I got to racing so much in November that apparently I was too busy writing up race recaps and never recapped November! It’s my favorite time of year to race, which is why I have so many long sleeve tech shirts (which I like to sleep in).

Running has been going well on just three days a week. No goal races in the near future, just keepin’ on keepin’ on. Running didn’t hurt me, but life? It’s been tough. Love can definitely hurt sometimes.

Love hurts, love scars
Love wounds and mars

Don’t get me wrong: I’m believe that it’s better to have loved & lost than to never love at all. Endings, though; endings can hurt. If we didn’t open our hearts, it wouldn’t hurt — but then we’d close our hearts to so much love. The hurt lets us know that we’ve love and been loved. In the case of love, no pain, no gain.

By the way, there’s a new video on my Youtube Channel. Once the hustle and bustle of your holiday is over — especially if maybe you’ve eaten a bit more than you planned to! — check out my Yin Yoga Runner Stretch & Digestion video here. This one is a longer one, so make sure you can carve out a little me time for yourself.

I’ll be making more me time a goal for January! Will I be able to meet that goal? Stay tuned!

Getting in scheduled runs
Still no schedule, no racing, no big races on the horizon . . . but still running. And I definitely deserve an A for some of the cold temps I’ve been running in lately!

Grade Earned:  A

Recording my runs
I was doing well, but all the video editing I’ve been doing eats up way too much of my time. I know it’ll get easier as I learn the software, but still, things have gotten a little spotty again.

Grade Earned: B-

Dynamic Warmup
Still skimping on the warmups — but yes, I’m at least doing a few things before I start to tun. Even on the days when it feels like single digits.

Grade Earned: B+

Foam Rolling
I have been doing well with foam rolling before my runs. Not at any other time, but you do what you can. I moved the stick upstairs with the thought of occasionally using it . . . it remains untouched so far.

Grade Earned: B

Nutrition
Nutrition has been a struggle as it always is in the shorter days, but for the most part, so far, I seem to be winning that struggle. A little indulgence here and there, which of course is fine — trying to make sure I don’t use the holidays as an excuse to indulge all the time — that’s the trick: pick your indulgences, enjoy them, but don’t make it an every day occurrence.

Grade Earned: A

Support

• Massage? Not this month.
• Chiropractor Appointment? Still need to schedule it. Been too busy with other appointments.
• Do I need a hair appointment? Made it after reading this, LOL — I had been thinking about it, so this got me to do it!

Grade Earned: B

Cross Training
There’s been a lot of yoga, for obvious reasons. I’ve been able to do a bit more strength training, but with more travel to my parents on the horizon, that will probably drop back down. I’ve started to incorporate Soul Strolls on the treadmill since often the roads are too iffy or the days are just too short.

Grade Earned: A-

November/December 2019  gets  . . . 
. . . an B. I know, lots of As, lots of good stuff, but the goals . . . I met 4 out of 7 goals. Not so great. Life has been busy. I may not have been staying with my mom as much, but I was still going to see my parents. Obviously that’s going to ramp up again and I will be away a lot again.

November Goals: (yes, never made goals for December)

• Strength train 2 – 3x week. Y. Slowly began to do a bit more, but it will be a struggle with more travel for the forseeable future.
• See if I can at least sometimes get back to a 4 x week running schedule. N. Nope, too much going on in my life right now. I’m happy with where my running’s at, though..
• Approach another studio about getting on their substitute list. N. I kind of put my eggs in one basket with the first studio. I recently discover my eye doctor is a sub there. You can’t make this stuff up!
• Foam roll when I’m able. Y. Before runs.
• Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Y. Still not tracking, still mostly maintaining (which means I bounce around a few pounds, but it’s not an upward creep). Being home more did help. Hopefully I’ll find the right balance going into 2020.
• Meal plan on the weekends! N. Still struggling with it. I still need to keep reminding myself that this is a goal. 
• A race? At some point?. Y. Three of them, in fact: two in November and one in December.

Which leads me to January Goals:

• Strength train 2 – 3x week. There will be a lot of back and forth, with no ending date. I’ll do what I can, when I can — as always..
• Maintain running 3 x week. I’m doing well on that schedule and with nothing big on the horizon see no need to ramp it up.
• Study chair/slow yoga. Another to-do on my long list of to-dos to get off the ground teaching is to target some of the senior centers around me. I need to get comfortable with chair yoga. Not saying you can’t do regular yoga if you’re a “senior”, of course!
• Foam roll when I’m able. Keep foam rolling before runs. Try to grab the stick occasionally.
• Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Winter is always my tough season when it comes to eating. I stopped tracking 8 months ago, and have continued to maintain my weight — a huge win for me!
• Meal plan on the weekends! I’ll keep putting this in until I get back to it. Which I haven’t managed yet. 
• Carve out more me time. Between YTT, my parents, teaching yoga (which requires a lot of prep work for me — someday it’ll be more muscle memory, but that day is in the future), the dogs, trying to learn video editing! — let’s just say I’ve got away from some of the self care routines I know are important to keep me healthy.

Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with Running on Happy, Suzlyfe, Crazy Running Girl, and Coach Debbie Runs each week for the Coaches’ Corner linkup