June!

I made it back into the US late last night and I have to admit it's good to be back in the land of running water, clean clothes and sleeping indoors. 12 days doesn't seem like a lot but I am definitely having to get used to the comforts of home again.

Mexico was great but I don't think I have ever been so exhausted. More on the trip later there is a lot to catch up on now that I am home.

This month I am participating in a WordCount Challenge Blogathon or more simply I am trying to blog every day in June. I have already missed the first day because I was traveling in a van with no internet connection. I will try to make up for it by blogging twice on a day once, but I don't want that to become a fall back for missing other days.. The purpose of this exercise is to work on creating a better habit of blogging and my writing skills. Now the trick is to figure out what to write about. I can't believe it's June already and full on triathlon season!

This Week in Workouts 3

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I can't believe it's Monday already. My weekend was jam packed with working, schooling, running and watching football. I didn't get to finishing up Christmas decorating like I had planned but something had to give. And my moms invitation of a yummy dinner and a football game was too tempting to pass up. And what are the holidays about if not family?!? Onto this week, it should be a little less hectic as I *think* I am done with my classes for the semester (one prof is really bad about communicating and is really confusing). As far as training this week is another big week for training:

Monday: 60 minute yoga and strength

Tuesday: am- 90 min spin class

pm- 90 min interval run

Wednesday: am- 90 min spin class

pm- 60 min strength

Thursday: 6 mile easy run

pm- 2650m swim

Friday: am- 8 mile run

pm- 30 min strength

Saturday: distance swim and strength (or ride outside if it's nice)

Sunday: 18 mile trail run

As December is getting going I have been thinking about my goals for this month.

It's always a little harder this time of year because there are so many other things pulling on my time but I still would like to make some progress. I decided to make my monthly goals have more of a weekly focus since I tend to do better with shorter term goals. If I need to change them week to week I can:

What are your goals for this month?

Elf for Health

So many fun Challenges to participate in this time of year, I thought I would pass along another one incase you love this kind of fun like I do!

Elle for Nutritionella has come up with Elf for Health challenge

Copied from her site:

Introducing the Elf for Health Holiday Challenge! This is a six week challenge that will run from the Monday after Thanksgiving thru the first week in January. There will be daily tasks, daily winners, prizes, weekly newsletters, and a Facebook group for support.

And are you ready for the best part? You’ll have an elf to support and encourage you! When you sign up, you will also be committing to be an elf for someone in return. Over the course of the challenge, you will have three different elves.

Sounds like a great way to stay motivated and meet new people over the holidays doesn’t it?! Since this challenge is internet based, anyone can participate… no matter where you’re located! All you need is access to the internet and an email address.

So what does an Elf do?

Elf Duties

As an Elf, you are expected to support your assigned buddy with their holiday health goals and the daily challenges. Elves & buddies will be reassigned every 2 weeks. You are only asked to email your buddy 2 times per week:

• Monday: Send your buddy an email to help them with the challenges for that week. Ideas of things to include/attach: your own personal tips & tricks, inspiring words and/or images, a new, healthy recipe or workout to try.



• Thursday – Saturday: Any time during these days, check in with your buddy! For example, ask them if they tried a new recipe, workout, or had fun with any certain challenges. Feel free to tell them how you did with your challenges, too!

Anything more than those 2 emails is up to you but feel free to go above and beyond this to show your support! Just a few ideas: send your buddy Tweets, shout outs on our Facebook Page, email a fun workout you liked or send a hand written recipe or note.

Sounds like fun! SHe even provides a nice calendar that you can use as a google cal, so helpful! Will you join?

Next Weeks workouts to Kick Off HBBC

Here is the plan so far for this week, things may change as we go but since I am off work this week I will be focusing on school work and getting in my workouts. Tomorrow kicks off the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge

Are you in?

Monday: 6 mile run with interval work pm- Pilates

Tuesday: 18 mile run pm- easy yoga

Wednesday: am- 90 min spin pm- strength work

Thursday: Family 10k race with a couple extra miles thrown in

Friday: am- 3200 m swim

pm- weights, hip and core work

Saturday: 20 mile run and easy yoga

Sunday: 3 hour bike ride on rolling hills (no big climbs)

Holiday Fun

I LOVE this time of year. I like the cooler weather and the holidays that seem to come one on top of the other. The colors are beautiful and it's fun to run through the leaves

I also love that this time of year comes with fun blogger "challenges" two that I am participating in start this month. First Pile on the Miles put on by Monica at Run Eat Repeat

I joined this challenge but it's definitely not my shining moment, it really shines a light on how little I run compared to real runners. A challenge that I am more suited to and excited about is Holiday Booty Buster Challenge

This challenge includes all types of workouts and healthy eating, you also choose a category and compete against people with the same goals as you. Copy and Pasted from the sight:

This year you will pick the segment that best describes your current/planned activity level for the next few months and that will help make the points within a group more competitive. Continuing with putting our best foot forward you will be grouped by the shoe that fits:

• Low Profile: 5K, 10K, cardio class master (includes CrossFit)



• Cushioned: Half marathon/marathon/distance biking



• Stability: Half Ironman or more



• Minimalist: Yoga/Weight lifting

You should expect to continue earning points for activity in any area,cross training, but by selecting your primary activity throughout the challenge you can be more competitive for the top points prizes.

I signed up for Stability, I am questioning that choice a little bit as I am not technically training for half ironman, ironman or anything else that long at the moment. In truth I wont race anything longer than a half marathon until May. So maybe I should drop to cushioned. Also there are only two of us signed up in that category right now, I guess I will think about that more.

How do you feel about challenges? Are you participating in any? Any others I should know about?