July

July Runfessions

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 22 Comments

I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty sad it’s the end of July already! July is such a big month between school ending, summer vacation and leisurely nights, I’m always sad to see July end. August means we only have 4-5 weeks until school starts back up again and you try to cram everything in!

July Runfessions

Runfession #1: I’m loving my early morning runs! I get up at 5:30am and out the door by 6am to run as the sun rises in the distance and the heat of the day has barley started. I runfess that I can’t get up during a week day for work as easily as a early morning long run or run before work kinda of day. Wonder why?

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Runfession #2: I rather enjoyed my bike commute to work last week way more then I thought I would. I’m not a confident road cyclist by any means however, I do love to ride my bike on the trail. In order for me to ride my bike to work, my husband has to be off work and drop off/pick up the girls AND I have to have a full office day. I travel a lot for work so I can’t just bike whenever my husband is off. All the stars have to align. It took me just under 35 minutes to get to work and I felt so great for the rest of the day.

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Even the bike ride back home in the heat and humidity was pretty decent!

Runfession #3: I’ve been really slacking at blogging the last few months but honestly feel pretty neutral about it all. There are times when I want to blog a lot and other times when I’m just putting together a weekly recap of my workouts and that’s it! Here’s the real runfession – I’m trying to decide if it’s time to end the blog or just blog randomly when I want to.

Runfession #4: Summer’s with little kids is hard work! This isn’t me complaining but just recognizing that being a parents with kids is hard work. You work all day (in or out of home) while kids are at day care or day camps; driving kids to sports (and maybe coach them), mini meals and snacks replace family meals, late bed times equals cranky kids in the morning and constantly planning for the next day. It’s exhausting and hard. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing all these things (driving, coaching, providing opportunities and experiences) but man, it’s hard sometimes. Sometimes I wish parents could get a medal for accomplishing the most simple task. Yup, seriously!

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Runfession #5: I’ve been eating nacho’s almost every night for the last two weeks! No joke! I’m obsessed with these spicy nachos, dusted (loaded) with Havarti cheese (and sometime cheddar), kalamata olives and occasionally veggies or ground beef from taco night. It’s not a large amount each night but boy have I been enjoying them! No photo’s as I eat them so fast I forget to take one.

You can check out my other Runfession posts: June, May, April, March, Feburary and January. I’m linking up with Marcia for today’s Runfessions post. It’s hosted on the last Friday of each month.

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What are you runfessing this month?

What’s your go to food lately?

Early morning run, mid day or evening run?

 

 

Running in July

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 18 Comments

I have to admit, the month of July was pretty awesome! I always love July as it starts off with Canada Day and it’s also my birthday month – you can’t go wrong there.

Running in July was completely different to the first six months of the year {understatement}. As I sat and waited…every…dam…day for my hamstring to get better, my running took more and more of a back seat. Really, there was nothing I could do. Even after going to a Physiotherapist for 3-4 months, a massage therapist for 4 months AND an Osteopath for a month or so. Well really, I then switched to a Sports Physiotherapist and saw results right away! Lesson learned!

In July, I managed to run 122 km!!!!! Seriously, this is a crazy amount for me because from January to June I ran anywhere between 12 and 72km (varying per month).

A fun running moment happened last week as I was running up a hill. On the other side of the road an older man (60ish) was walking down the hill and I looked up and gave a wave and said hello {cause that’s what we do} and he had the biggest smile on his face and he gave me a thumbs up and a head nod. Made. My. Run!

garmin july mileage

I’m half way through my 3rd half marathon training and really enjoying it! I feel like there is no pressure, I’m loving my rest days on Monday/Friday and I’m starting to feel like my old running self. I’m starting to do a little hill training and some speed work (fartlek’s mainly) that is not scheduled in my training and hopefully going to do more cross training as the weeks go by.

I’m already starting to think about my 4th half marathon in October which is about 5 weeks after my September Half. I’m trying to figure out training in between the races – got any advice to share? And, I *might* sign up for a 5k in October but I am waiting another few weeks to decided that.

How was your July?

Anyone run back to back half marathons (a few weeks apart?)

Best moment in July for you? (running or non running related)

C-Ya June…Hello JULY!

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 4 Comments

I thought it was time to wrap up my June goals when I finally convinced myself that it’s JULY! I love the month of July, not because it’s my birthday month {well – maybe} but because it just screams summer fun! Beaches, swimming, bare feet, camping, pools, friends, BBQing and just plain old good times.

goals

I had a lot of June goals – you can read them ALL here … thought I’d spare repeating them again. I’ll recap a few good ones and some I just didn’t do:

Running:

  • Ran inside and outside 4-6 days of the week.
  • EPIC Canadian Race 10k – Yes, race recap still to come.
  • Managed 108 km of running this month. I finally beat my 101km record – yes!
Krystol (left) and I pre race.

Krystol (left) and I pre race.

Other:

  • Trip to PEI – Yes
  • In Bed by 10 pm – I may have done this but sure didn’t go to sleep at 10 pm. Gotta do better.
  • Walk the Plank Challenge – totally..nailed failed it. Gosh, I have SUCH good intentions sometimes 🙂
  • Date night with hubby – we managed one night out at a Turkish Restaurant – delicious food. One is better than none!
  • Took a Mental Health First Aid Course for work – HIGHLY recommend everyone take it.
  • Got a massage AND my hair cut.
  • Celebrated Lilly’s 4th birthday 🙂

Played outside with the girls – sure did between soccer, playgrounds, lake swimming – we did pretty good.

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island {boardwalk}

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island {boardwalk}

July Goals:

  • Run.
  • Sleep.
  • Play outside.
  • Blog.
  • Read a book.
  • Turn 1 year older.
  • Double workouts: Run and DVD workouts.
  • Spend time with my girls and my husband.
  • Rejuvenate my wardrobe due to loosing weight. Good for me not for my wallet.
  • Run some more.
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July’s reading material

I’m keeping it simple this month. Life is hectic right now and I need to slow down a bit.

How did your June goals go? 

Do you have any goals this month? 

Keep it simple or hectic lifestyle – what do you prefer?

PS – Happy 4th of July to my American friends, family and blogger peeps! Looks like you’ve all been having a wonderful time celebrating (as seen on FB/Instagram etc).

PSS – You can find me on Facebook and Instagram 🙂