Michelle

Fit Five Friday – The Importance of Building Your Base

January 14, 2022 by Michelle 17 Comments

Whether you’re a new or seasoned runner, base-building is a key component of your training cycle. Consider these five reasons not to overlook the importance of building your base.

Photo by Jeremy Stewart on Unsplash

The Importance of Building Your Base

Improves your aerobic efficiency — Base building is essentially about time on your feet to slowly and consistently increase your mileage without a focus on hitting paces. As you build your mileage base, you can improve both your VO2max (the capacity to take in and utilize oxygen) and your running economy (your efficiency at utilizing oxygen).

Allows your muscles to adapt — As you build your mileage base, you challenge your musculoskeletal system to better handle the stresses of running before moving into phases of harder training. With low running intensity, your muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and fascia have time to adapt – in other words, it helps to prevent injuries.

Provides an opportunity to focus on form — As you slowly build (or rebuild) your mileage, base building provides the opportunity to focus on your running form without the distraction of hitting particular paces in your workouts

Improves your recovery — As you improve your aerobic efficiency, your capillary network expands allowing for more blood supply to the muscles, which helps to speed your recovery.

Allows you to adapt mentally — If you are new to running or returning to running after a break, building your base not only allows your body to adapt, it also gives you the opportunity to mentally adapt gradually to a heavier training load.

Do you take time to build your base or do you dive right into your next training cycle?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Share your fitness-related link, link back to your hosts, and please share the link love by visiting and commenting on your hosts and at least two other Fit Five Friday bloggers!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, training

2022 Run Down – Week 1

January 9, 2022 by Michelle 13 Comments

The first week of 2022 is in the books and to say it was a l-o-n-g week would be an understatement!

Getting back into the work routine after a week off is never easy; but throw in a booster “hangover”, a foot of snow and icy conditions, and then my mom having a medical emergency and I am looking for a white flag to wave. I did what I could to keep moving, here’s a very quick look at how the workouts played out.

2022 Weekly Run Down – Week 1

Monday — Core & Yoga. The booster hangover hit hard, leaving me feeling like I was moving through mud.
Tuesday — 1-mile walk, Core & Yoga. Still feeling less than stellar, but movement is medicine.
Wednesday — 3-mile run & Core. Dreary and rainy out but so happy to be feeling better!

Thursday — Peloton bike, Upper Body Strength, Core & Stretch.
Friday — Full Body Strength & Stretch.
Saturday — 4-mile run & Core. Icy conditions made this a mill run.
Sunday — Thanks to bitter temps and slick roads, the plan for today is Peloton bike & Core.

All things considered, not a terrible week. A polar blast is settling in here so I’m anticipating there could be a lot of indoor workouts for the upcoming week, but I’m going to do what I can to #optoutside as long as I can avoid ice.

In case you missed it:

My Word for 2022

Five Things Over January Coffee

How was your first week of the new year?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Filed Under: Weekly Run Down

Five Things Over January Coffee

January 7, 2022 by Michelle 20 Comments

Happy Friday! It’s time for another edition of Fit Five Friday! It’s also time for a little catch-up over coffee with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date. So grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage and let’s settle in for a chat.

Over coffee, I would tell you how much I enjoyed having the week off between Christmas and the New Year – it really gave me the downtime I desperately needed. The week off was filled with streaming movies, board games, and just hanging out. We did venture out to see Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, which was fantastic, and to visit one of those big drive-through light displays – otherwise we were homebodies and it was glorious!

Over coffee, I would tell you that my oldest has decided not to return to campus this month. Clarkson has not been a good fit and he wants to transfer. Sadly I think this is the downside of not having been able to make final campus visits before committing to a college (thanks covid!). Nonetheless, I’m glad he told us he wanted a change vs. just trying to stick it out where he’s not happy. He’s already registered for some classes for the spring semester locally and is busy figuring out his options for the fall.

Over coffee, I would tell you that I was offered a new job right before the holidays! I have been craving a change for a while and this new opportunity will be big and challenging in a good way. I start my new gig in a couple of weeks.

Over coffee, I would tell you how excited I am to finally be able to announce that I was selected for the 2022 Brooks Run Happy Team. Brooks has been my go-to running shoe for years so I’m really looking forward to representing a brand I love.

Lastly, over coffee, I would tell you that I’m really enjoying the “Mindfulness and Running” course I have been taking for the past few weeks. The course is offered by my run coach Marc. It’s been a great opportunity to explore different approaches to mindfulness and meditation and how mindfulness can positively support your running.

And now that I’ve talked your ear off, I’ll ask, what would you tell me over coffee?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, Run Happy Team, Ultimate coffee date

My Word for 2022

January 4, 2022 by Michelle 26 Comments

For this week’s Tuesday Topics link-up, Kim and Zenaida have invited everyone to share their word for the year (after reading here, be sure to check out what others are sharing!).

This practice of picking “one word” to serve as the theme for the year started for me in 2015. Past choices have included Thrive, Progress, Belief, Brave, Intentional, Curate, and last year’s Mindset.

For 2022, my word is Emerge.

Emerge — to manifest, to come into view or notice; to rise up.

Do you pick one word for the year? My word for 2022 #TuesdayTopics #Emerge #QuietOptimism Share on X

I have a quiet optimism about this year and am ready to step into some new challenges.

Have you picked a word for the year?

Filed Under: one word, Tuesday Topics

Running Down the Last Week of 2021

January 2, 2022 by Michelle 28 Comments

Happy New Year!

Thanks to a staycation and lots of fun family time, I was able to take a much-needed exhale and relax during this last week. I’m feeling refreshed and ready for 2022!

Before I turn the page, here’s a quick peek at my final week of fitness for 2021.

Weekly Run Down – Week 52

Monday — 2-mile walk, Core & Yoga.
Tuesday — 3.1-mile run, Core & Stretch. 40s and sunshine made it well worth it to push my run to the late morning.

Wednesday –– 1-mile walk, Upper Body Strength, Core & Stretch.
Thursday –– 4.25-mile run & Stretch.
Friday — 3.2-mile walk & Yoga.
Saturday — 4-mile run, Core & Stretch.

A New Year’s Day run has become a tradition of the past few years, and when you can do it in shorts and new kicks, all the better!

Aren’t they pretty?!

Sunday — Peloton Bike, Core & Stretch. I also got my booster shot and flu shot this morning. I was so happy to finally find appointments for the whole family, though it took booking at 3 different pharmacies. Hopefully, there won’t be a vax hangover to contend with – but the plan for the rest of the day is to chill on the couch and watch some football.

With the end of the year, I wrapped up both the #3for31 challenge and #FFHolidayChallenge. I finished 2021 with 654.61 miles – not bad given that there were a few non-running weeks thanks to dealing with my cranky right hip. Thankfully the hip has been happy ever since the cortisone shot, and overall running has felt pretty good. Now the goal is to keep it that way!

Just a couple of 2022 Goals

And, speaking of goals, I recently runfessed that despite being a big goal-setter, I didn’t have any big fitness goals for 2022. For now, I’ve decided to stick with the approach I took for 2021, and focus on smaller monthly goals. I do have two year-long goals: 1) Attempt to do daily strength work (I’m borrowing this one from Cari) and 2) stay off injured reserve (see goal #1). There may be some race goals down the road, but right now I only have one race on the calendar and that’s not until Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully, there will be more racing this year than 2021’s two 10Ks and I would love a blogger meet-up or two.

For January goals, I’m also taking on the 31-day Virtual Ragnar Challenge (thanks to Jenn for this one!).

How was your last week of 2021? Are you setting any 2022 goals?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Filed Under: goals, Weekly Run Down

New Year’s Eve Runfessions

December 31, 2021 by Michelle 13 Comments

Happy Friday and welcome to the final 2021 edition of Fit Five Friday hosted by Darlene, Renée, Jenn, Zenaida, and me!

And what better way to close out this crazy year than with one more trip to the Runfessional? I’m linking up with Marcia to share a Runfession or two…so let’s get started.

New Year’s Eve Runfessions

Weather driven vs. Schedule creep — Mother Nature has thrown a little bit of everything at us and it’s only December! I runfess that I have been letting the weather app dictate when I head out for my runs. Of late I have not been able to drag myself out of bed to run in the cold, dark morning when I can snag a sunny run in the 40s/50s in the mid-afternoon.

On the other hand, I runfess that I so much prefer to workout in the morning that way I know I’m guaranteed to get it done before schedule creep takes over. The dilemma is real.

Still no 2022 goals yet — As most of you know who have been around here for a bit, I’m a big goal-setter. And, yet, I runfess that here we are on the last day of the year and I’m still trying to decide on some fitness goals for 2022. I’ve been noodling around some ideas but still nothing definite. Honestly, I never set any big goals for 2021 – just smaller monthly goals, which seem to work out just fine…so who knows maybe that’s the way to go for 2022.

Time for another sugar detox — I runfess that I have been fully enjoying all the holiday foods and cocktails – no regrets. But I am planning for a mini detox in January to help reset things.

Any runfessions to share? Anyone else dealing with crazy weather? Have you set any 2022 goals yet?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Filed Under: #FitFiveFriday, Runfessions

Christmas Week Run Down

December 26, 2021 by Michelle 27 Comments

This week was a blur and just like Christmas 2021 is in the books! Christmas Eve and Day were filled with food, family, and laughter and I am so ready to enjoy having the week ahead off from work.

As always, I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down – here’s a quick peek at the week that was.

Weekly Run Down – Week 51

Monday — Upper Body Strength, Core, Day 8 of the #12DaysofFitmas, & Stretch.

Tuesday — 3-mile run & Fitmas Day 9. The plan had been to enjoy the milder temps during an afternoon run. But, as they say, ish happens and this run didn’t happen until after dark. Thankful for having a treadmill as an option…though I still think ‘mill miles should count for double!

Wednesday — Fitmas Day 10, Peloton Bike, Core & Stretch.

Thursday –– 4-mile run, Fitmas Day 11 & Stretch.

Friday — Yoga & the final day of Fitmas.

Saturday — 4-mile run & Stretch. Icy rain had me back on the mill, but always so happy to move virtually with this wonderful group of women!

A huge thank you to Kim for this fun collage!

Sunday — 3-mile walk & TBD. My husband J and I got out for our usual Sunday walk and right now I’m all about lingering over my coffee. Some football and board games are definitely in the plans…whether there will be additional movement remains to be seen.

Tell me something about your week.

Filed Under: #12DaysofFitness, Weekly Run Down

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2021 by Michelle 10 Comments

It’s Christmas Eve and my final staycation of 2021 is officially underway!

Today will be filled with food prep, gift wrapping, and a lot of family time. It’s been an absolutely crazy week and I’m so ready for some time off.

No blog post from me for this week’s Fit Five Friday – instead I just want to say to all who celebrate, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Week 50 – Fitting it all in!

December 19, 2021 by Michelle 27 Comments

Just as I declared last week the “season of busyness”, this week stepped up and said “hold my beer” LOL!

But it’s all good, and I just rolled with it. My son came home for college break on Thursday night and my high schooler started his break on Friday, and by this weekend I was starting to feel like I was catching my breath.

I fit in my workouts where I could – here’s a quick look at my week in fitness.

Weekly Run Down — Week 50

Monday — Lower Body Strength, Core, & Day 1 of the #12Days of Fitmas!

Tuesday — Peloton Bike, Upper Body Strength, Fitmas Day 2 & Stretch. As part of my upper body strength, I included one of Tunde’s Arms & Light Weights classes – I forgot what an arm burner those sessions are!

Wednesday — Fitmas Day 3 & Yoga. I had a run planned but woke up with a crazy headache that I just couldn’t shake, but yoga and a little Fitmas were a nice alternative.

Thursday –– Peloton Bike, Core, Fitmas Day 4 & Stretch.

Friday — 3-mile run, Yoga & Fitmas Day 5. Mother Nature graced us with temps in the upper 50s so I was all smiles to get a December run in shorts!

Saturday — 4.5-mile run, Fitmas Day 6 & Stretch. Weather whiplash as winter weather returned with a vengeance! We didn’t get the predicted snow, but most of the day was sleet and rain – thankfully I got out early enough to miss the mess.

Grey day had me playing with filters

Sunday — 2-mile walk & Fitmas Day 7. My husband J and I got out early for our usual Sunday walk, though we shortened it a bit so we could get moving on some errands. Most of today will be spent making cookies, wrapping gifts, and watching football.

For the week ahead, I’m looking forward to a short work week, catching up with friends, and prepping to host family for Christmas dinner. The goal is to continue to soak up all of the goodness of the season!

In case you missed it:

Last-minute Stocking Stuffers for the Runner in Your Life

What are you looking forward to?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Filed Under: Weekly Run Down

Last Minute Stocking Stuffers for the Runner in Your Life

December 17, 2021 by Michelle 14 Comments

Anyone else in a last-minute scramble to finish checking off their “gifts to buy list?” (Please don’t tell me it’s just me!)

If you still find yourself with a runner on your gift list, here are a couple of last-minute stocking stuffer ideas. This post contains affiliate links.

Photo by David Everett Strickler on Unsplash

Last-Minute Gift Ideas for the Runner in Your Life

OCOPPA Rechargeable Handwarmers – I have shared this before and it continues to be a favorite! As someone who suffers from Raynaud’s, my biggest challenge for winter runs is keeping my hands warm. This rechargeable handwarmer offers 3 heat settings and fits nicely in the palm of my hand.

Balega Running Socks – Seriously what runner doesn’t need a pair of high-quality socks? Balega is one of my favorite brands – their comfort and durability cannot be beat!

Flex Fixx Foot Care – And speaking of taking care of your feet, this 3-piece foot massage set is the perfect solution for over-worked feet!

Looking for some last-minute gift ideas? Check out my 5 stocking stuffer ideas for runners! #FitFiveFriday #RunnerGifts Share on X

Audible Gift Card – While I admit that I prefer to listen to music when I run, I have been loving listening to audiobooks on my walks. Audible has thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and original content so there’s bound to be something to fit everyone’s tastes, with a choice of 1, 3, 6, or 12-month memberships.

Knuckle Lights Advanced — This is actually on my wish list 🙂 I’ve had Knuckle Lights as part of my gear for as long as I can remember. This newer model features an ultra-bright, wide flood beam making them the perfect companion for a walk or run.