5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

Thanks for joining Darlene, Jenn, Renee, Zenaida, and me for another Fit Five Friday link-up! This week’s suggested topic is “5 Sources of Mental Clutter for Your Training” – of course, you are always free to share any fitness-related post.

Much like the clutter that can take over your physical space, mental clutter can clog your head space causing you to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Mental clutter can get in the way on many fronts including your training.

5 Sources of Mental Clutter When Training

The “Shoulds” – How many times have turned yourself in knots stressing over what your training “should” look like? While it can be inspiring to see what others are doing in their training, it’s important not to get caught up in the comparison game. What works for someone else may not work for you – as the saying goes, “you do you!”

Projecting into the future – Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s looked ahead at a hard workout or long run on a training plan and started to worry. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself during training is to stay in the moment – run the workout you’re in and don’t worry about the miles to come. Trust the process!

Hanging on to a “bad” performance – Everyone has a tough race at some point and while it’s human nature to replay what went wrong, at some point it’s also important to chalk it up as valuable experience and move on. Ruminating over a tough run or race can be very defeating.

What might go wrong – Stressing over the weather or the impact of missed workouts on a race day is certainly not going to help you to reach the starting line in a good frame of mind. Let go of things you can’t control and focus on the things you can have an effect on.

Comparison with the past – Similar to the “shoulds” is the “I used to’s”. Runners can often get caught up dwelling over the paces they used to be able to run, stressing over why they can’t match those times (or distances). Letting go of comparison with your past self and embracing where you are can go a long way to eliminating the mental clutter.

Do you deal with mental clutter?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and MoreRunning With AttitudeRun Laugh Eat PieRuns 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!

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Sleep like a Runner

Did you know that today is World Sleep Day? 

World Sleep Day is an internationally recognized event created by World Sleep Society to raise sleep health awareness among researchers, healthcare workers, and the general public. The importance of getting a quality night’s sleep continues to gain attention as more studies show the correlation between sleep, good health, and longevity. And yet for many of us, present company included, sleep can be tough to come by.

I’ve written a couple of posts over the years on the topic of sleep and in honor of World Sleep Day, I’m re-sharing my post on how to “Sleep Like a Runner” for this week’s Fit Five Friday. (This post was originally published in April 2017 and has been updated)

Sleep Like a Runner

As runners, we spend time on training plans – focusing on building mileage and improving paces. There’s an effort to cross-train and do strength work. Some runners embrace their rest days while others begrudgingly will give their legs need a break. We focus on our nutrition, fueling, and hydration. But there’s one critical aspect that many of us may not be giving enough attention to…sleep!

Lack of proper sleep can really impact your ability to focus, think clearly, and your overall mood — and if you’re a runner, this lack of sleep can have a huge impact on performance and recovery.

During sleep, growth hormones stimulate muscle growth and repair, bone building, and metabolism – all helping with recovery. Sleep deprivation slows the release of growth hormones, and when these hormone levels are down, cortisol (stress hormone) levels are on the rise. Too much cortisol in your system can also disrupt your body’s ability to recover properly. Lack of sleep can also impact glycogen storage – clearly a big deal for endurance running.

So I’m teaming up with Casper to provide some tips to help you Sleep like a Runner!

Sleep like a Runner

This last point is a big one for me! Using technology before bed has been linked to an increase in stress levels. I know personally, it can be hard to turn off my phone or step away from my laptop. If you find yourself tethered to your electronic device, try to power down a little bit earlier each night until you can get to at least 1 hour before bed technology-free.

Disclosure: Thanks to Casper for this graphic. I was not compensated in any way for this post. All opinions expressed here, as always, are my own.

Do you prioritize your sleep?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and MoreRunning With AttitudeRun Laugh Eat PieRuns 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!


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Roaring through March

Things have been off the chain since March came roaring in! Work life has been beyond busy pushing many things, including blogging to the back burner. Thankfully there is light at the end of the tunnel – another week or so to go. In the meantime, I am enjoying having my college boy home for spring break!

And, yes, the workouts are still happening, providing some much-needed sanity. Here’s a quick peek into my week in fitness.

From Sunday’s run

Roaring through March

Monday — 1-mile walk, hip mobility work & PT exercises
Tuesday — 3.5-mile walk, Core, & Upper Body Strength
Wednesday — 3-mile run. In honor of International Women’s Day, I received some great gear from the Brooks Empower Her collection – a collab with Dick’s Sporting Goods. Together they will donate up to $500K in support of girls running programs based on purchases of the new line.


Thursday — Peloton Bike & Core
Friday — 3-mile run & hip mobility work
Saturday — 1-mile walk, Core & Upper Body Strength
Sunday — 5.5-mile run

Based on the forecast for the week ahead it looks like Old Man Winter will once again be crashing the party – I heard the word “Nor’easter”, sigh. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that I can work around both the weather and my very full schedule to stay off the treadmill. Wish me luck!

How was your week? Are you seeing signs of Spring?

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

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March Coffee Catch Up

February went by in a blink and just like that we are ushering in a new month! It’s the perfect time for a little coffee catch-up, so I’m linking up with Deborah and Coco for the Ultimate Coffee Date. And, of course, it’s Friday so that means another Fit Five Friday link-up! So grab a mug of your fave hot beverage and let’s chat. (This post contains affiliate links).

March Coffee Catch Up

Over coffee, I would start by giving you a quick update on our contractor saga…we have found two more contractors who have actually returned our phone calls…wish us luck! Moving on…

Over coffee, I would tell you that I just finished a galley copy of Des Linden’s book, Choosing to Run. This was a fantastic read! This book provides not only a great look at Des’ career, her willingness to gamble on herself, and the mindset and tenacity it took to gut it out in the crazy tough conditions of the 2018 Boston Marathon. I’m a huge Des fan and this book did not disappoint!

Over coffee, I would tell you how blown away I am by the welcome kit Brooks recently sent out to the Run Happy Team – so much goodness from tights to tops to bras to socks to hats…and of course, shoes! My favorite items are the Run Happy Team half zip and hoodie – so cute!

This photo doesn’t do the welcome kit justice!

Over coffee, I would tell you that we broke down and revived our Netflix subscription. Since then we have binged Wednesday which we both really enjoyed. I took advantage of my husband’s business travel this week to catch up on The Home Edit. So now to figure out what’s next.

What would you tell me over coffee? Any streaming suggestions? Any fun new run gear?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and MoreRunning With AttitudeRun Laugh Eat PieRuns 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!

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Winter’s Making a Comeback

After an amazing stretch of mild weather for February, we came crashing back to reality this week as Old Man Winter made it clear he was not ready to leave the party. Icy conditions and a sub-zero wind chill meant spending some quality time with my treadmill. Here’s a peek at how the week played out.

Winter’s Making a Comeback

Monday — 2.5 miles & Core. While I don’t usually run back-to-back days, I wanted to shift to my new workout schedule so a Monday run was needed. I had the day off for Presidents’ Day and it was 50 degrees so it really wasn’t too hard to get out the door for a short loop.
Tuesday — Rest day
Wednesday — Upper Body Strength, Core & Hip mobility. This class was recommended in one of the Peloton Facebook groups, and it’s become an instant favorite!


Thursday — 3.5 miles, Core & Hip mobility. An ice/snow mix hit early in the morning so this was a treadmill run.
Friday — Peloton bike, Core, & Lower Body Strength
Saturday — 6 miles. My longest run of 2023…and on the mill no less! Temps in the teens before factoring in the wind chill made running outdoors a hard “No” for me. I’m not going to lie – this many miles on the mill for me was not easy.
Sunday — On the plan: Peloton Bike & Yoga. I keep saying I need to get to my yoga mat…today’s the day!

The highlight of the week was hitting my February goal of returning to a 6-mile “long run”. The slow and steady mileage build seems to be paying off and I’m excited to see what March will bring. The forecast for the week ahead is filled with snow and freezing temps – I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can get outside for next week’s long run.

In Case You Missed It:

My February Runfessions

Is it feeling like winter where you are? How do you feel about treadmill running?

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

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My February Runfessions

Amazingly enough, we’ve reached the last Friday of the month which means Marcia has opened the Runfessional. It’s also time for another Fit Five Friday hosted by me, DarleneReneeJenn, and Zenaida, so let’s dive in.

My February Runfessions

Not funny Mother Nature

I live in New England so honestly, I really shouldn’t be surprised, but I runfess that I am not amused by Mother Nature’s twisted sense of humor. After flirting with spring-like weather for the past couple of weeks, snow and ice have returned this week and are all that can be seen in the upcoming forecast. Seriously?! I ran in shorts on Monday! Sigh…

Cheating on Matty

I started the month motivated to participate in Matty’s enCORE 28 challenge for February on the Peloton app. I runfess that for as much as I enjoy Matty’s classes I got bored of doing only his core classes…so I “cheated” on him with a couple of the other instructors. So the month’s core streak lives, just not all with Matty.

The scale can be blunt

I runfess that my eating habits have gotten lackadaisical. Basically, the “oh it’s the holidays” mindset of December hasn’t left the building. Ahem, it’s now the end of February. I runfess that I can feel the extra pounds on my run…time to reel it in. I’ll be reacquainting myself with MyFitnessPal.

Any Runfessions to share? Is Mother Nature playing games where you are?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and MoreRunning With AttitudeRun Laugh Eat PieRuns with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Please remember to link back to your hosts and share the link love by visiting and commenting on your hosts and at least two other Fit Five Friday bloggers!


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Week 7 – Creating a New Plan

Running took a bit of a hit this week thanks to a pretty hectic work week. There were early starts, multiple days of commuting, and long hours leaving me with absolutely no desire to hit the mill post-work.

After taking a look at what’s on the deck work-wise for the next few weeks I’ll be making some changes to my workout plan. But, before I get to that, here’s a quick look at this week in fitness.

Week 7 – Creating a New Plan

Monday — Peloton Bike, Core & PT session
Tuesday — 2.5-mile walk, Core & Lower Body Strength
Wednesday — Core, otherwise rest
Thursday — 3 miles & Core
Friday — 2.5 mile walk, Core & Upper Body Strength
Saturday — Peloton Bike & Core
Sunday — 5 miles, Core & hip mobility

While I am not thrilled to get just two days of running, the plus side was both runs felt really good. My hip flexor definitely starts talking to me post-run, so there has been a lot of extra stretching. My PT wants me to hit the bike at least a couple of times a week so I’m glad I got that box checked.

Creating a new plan

Looking at what’s upcoming work-wise for the next few weeks and thinking about my ideal schedule (3 days of running, 2 – 3 days on the bike, plus strength training and a rest day), I’ve decided to shift my “long” run back to Saturdays. I’ll plan to run Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, leaving me Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays for time on the bike and strength training. Tuesdays (and often now Wednesdays) are office days so I think sticking to trying to grab a walk at lunch and perhaps some yoga (or just rest) after the long commute home is my best bet. I’ve also shifted my PT appointments from Monday to Friday mornings. Hopefully, this plan will make it less stressful to fit workouts in and avoid having to run on back-to-back days which my hip doesn’t love at the moment.

In Case You Missed It:

Five Races for 2023

Do you follow a set schedule every week or do you find yourself adjusting week-to-week?

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

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Five Races for 2023

As I continue to make steady progress with my physical therapist, my thoughts are slowly starting to turn toward potential races I want to run this year. I love the fun, camaraderie, and challenge races can provide! For this week’s Fit Five Friday I’m sharing some races I’m hoping to run this year.

Five Races for 2023

Mystic 10K (May) – I actually just registered for this one and for added fun my husband is going to run it too! HMF events put on a great race so I’m looking forward to this one.

Newport 10M (June) – I haven’t run this race since the inaugural race and now it’s preparing to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Time flies! This race offers a beautiful course that includes both the infamous Newport mansions and beautiful coastal views.

Ocean Road 10K (October) – I have run this race in 2018 and 2021. I love this course and had planned to run it last year, but it collided with college parents’ weekend.

Western MA 10M (November) – I ran the inaugural race last year and really liked the point-to-point course and post-race vibe. As soon as I finished this race I knew I wanted to run it again.

As for #5? I’ve got a couple of options I’m thinking about – ZOOMA Cape Cod (September), Ted Corbitt 15K (December), and the MR8K (December) are all possibilities. Also, Run Happy Team members are being offered the opportunity to participate in Brooks-sponsored races, so for me, this could mean the Philadelphia Distance Run (September half), Twin Cities 10M (part of the Twin Cities Marathon weekend in October), or the Indianapolis Monumental Half (late October).

So yes, there could easily be more than five races and, as long as injuries stay at bay, I’m here for it!

What races are you planning to run this year?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and MoreRunning With AttitudeRun Laugh Eat PieRuns 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!

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February Mid-Month Check-In

Amazing to think that we are quickly approaching the halfway point of this month! The days are flying for sure. While I missed last week’s Run Down, the workouts have continued. Instead of recapping each day, I’ll just share some quick highlights.

February Mid-Month Check-in

Running

For the most part, running is feeling pretty good. I’m still following the Team Wilpers Half Marathon Challenge – though with no half marathon on the horizon, I’m following the PT’s advice to build my “long run” distance slowly. Mother Nature gifted us with 60-degree weather on Friday – so running in shorts was definitely a highlight!

Strength Training & PT

I’ve been diligently doing my PT exercises to help wake up these lazy glutes and improve my hip mobility. I’ve started Matty’s enCORE daily core challenge for February on the Peloton app. And, this past week I decided to do another Split Strength Program, this time with JJ.


I liked this program and plan to repeat it this upcoming week.

Throw in a couple of rides on the Peloton Bike and that’s the way my last couple of weeks have played out. The one area that has taken a hit is my daily walks. Icy roads and/or a tight schedule have sometimes sidelined my plans. The forecast looks fairly mild this week (especially for February) so hopefully, I can log more time outdoors.

In case you missed it:

For the Love of Running

Tell me, how’s February treating you so far?

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

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For the Love of Running

Happy Friday! This week the Fit Five Friday crew is inviting you to share what you love about running – of course, you can join the link-up with any fitness-related post you have …but with Valentine’s Day just a few days away, how could we not talk about our love of running!

A relationship with running definitely can have its highs and lows – at any time your answer to the question “What do you love about running?” can be different. Right now, here are five things I love about running.

Five Things I Love About Running

Running…
… gives me the time and space to sort through “all the things.” There’s a reason I call it my road therapy.

… shows me that I am often stronger than I think I am.

… connects me. I have connected with so many great folks from all over through this healthy obsession.

… reminds me to give myself grace and celebrate the small wins. Coming back from injuries is hard y’all!

… helps me to appreciate and enjoy the process vs. just focusing on the final destination.

What do you love about running?

Welcome to Fit Five Friday!

Join My First 5K and MoreRunning With AttitudeRun Laugh Eat PieRuns 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!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


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