February in Review

I can't believe it's March already!  February was a good month overall, with a couple of little hiccups.

Here are my numbers:  

Number of runs:  11
Distance ran:  64.1K (39.8 miles)
Time spent running: did not track this month

Number of ski outings:  3
Distance skied:  30.8K
Time spent skiing:  did not track

# of Snowshoe Adventures: 2, and 2 walks in the snow without snowshoes
Time spent snowshoeing/snow walking:  6 hours 10 minutes

Days of yoga:  4
Time spent yoga-ing:  2 hours 5 minutes

Number of rest days:  7

In February, I said I would:

• Run 3x a week, build each week to run 10K by the end of the month and I came close to this.  There were two weeks where I only ran twice, and my longest run was 8K, but I will do 10K today.
• Ski 1x a week, ski the 15K loop at least once this month and I came close to this too.  We are running low on snow, but I did get out to do the Marathon loop.
• Snowshoe 1x a week and I snowshoed or walked in the snow once a week.  
• 30 minutes + of yoga, 1x a week and almost did.
• 1 hour reading, every week and I surpassed this with two finished books to show for it and a third underway!

Regarding exercise, I feel:  Pretty good.  I would feel better if I was fitting in every run I planned to do.  I was not good at getting out of bed when the alarm went off this month.  With brighter mornings, this should get easier in March.  My goal for this month is to get out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off and not sleep through any planned workouts.

Regarding food, I feel:  That I did a lot better with breakfast this month.  I made a smoothie almost every day, and on the days I didn't, I had yogurt,  granola and fruit.  I only had one day with a take out breakfast, but it was a planned treat at the end of the month when I had to go on a road trip for work.  I have also been packing healthy lunches the night before to bring to work again rather than scrambling in the morning or buying my lunch in town.  I could be doing a lot better at planning dinners.  We ate a lot of prepackaged food this month.  In March, I will plan dinner for the week in advance and shop on Monday on my way home from work.

Regarding sleep, I feel:  Like I jinxed myself last month.  My bad, worry wart habits have come back in full force this month.  I've kept my good habit of going to bed at a decent time, but then I lie there and can't turn my brain off.  When I have a bad night's sleep, I'm more likely to make an excuse not to get up to run/do yoga in the morning.  I wish I knew how to fix this one.  It has been something I have struggled with off and on my whole life and I'm not doing any of the things that can make it worse (caffeine in the afternoon, sugary sweets late at night, checking work email after work), so I feel kinda stuck on this one and just hope it gets better.  I have not felt the depressing effects of winter this year, probably because it has been mild, and I have been active, but maybe that is what is creeping in.   In March, I will take Vitamin D every day.

In general, I feel:  Ready to start a new training plan, happy that my new job gives me better work/life balance than my old job, glad that we still have snow for snowshoeing a short drive away, but the roads are clear for running in town, and I want to start saving for a trip somewhere.  In March, I will make a realistic budget and stick to it.

Here's my plan for March:
Run 4x per week, or run 3x and ski.
Build one morning run to 8K
Build my weekend long run to 14K
Do yoga 1x per week for 30 minutes or more
Go hiking or snowshoeing 1x per week
Get back on the phone a friend wagon!