Sunday, May 1, 2011

April Rewind

Oshkosh Half in the rain 4/15
Whew!  What a month April was!  And how quickly it flew by.  Reflecting back always provides me with good perspective.  I'm so thankful for the past 30 days of good health, fun visits with family and friends, and the new running friendships I have made.  Life is good.


MILES OF TRIALS
April miles: 108.75
Longest run:  13.1
Races:  Oshkosh Half-Marathon (recap here)
   April 15 finished in 2:09:02
The Jelly Bean virtual 5K (recap here)  
   April 21 finished in 25:58 (PR!)
Illinois Half-Marathon (recap to come!)
   April 30 finished in 2:03:58 (PR!)


IT'S NOT FAT, IT'S FUEL
Monthly weight loss:  +2.5 lbs  (o'crap!)
YTD weight loss: -17.9 lbs
My Biggest Loser contest ended in March, and I really slacked this month on watching the food intake.  Everything is life suddenly got really busy for me.  Meal planning took a backseat, thus proper nutrition faltered.  Easter, my daughter's birthday, carb-loading and rest days for 2 half-marathons probably didn't help either.  In May, I plan to attack this much harder.  HOLD ME TO IT!


MIND OVER MILES
Books I'm reading... I've started the following two books.  Unfortunately, my reading time has been cut this past month.  As soon as I finish them, I'll write a full review for you.  So far, they are both great motivating reads!!
"Run Like A Girl" by Mina Samuels
"Hot (Sweaty) Mommas" by Kara Douglass Thom & Laurie Lethert Kocanda 



ROCK ON!!
Song downloads this month...
Not much new on the ipod this month... only two downloads!


MONTHLY CONFESSION
I stole ALL the chocolate from my kids' Easter baskets.  And ate it.  Hmmm, I just wonder where those extra pounds came from?!?! 


QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"A goal should scare you a little, and excite you a lot."  ~Joe Vitale, author


This is exactly how I feel about the 26.2 monster.  In April, I've researched a lot of different choices for my first marathon in the fall.  (I decided St. Louis is too hilly and probably stupid for my first full.)



THE MISSION FOR MAY
• Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K (May 7) - finish the hilly course in under 27:00.
• Monthly miles goal: 100
• Weight loss goal: -9 lbs

• Marathon #1: Make the commitment, pick a race and REGISTER already!!  My goal is to check this off by the end of today. Damn, I'm nervous...

• 31 Days Hard Core: I'm initiating a vigorous core challenge for myself in May... 31 straight days of core exercises, an assortment of workouts from P90X to TurboFire to The Shred.  No excuses!

• I want to relax my running this month before I start my next training program in June.  Forget the times and pace... and just enjoy the run!  I find little "breaks" like this help to refresh my soul, legs and passion.

Thanks to all of you who follow my running rambles here.  
Your support and encouragement really mean a lot!  
xoxo

14 comments:

  1. I LOVE that quote! I hope you don't mind that I borrowed it for Facebook.

    Keep up the hard work. You are definitely motivating me. I used to think there was no way I could do a half marathon, but I think I might see that in my future.

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  2. You can only steal the chocolates from the kiddies Easter baskets when they are little, so enjoy as long as it lasts!

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  3. I agree with Karen--what a fabulous quote!
    A PR for both a half and a 5k in one month? AMAZING!
    :)

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  4. Also LOVE that quote :) You had an amazing April... we'll just look at the +2.5 as a blip ;-)
    I have been fueled by your excitement!

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  5. Congers on your new Half PR! I can't wait to read your race recap.

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  6. Congrats on your half PR. You are so right you need to take a month off and enjoy some fun running other wise I think you get burn out from doing so many races back to back.

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  7. Good job and great goals! That's a great idea to make monthly goals, I may have to look into doing that.

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  8. Hey, Jess, thanks for following! Good luck choosing your full.

    I just did the LaCrosse (WI, obviously, hence the flat tire in WI) marathon with my brother. Quite a few hills...ugh!

    Great job on the half marathon PR! Congratulations! Since you're so close, maybe we'll end up at the same race some time. Let me know if you end up signing up for anything in the St. Louis area.

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  9. Great job Jess on your April accomplishments!!!

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  10. Great quote! You did an awesome job in April!!! Way to go. Good luck in May!

    Now, I need to sit down and write out my own May goals since I totally have skipped goals for the majority of the year. Oops.

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  11. Wow!! Amazing month! I imagine it's hard to lose weight and stay properly fueled for all those runs...

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  12. Great month for you! Congrats!

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  13. Great job this month, Jess! Thanks again for hosting the Jelly Bean.

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