Running on the snow is really growing on me.  It is an adventure with every step.  At first I was skeptical about going out on such an unsure surface after my recent injury but so far it hasn't been so bad.  Running on the snow may even be helping me.  How, you ask?  Well...

1. You have to go slow!   
Now that I'm running again, it is so tempting to do too much too soon-- to go too fast... take on too many miles.  Running in this crazy weather has forced me to slow down and has kept me on my training "plan".  For example, I went out the other day and it was 14 degrees with -1 wind chill.  I was scheduled to do 1 mile and believe me nothing could have tempted me to go farther in that craziness!  I was feeling good so if the weather was nicer, I don't know that I would have stopped at just 1 mile.  Good thing the weather was horrible. :)

Out of the blue my winter vacation gave way to some hardcore winter running!

These photos were taken a week apart.  How funny is life.

Winter running vs. tropical vacation?  No contest!  I will choose the warmth any day but it does feel great to know that the snow can't stop me! :)

Right before Thanksgiving, I decided to take a break from Physical Therapy for the holiday season.  The goal was to reassess at the beginning of the year.  I was just going to back off of the scheduled sessions but still perform my exercises at home and continue to build up slowly with the run/walk regiment. 

I have been seeing major progress with my foot in the last few weeks.  I have even started running again.  Slowly slowly slowly and not very far, but running!

Sadly, this week, I had to take a step back.

My foot is wrapped again today.
 

I'm calling this push-up challenge over.  The 30 day mark was on the 18th but I actually only completed 22 days of pushing up.  Life and family visiting and a wedding and studying for a midterm messed up the flow of my last week.  I've done a few more sets this week but sometimes you just have to officially wrap things up.

As you can see from the list to the right, I wasn't the most consistent.  The original challenge called for 100 push-ups a day for 30 days.  However, I was perfectly fine with doing "some" push-ups a day for 30 days.


Here is what I learned:

•  The first cut is the deepest (baby I know!)  Meaning...the first few days were the hardest.  I was so sore but miraculously, it didn't get tougher.  It only got better after the first week.

• I am stronger than I think!  I can now do 5 sets of 10 regular push-ups.  That is crazy! Before, I could only do 1 set of 4 or 5 push-ups.

The push-ups were mostly done on my knees (K) because I'm still nursing my foot injury and didn't want lean too heaviliy on my toes.  The couple of days that I attempted regular push-ups I marked with a T for toes. :)

Overall, I had a lot of fun with the challenge and was able to inspire some of my friends to try too.  I am feeling buffer and determined to keep push-ups as a part of the routine; a part of the general goal of getting fitter.

What about you?

What are your fitness goals these days?

Do you build strength training into your regular routine?