Oh April. What a month it’s been. While overall the month went by pretty quickly, I felt like each week I was just crossing my fingers that the weather would start to improve soon. We did have a few nice days here and there. But what stands out in my mind are those really cold and windy day and not enough sunshine.
The good news is that it feels like we finally turned a corner last week. May is looking promising so it seems like maybe we can say goodbye to winter for a while!
And now, it’s time for my month in review. I’ll be doing my 2018 goals check-in as well as looking back at the goals for April that I set at the end of March.
Here are my other monthly check-ins from this year:
January 2018
February 2018
March 2018
Goals for 2018
PR In something
No progress here since I didn’t race this month!
Track Shoe Mileage
Still doing well with this! Even if I go a few days without tracking I can usually play catch-up at the end of the week.
Get rid of back issue
I’ve started doing some yoga and I think it’s been helping with this! My neck, shoulders and upper back get so tight, especially when I work on the computer a lot.
No injuries
When I started writing this post I actually forgot that I took a full week off of running this month! Hopefully the break will help prevent any injuries. So far, so good.
Improve running form
While I do think it’s helping to do my strength training, mobility, and yoga, I really haven’t worked on my form while running. I haven’t even done any speed work since my race in March!
Be more strategic about saving money
Honestly I haven’t really been focused on this lately. I still have my automatic savings plans set up so at least I know I’m doing something every month.
Read 6 books this year
I started and finished a new book this month! I read Running Home by Alisha Perkins which I came across on Wendy’s blog. This year I’ve also read Roar by Stacy Sims and Running Rewired by Jay Dicharry. I started reading Mindful Running by Mackenzie Havey but never finished it. It was good, I just never felt like I was in the right mindset to read it!
April 2018 Goals
These were the two goals I set for April:
- Try at least one new recipe this month- carried over from March
- Foam roll 5 times a week- and keep track of it!
I actually did well with both of these goals! I tried 3 new recipes: Tomato Basil Chicken Fettuccine, Oatmeal Pancakes (I can no longer find the recipe I used!), and Tomato-Basil and Spinach Risotto. (I guess I was really feeling the tomato-basil flavors this month, huh?)
I’ve also been better about foam rolling and keeping track of it! There was only one week this month when I did not hit my 5 day per week goal.
Goal Setting for May 2018
I think my biggest goal for May is to keep up with yoga at least once a week. I already know that May is going to be a busy month at work so I think just focusing on the one goal will be best. I definitely think this is reasonable as long as I make it a priority!
[Tweet “Now that April is over it’s time to look back on goals for the month! @milebymilerun #tuesdaysontherun”]
How did you do with your goals for April?
Did your read any good books this month?
What do you hope to accomplish in May?
I’m linking up with No Guilt Life, MCM Mama Runs, and Marcia’s Healthy Slice for Tuesdays on the Run!
I can’t believe April is already over. It went by so fast. I hope May brings warmer weather as well. I wish I could read more books. I just get so distracted w other things.
I get distracted too- I really need to set aside time to read!
I need to get back into a consistent strength routine. Although I have stayed quite active, the strength-training has been hit/miss with all the other non-running obligations demanding my time
It’s tough to keep up with but so important!
Sounds like you had a great month! Fingers crossed you’ll stay injury free..I bet that week off really helped!
Thanks! I think it was really nice to have a break in there.
Don’t you hate finding a new recipe you like and then not being able to find it again? Happens here too often. The Caveman is traveling all week which means I can experiment more with cooking. He’s a red meat all the time guy and that just doesn’t work for me.
I am always finding recipes on my phone and not saving them! For this one I took a screenshot of the actual recipe but not the website. And it was a generic name so there’s no way to find it.
Sounds like a good month to me! I can’t believe it’s May either – this year really is flying by faster then normal
It really is going by just so quickly!
While I normally do yoga for stress relief, Five Parks Yoga has a routine for office tension. It stretches out muscles that get tight while sitting, and I don’t do it as often as I should.
I’ve done a few videos from Five Parks Yoga focused on office tension and they are really good! I’ve done them at home though, but I still find them beneficial.
Great job with your goals! I was happy to do well with my April goals – my big thing is meal planning and Hello Fresh has really saved the day for me!
I keep saying I want to read more books – maybe now that I’m no longer in training mode I can find some time!
I find that I read more when the weather is nice because it’s nice to read while sitting outside!
You did a great job keeping up with your goals and checking in with them! I haven’t made official monthly goals in a long time – except when I’m doing challenges but that feels different. My goals for the year are to keep moving and be happy where I am —> I think I accomplished both of those in April.
Those are great goals and congrats on accomplishing them!
I love your smaller goals, like savings and trying recipes and foam rolling – might have to steal those! Also, I’m craving yoga – it’s amazing how much it can do for the body.
It really is nice make some time for yoga, especially after not doing it for awhile!
I cannot believe it is already May. I am excited because we finally have some warm weather. I have two races in May and hopefully I can PR in them.
The warmer weather is a nice change! I hope your races go well this month!
I do think yoga has really helped me with keeping my body more balanced. So glad that your back is feeling so much better. May is off to a great start weather wise!
Yoga definitely has so many benefits! And isn’t it amazing how quickly the weather went from chilly to hot?
I completely agree with you about feeling like April was just spent crossing our fingers for warm weather. Based on the weather forecast I think nice weather is officially here to stay – it’s supposed to be almost 90 on day this week!
It’s crazy how quickly the temps jumped this week!
That’s great that the yoga is helping with your back issues! There really are a ton of benefits to doing yoga.
Great job on tracking your shoe mileage. It’s always good to see when a pair of sneaker may be approaching “retirement”.
It’s nice to be back in the yoga routine. Now I just hope I can stick with it!
I always say that April is my least favorite month of the year so I’m glad it’s over! It’s just so in between and mean when it’s not warm yet and we are so ready for spring weather lol. I’m glad spring finally arrived! I do need a good book though, I keep saying that and do nothing about it.
I always expect April to be so much better than it is! I think every year it’s a let down.
It sounds like you made good progress.
I just got back into reading more last year and it’s really a conscious commitment. What helped me was being able to read digitally (Kindle and Kindle app on my phone), so I could take advantage anywhere when I had a few minutes.
Yes, reading on the kindle is so nice! And I can even have more than one book going at once if I want to switch back and forth.
Love your posts! Great running book suggestions. I am going to be doing a post on running book reviews soon too!
Thanks! I will need to look out for your post, I love finding new running books!