciously take time off in order to maintain balance! I spent a lot of time with my kids this weekend just having fun and not rushing through anything it was so refreshing!???
To REGROUP I spent a good chunk of time this weekend meal prepping. Even though I have been training pretty hard, I haven’t been eating very well lately because I haven’t been making the time to meal prep properly. Meal prepping is honestly so important because there’s no point in putting in all the effort at the gym or on the track if you’re not putting the right things into your body!???
To REFOCUS I spent some time analyzing my current training program and decided to change it a bit in order to establish a more sustainable rhythm for myself going forward. I really love Running and want to run more races but I also really love my HITT Workouts and Weight Training and don’t want that to suffer every time I’m training for race – so I’ll be doing more of a 50/50 program going forward. I will run at least 3 days a week and cross-train at least 3 days a week. I plan to maintain this regimen for the month of April and will give a review on it at the end of the month.
The picture below is not a very clear picture but I just had to share it along with a quick story because I am SO PROUD of my progress. I have not been able to hold a proper side plank since having my baby last year. I honestly don’t even know when my core strength came back because I have avoided this particular exercise for months! But the other day I decided to attempt it and was ELATED to find that I was able to hold it! It’s things like this that encourage me to continue in this lifestyle, when I see that all my hard work is not in vain!
I hope this encourages you to NOT GIVE UP!
Have a FABULOUS week!
Franca says
Hi Sope, great post. Thanks for helping us remember that to rest and regroup is part of the healthy lifestyle process. The thing is because we think the more we workout the sooner we will see results, we tend to go, go, go and burn out or get injured. Great job on holding the plank!