Weekly Wrap 17, the first weekly wrap of March!  I’m recapping week 8 of Earth Day 50k training, plus setting out a few mini goals for March.  It was my final build before a much-anticipated recovery week and vacation! Linking up with Holly and Wendy for Weekly Wrap 17.  Here we go! 

March Goals

In February, I participated in the EDGE meditation challenge (and won!).  It was amazing to see how much daily meditation helped with my daily mood and running.  I felt happier, calmer and more focused, plus was able to “tough it out” more on my runs.  Half way into February, I bought a subscription to Headspace, knowing that I would be continuing with meditation.

I enjoyed having a monthly challenge.  For March, EDGE is running the plEDGE challenge: pledge to yourself, to your training, to your community, to your goals.  It’s a time to refocus on what you want for yourself this year.  What does that mean for me?  Well, it’s no secret that I am not happy in my current work position.  I would love instead to be self-employed through a mixture of the blog, running coaching and freelance writing.  My plEDGE is to take charge and make this happen.  Host a giveaway or two, write a Chicago food focused post, approach two or three coffee shops about selling some of my recipes.  Things that will move me towards that direction.

Weekly Wrap 17

Monday 2/26

Run:  Rest Day.  After my big build week last week I was soooo looking forward to this.  Tweeted at @restdaybrags about my epic night’s sleep and they gave me a feature on their stories for the day.  Rest like the best!

Other: I had a few coaching calls and updated plans, PLUS filled two more energy bite orders!  I am thrilled that more people are ordering, plus I’m getting some repeat customers 🙂

Tuesday 2/27

Run:  10 easy miles in the morning with Sprint Tuesday crew.  The weather was fantastic, so  even though it was supposed to be easy miles, I couldn’t help but throw a few fast ones in there.  The sunrise was gorgeous!  In the evening, I joined in with the Lululemon fun run up to Wrigley.  I even got Jon to come join us. The run ended up being about 5 easy miles for me.  I love doing doubles during build weeks because it’s an easy way to fit in the high volume of training while maintaining good form.

Wednesday 2/28

Run: I went to a Wednesday November Project!!  I hadn’t been to one since 2016.  But since it was PR Day, and I had to run some hills, I figured that it was a great opportunity to see everyone.  I got there early to run 8x Cricket Hill sprints, and then did 8 PR loops.  It was a gorgeous spring-like morning.  I missed these guys.

Thursday 3/1

Run:  Totally botched my schedule and forgot to run 5 miles after upper body strength class.  That’s something that I NEVER have done before, but I think I was a bit distracted with finishing the post below.

Other:  This week was National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.  It’s a topic that hits close to home.  To honor this week and to share my experience with recovery, I published a post 10 Phases of Eating Disorder Recovery.

Friday 3/2

Run:  Off day of work = 24 miles at Waterfall Glen.  I have to say that I have some of the coolest friends.  Jeremy, Shelby and Katie joined me for part of the run so that I wouldn’t have to do the whole thing alone.  I felt glorious, like I could have gone all the way to 31 miles!  And our pace was awesome, 8:56 min/mile for 24 miles on trail with hills!

Other:  My “I have the coolest friends” vibe continued as I went out for pizza with some friends that evening.  After trying the Chicago House of Za last week, this week was Dante’s Pizzeria in Logan Square.  Their vegan pizza, the Gorgon, had spinach, mushrooms, onions, olives, pepper, and tofu.  It was HUGE! This pizza went over a lot better – the crust was fabulous and the flavors didn’t feel fake.  I expected leftovers but everyone ate it up.  Still working on my Chicago vegan pizzeria list, hopefully mid-March!

Saturday 3/3

Run: I went up to Highland Park to hang with my parents and Frizzle, so I ran around there.  I was so slow and tired and just mentally didn’t want to run.  A complete 180 from yesterday.  My right hamstring was really sore and would twinge on the uphills, and both hip flexors were tight.  I felt like I couldn’t lift up my legs completely. Even though I was in the suburbs and on road, my pace was slower than the 24 miles I had done the previous day.  There’s something to be said about having company to help you out, and training on dead legs is rough!

Other: Spent the day lounging with the parents testing out recipes for St. Patty’s Day.  We are Irish, and we love carbs, so Irish Soda bread is a huge part of my family’s celebrations.  It came out great, so I hope to have the recipe up soon!  Frizzle makes a great snuggle buddy… except when she gets distracted by the squirrels outside.

Sunday 3/4

Run: Did an easy 5 miles in the morning mostly because I wanted to test out my hamstrings.   Both felt fine.  Mind you, I foam rolled for about 30 minutes before going to bed and again for 20ish minutes in the morning.  Then I went to yoga and felt a million times better.

Other:  I will be the first to admit that I am a messy person. But every once in a while I get hit with the urge to clean.  Maybe I left yoga even more motivated than I thought.  Maybe it’s the fresh air and Spring Cleaning vibe. Or, maybe it’s the fact that I will be out of town for five days and I hate coming home to a dirty house.  Whatever it was, I was a whirling dervish with a dust rag.

And that’s a wrap!  This was my last of three build weeks in a row for Earth Day 50k.  The purpose of this week was to maintain overall weekly volume, but shift around numbers a bit to increase my long run on the weekend.  I ran 64 miles for the week, with an upper body class and a yoga class.

Looking ahead, this next week is a major cutback in training.  I’m scheduled to get 45-50 miles.  The major cutback allows me to absorb the fitness from these previous weeks and allows me to get the most out of my Expo West experience.  Wednesday thru Sunday I will be in California for Expo West with fellow blogger friend, Erica (aka my blogging fairy godmother).  I don’t want to have to worry too much about training so that I can focus on meeting new companies, sampling new products, and enjoying the time with Erica.

How was your week?  Do you every get into cleaning frenzy?  Which exhibitor should I check out first at Expo West (here’s the list)?

Happy running

Becca