I Should Be Training For The Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Coco

Now that it’s March 7 (Happy 20th Birthday to my son!), the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler is less than one month away.  Today I have a post on the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run blog about “How I’m Training For The Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.” (Please click through and check it out!) The problem is, I haven’t been training for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler as much as I want to.

While I was pleased to be able to run in Copenhagen two weeks ago, those were relatively easy runs, not hardcore training runs. Last week I got in a few good runs, but this week I hit some roadblocks.

You see, even though it’s March, this is what my neighborhood streets look like.

Training For Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

 And, after 13 years of reliable service, this is what my treadmill looks like. Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Three Things Thursday (The Foreign Travel Edition)

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Coco

When I travel to a different country, I enjoy noticing the little things that reflect cultural differences. This Three Things Thursday post highlights three things I noticed on my recent trip to Europe.

1. Different Names On Familiar Products. One thing that always catches my attention is seeing familiar products with different names. I was particularly amused to see “American Ginger Ale” and “Indian Tonic Water” at a grocery store in Germany.

Three Things Thursday

Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Observing Lent — Ash Wednesday

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Coco

Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent, a 40-day period of repentance and reflection that many Christians observe before Easter.

Ash Wednesday

(source)

This video is a great “highlights reel” that explains Lent in about 2 minutes:

Continue reading →

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Getting Serious About Sports Training

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Coco

Whenever I watch the Olympics, I am inspired by the dedication and hard work of Olympic athletes, and awed by their training programs. I’m also a bit jealous of the professional support they have to help them perform their best–from trainers, to massage therapists, to registered dietitians. I was interested to learn about a local company that offers similar services to any athlete who is serious about sports training.

Endurance Athlete Center

As explained on their website, the Endurance Athlete Center in Falls Church, Virginia offers physical therapy, massage, personal training, podiatry and nutritional services to triathletes, runners, cyclists, swimmers, and adventure racers. In February, EAC had an open house for the local Moms Run This Town groups, and we got to see their facilities, workout with their trainers, and hear presentations from their professionals.  Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Setting Goals For March

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Coco

I am trying to get into a habit of setting goals each month, although I need to keep them simple so I don’t get overwhelmed. I already am finding that taking the time to set a few goals, write them down, and share them here is making me more accountable and more determined to reach my goals.

Setting Goals

Before I share my March goals, I want to review how I did with my February goals.

February Goals

  • BestBodyBootcamp. I did pretty well keeping up with BestBodyBootcamp, although I missed a few specific workouts the week I was in Europe because the hotel gym hours didn’t fit with my schedule.
  • Run 2014. I met my 20.14 miles/week goal during the first two weeks of February, but I only ran about 12 miles during the week I was away, and then my treadmill at home went out of commission. I think I will have to set this goal aside until my treadmill is running again too!
  • Run in Europe. After setting a goal to run in Europe, I was determined to make it happen.  I headed out for a run the day I arrived, and ran two other days, including running around The Lakes in Copenhagen.

All in all, I think I did pretty well.

Now for my March goal-setting:

Goal Setting

During March I will be focusing on two things: observing Lent and getting ready for my April races! Lent starts on Wednesday, so I will share more about how I will be observing Lent then. To kick up my training, I am going to do speed or hill intervals (or some other kind of speed or hill training) every week and make sure I am including core and glute exercises in my strength routines, to keep my ITB and piriformis quiet!

Have you set any goals for March?

Do you have any spring vacation plans?

Posted in Fitness, Life | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments