Compassion: February 2022

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

Compassion is to look beyond your own pain, to see the pain of others. — Yasmin Mogahed

Short, succinct. What a beautiful definition of compassion. From a 13 year old girl, apparently.

I showed my mom compassion by buying her the roses for Valentine’s Day. It had been a busy, tiring week with all that ice to get off the driveway, and truly, the last thing I wanted to do was stop before or after my run to buy flowers. I thought about how much they would lift her spirits, though, and I knew that that small amount of time was worth it.

My Dad was a very romantic man, but he almost never brought my mom flowers (not sure he ever did!).

I also showed compassion by staying a few days while a temporary aide came to take over for her regular aide, who understandably wanted to have a few days off. I got a lot of stuff done for my mom on this visit — as always. There’s always something to take care of.

I also showed compassion to my body, by not trying to do too much too quickly and (mostly) eat healthy foods. It’s so tempting to turn to comfort foods in Winter, which is fine, but too much of a “good thing” ain’t good!

The treadmill helps on days like these. Although I wasn’t actually home this day. Photo courtesy of Mr. Judy

Getting in scheduled runs
Thanks to the treadmill, I managed to do well on running 3 x week.

Grade Earned:  A-

Dynamic Warmup
I am enjoying using my stationary bike as part of my dynamic warmup when I run in my neighborhood. I runfess I missed it when I was running in other places! Always tempting to skip, but I know it’s so important to warm up, especially in Winter.

Grade Earned: A

Foam Rolling
I have added the morning foot massage on top of my quick foam rolling in the mornings. Both feel good (to me, anyway). I got in some slightly longer foam rolling at my moms — yes, I take a foam roller with me!

Grade Earned: A

Nutrition
I splurged a little on my birthday — my chocolate oatmeal in the morning, and after the sushi and cupcake for lunch — I was not hungry for dinner at all. Otherwise I’ve done my best to eat healthy most of the time. Perhaps a little too much bread — although I don’t eat that much, but there will be more about that in a future post. I’m holding steady with my weight which is not a bad place to be right now.

Grade Earned: A

Twisting my way to good digestion (notice the folded up treadmill on the right)

Cross Training
I have kept up with the morning strength training, which is often in the form of barre that includes light weights (but not always) on the days I don’t run. I’m back on my stationary bike more often. Lots of Yoga; it goes without saying. Plus all that ice that had to be shoveled! One short hike at Olana.

Grade Earned: A

It was to finally get in a hike at Olana, instead of walking up & down the road — it’s quite steep though so walking there is still a good workout.

February 2022  gets  . . . 
. . . an A. I definitely felt much more like myself in February, and was able to do a lot more, too! The wind was insane for most of the month, the ice was the same, and the treadmill was a godsend — even though I try to get most of my runs in outside. I get really tired of being cold though! I made a huge effort to eat healthy, knowing that the transition of Winter into Spring is a tricky time of year health wise. I think it paid off.

February Goals:

  • Run 3 x week. Y. Mostly anyway. Very short runs, but slowly getting a little long-er.
  • ST 3 x week. Y/N.  I did pretty well. One week there were only two workouts with weights, but I added in some core work — I don’t like to do weights every day, and that’s just how it turned out that week.
  • Continue to work on a new Spring challenge. Y. I worked hard on this in February too! Almost all the videos have been filmed. I think it will go live either the end of March or the beginning of April. I’m leaning towards April right now. There’s still a lot of work to go Stay tuned!
  • At least one real rest day a week. Y. It was a busy month. I wasn’t resting nearly as much as January, but I also finally felt back to normal by the end of the month (knock on wood it stays that way). I do think I managed one rest day. And then there was all the Olympics watching . . . 
  • Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Y. Weight is staying pretty steady.

Which leads me to March Goals:

  • Run 3 x week. I’m keeping it here. Would like to maybe move up to 4 x week but March can be such an iffy month and really — still not training for anything.
  • ST 3 x week. I will settle for 2 x week if necessary. 
  • Cardio/ST before 10am on non-running days. I like to do this as a combo of light cardio plus weights. Some days it’s just straight up weights. Some days it’s just cardio. Just move!
  • Continue to work on a new Spring challenge. Still a lot of work to go! Man, it’s amazing how much goes into something like this.
  • At least one real rest day a week. Hopefully it will only be daytrips to my mom in March, which makes it easier to get in those rest days. We should be celebrating her 94th birthday in less than next week!
  • A short getaway? This will depend on a lot of different factors, but I’m hoping it happens (and working on making it happen — no control over the weather, though). Might not happen til April, though. Or maybe May . . .
  • Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. I made pretty good choices in February, which can definitely be a tricky month. Maybe I need to title this differently. Maybe a goal for next month, if I remember, LOL!
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Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.

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24 thoughts on “Compassion: February 2022”

  1. Well done on February, Judy! It seems that you have nailed your nutrition, too! Fantastic!

    We both love bread and were eating way too much of it.
    Now we hardly ever eat bread (or pasta/pizza) unless we have guests or are eating out. I think it has really helped to improve our diet.
    I’m looking forward to your future post on the bread topic!

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    1. Generally I don’t eat a lot of bread, but I do eat some. My husband is a very different story. If he’s going to be eating bread, I want it at least not to be filled with unhealthy stuff!

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  2. Kudos on your A report card. You are very consistent each month meeting your goals. Sounds like the treadmill was worth it for you.

    Hope spring comes sooner than later. But as you know it’s out of our control.

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  3. Bread, say no more 😉 I am one of those who could eat bread (with just butter) and be totally content with nothing else. Often when I was pregnant (with all three kids), I had a couple slices of toast whenever I needed a snack. Solid February for you, Judy, especially with all the crazy weather. Great job!!

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    1. I used to make bread from scratch regularly when we were first married. I was also very overweight!

      Nothing is ever off the table, but I since I’m very short, I have to be more careful about what I eat than someone tall like you, Kim .

      I still enjoy bread — just in moderation (mostly!).

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  4. Bread… why is it so delicious.
    Sounds like you did great in February! Your mom is turning 94? Wow! You’re lucky to have her with you this long.
    Funny, I’ve been doing some yoga flows focused on twists lately, and I’m enjoying them.
    I’m hoping you get some spring-like weather soon.!

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    1. Spring like weather is rather unlikely at this point in time for us. I do remember when we moved here it was April & very hot! Which was a surprise. I don’t think that’s happened again . . .

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  7. I am a self proclaimed carb-a-holic so I never turn down bread, lol.

    Great job on your February goals and love your goals for March. I hope that you are able to go a quick getaway. Also celebrating your mom’s birthday should be fun – what a blessing!

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  8. I’m fortunate to be in a job where I get to show compassion all day long. Sometimes (like today) it’s exhausting. But I’m glad you’ve been able to give your mom what she needs. Make sure to show yourself compassion too!

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  10. Great job this month! This can be a tough time of year of stay on track, but you did really well. Hopefully you can get outside for some run as it warms up (if you want to!)

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  11. Can’t get better than all A’s! I would have a really hard time without any bread. I do try to make my own muffins and other breakfast breads so I’m not eating loads of sugar in them. We do what we can though.

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    1. I do eat bread, but I’m the type of person who just gains weight extremely easily so I have to watch it.

      I used to bake bread from scratch a lot when we were first married — those were the days!

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