Chasing Vacation! Goals for relaxation and Staying Motivated While Away!

Happy Monday!!!  Because I remind you every week, I will do so again:  I LOVE MONDAYS!  It is my chance to recap the previous week, appreciate my successes and mull over any lapses in my plan for opportunities to improve.  It's usually the day at work where I am busiest and my phone rings off the hook.  I get more accomplished on a Monday than I do on any two other days of the week.  I'm not sure if I love Mondays because of or in spite of the workload!  

This Monday is different from most Mondays because I am still on vacation.  That means that there will be no phone ringing off the hook and no mounting pile of things to do.  I'm okay with that right now.  It will be back soon enough...  it always is.  I'm sure that next Monday will feel like I am climbing a mountain to get back on track after having two entire weeks off.  Look for a few work goals to hit my list as I return next week.  For now, let's recap last week. Instead of setting a bajillion goals last week, I posted a joint fitness plan for Rob and myself.  In case you missed it, check it out HERE. 

We made some modifications but did a pretty great job at hitting our runs.  Here is what we actually did:

Sunday:  We each ran 8 miles and did some light weights and #plankaday Right on Track for our goal!!!

Monday:  We ran 2 miles in the morning and 3 in the evening plus a #plankaday.  AGAIN... totally nailed this day!!

Tuesday:  We did not run Tuesday.  We were both tired and it just didn't happen.  Instead we swam, relaxed and spent time as a family.  It was a wonderful day.  We both did our weights and our #plankaday OFF plan but that's ok!  Gotta listen to your body somedays!! 

Wednesday:  We ran the 4 miles we had planned for Tuesday.  We both did weights and a #plankaday.  Catching up before moving forward!  Instead of skipping we modified. 

Thursday:   Our goal was 6 miles.  we ran 0!  I woke up with a muscle spasm in my left foot, ankle and calf.  From 4:30am till 7am I tossed, turned flipped, flopped and sighed really loudly a zillion times.  I foam rolled, cried, drank water and drove Rob crazy...  We cancelled our run and instead had some friends up to visit.  We went tubing and enjoyed our vacation! we did do some light weights and a #plankaday  A most frustrating day for me.  I was motivated to run but hurting.  I listened to my body! 

Friday:  We ran 5 miles at once rather than a 2 miler and a 3 miler.  We had some close friends and their family come for a visit and so it was easier to combine the mileage and go out once rather than run play run.  So we played first and then ran :) I did a ton of stretching and a #plankaday.  This is the first day I truly felt relaxed.  

Saturday:  This was supposed to be a day of rest... It was Rob's birthday.  Instead we chose to run ( since we had skipped Tues and Thursday it seemed like a great idea to find a race.  We got lucky and found one less than 2 miles from the cottage in the afternoon.  and we got to run our first mud/obstacle run (it wasn't as muddy as I expected) By far, this wins for most fun we had so far!! 

Sunday:  We moved our long run from Sunday to Tuesday because we had rescheduled our play day on Saturday.  We laughed swam, went out on the boat.  Not a homerun swing but hey,  WE ARE ON VACATION!

We did a total of 25 miles this week which is outstanding.  I feel really great about the ramp up in mileage and I am excited about the successes we had.  For the first time in a long time, I feel prepared for our upcoming races and excited about the last few weeks of our training.

Now on to this week's goals:

1:  Complete mileage for the week.  This week is going to be higher than last week because of our Tuesday long run.  We return home this Saturday and will run double digits again Sunday morning.

2:  Labor Day Virtual 10-miler:  Laura at Mommy Run Fast is hosting a virtual 5 or 10 miler on her page and both Rob and I registered.  If you have a run planned at all from this Friday thru Monday, you should get involved and have some fun with it. There are some pretty awesome prizes involved if you need more than a coolness factor to get you going :)

3.  Pledge and Donate as much mileage as possible to the #MemorialRun on twitter.  Kym from A Girl Runner is hosting a mileage pledge to honor the NOLA victims of Hurricane Katrina.  She is currently falling just short of her goal and I'd love to help her reach it.  Follow her on Twitter and join in to support the cause.  There is no cost to this, no donation required, and only good can come of it so please help!!  This is especially significant since the path of Hurricane Isaac has somehow chosen this great city again. 

There you have it.  Those are my goals.  This week I am going to relax, and run a lot while enjoying my family and our last moments of summer.  I am going to support the people who motivate me when I need it.  I am going to run for a cause that supports hope and rebuilding in the face of what has been devastating to so many people.  I hope you are all soaking up the last minutes of summer too!!! 


Oh and PS...  it's been a big week for MROE.  I made a Facebook page and a Pinterest page so please like/follow me there as well!!!  I also added a subscribe button up there on the top right so if you enjoy reading, enter your email address there and I will email you when there is a new post!!!