As I sit here and realize that February 2017 is ending, I can’t help but feel like somehow we cheated our way out of winter this year. (I am just speaking for those of us who live in these areas that had a milder-than-usual winter.) I thought this would be a really bad winter when we were getting 15 degree days in December. However, that seemed to be the worst of it! A little snow here or there, some freezing temps on and off, but overall nothing like what we usually get.
March 1st makes me feel like I made it though the worst of the winter. Hopefully that’s true this year, but honestly I feel like this winter went by a million times faster than usual. If you were to look back at my posts from the past 3 winters you will see nothing but complaints about the weather. I don’t think I complained at all this year!
Month in Review: February 2017
So, how did February look for workouts? Well, It started out with “noticing” my foot again, followed by a weird hamstring/hip tightness that led to the decision to take 2 weeks off of running. During those 2 weeks I spent a lot of time on the spin bike and also had dry needling for my foot/ankle/calf.
Returning to running was awkward, and I’m still not really back to normal. I do feel like I got in plenty of good workouts this month with spinning, core work, Pilates, and even Pure Barre.
Check out this 30 Minute 90s Themed Spinning Workout
I was pretty consistent with yoga (using jasyoga videos a few times a week). I did notice that stretching my hamstring made it worse. So I used it more for upper body mobility and strength (core work, hip stability, etc.) I got back into the habit of using my foam roller more frequently and that seemed more beneficial that stretching.
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Hypermobility and Increased Injury Risk for Runners
The Great Stretching Debate
Is Stretching Worth Your Time?
Overall it was a really busy month. Weekends were spent wedding/bridesmaids dress shopping with my sister, dealing with car trouble (which led to starting the process of looking for a new car) and the usual blogging/meal prep/cleaning routines. Work was also really busy, and I think that is a factor that really makes the days/weeks/months go by quickly.
I saw a lot of growth on my blog this month thanks to Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Wendy’s Facebook group. It was a bit of a tough transition when I changed my blog name because all my pins were still out there for Running Out Of Wine (which is gone now). So over the past few months I put a lot of time and effort into updating my images and getting them out into the land of Pinterest. It was a lot of work but has paid off and now that my old site is gone I don’t feel there are as many broken links out there, hopefully.
Let’s look at my goals for winter and see how I did in February 2017:
- Short but consistent yoga practices: A-
- Foot strength and balance: A-
- Mobility work/foam rolling: A for foam rolling, C for dynamic stretching
- Longer spinning workouts: A-
- More planks and push-ups: B+
I’d say I did better with these goals than I did in January, probably because I spent much less time running and more time inside focusing on all the little things.
What’s in store for March 2017?
I think I am going to try to continue with the 5 goals above, but I would like to find a better balance/routine for my weeks. I hope to get back to running 3 days/week consistently as well. This wasn’t one of my goals for winter, but I made some progress with my strength training thanks to the time off from running. Rather than just 1 day/week of a total body workout, I started breaking up my strength training into 2-4 days of upper or lower body workouts. This takes less time each day (so I can also spin, do yoga, foam roll on the same day) and is more focused. I plan to continue this routine, but since I am adding running back in I will probably just do 2 days of strength training each week.
How did you do with your goals in February 2017?
Do you feel like you “cheated’ winter this year?
How many days each week do you strength train?
These are great goals – I definitely need to spend some time doing things besides running. Especially planks, etc. to build my ab strength up again. Great job meeting nearly all of them!
Thanks! Its become such a habit for me to do the other exercises so now they are always a part of my weekly schedule!
I still think that winter is coming for us. There is no way that we have seen the last of it! My hamstring also has a tendency to act up when I get close to over stretching it. So I just sit on my biscuit and then pull it because my glutes aren’t activating LOL
Yea I am sure my glutes are the reason for this hamstring thing. Why do they have to give us such a hard time?!
I was just telling my husband the same thing last night – I always look forward to March 1st! The worst should be behind us.
Our months were eerily similar with a cut back in the middle but finishing strong. Glad you’re back to running!
It was such a short month that I feel like I barely ran at all. But I know it was a good choice to take a break. I hope that your cut back helped you as well!
I”m so glad you joined the group! I’m going to work on recruiting more fitness bloggers this month–it’s been a lot of fun watching it grow!
I hope your foot continues to behave.
Thanks! I sure hope so too.
I am glad that winter has “cheated” us this year. But March comes another long much and I know we will have some colder days coming.I’m sure it’ll be cold and windier the day of my Marathon in Mid March. Always seems to happen then.
I’m also a little afraid of what March may bring! You are right that sometimes it can be really windy this time of year.
im just praying we can really enter spring now and not have any more snow! I’m afraid to jinx it! I hope your sister is using AllSeated to plan her wedding! lol. shameless plug but not really since AllSeated is free and the greatest tool for wedding planning. I used it for the bar mitzvah. we are going to need to discuss.
I told her about AllSeated today! (I forgot the last time you mentioned it) I will let you know if she gives it a try!
My hamstring gets angry frequently, and it’s ironic how stretching actually makes it hurt more. Knock on wood, both hamstrings are behaving at the moment….
Glad you hamstrings are feeling good! I often hear that stretching can make a hamstring injury worse, so I’m gonna steer clear of that.
I totally agree about the cheating winter thing. But honestly (and I’m gonna kick myself for saying this later when summer is awful), I’m not too mad about it. Winter is hard, and if Mother Nature wants to throw us a bone by making it bearable for a couple weeks, you won’t hear me complain. I still think that we have another snowstorm/deep freeze to get through before we’re officially in the clear, though – March is so unpredictable!
Good for you sticking with your goals this month! February is notoriously difficult motivation-wise, so I’d say you can call it a win. I’m anxious for spring because I am so much more motivated to work out!
You are right that March can be unpredictable so Im just hoping for the best!
That is awesome how much blog growth you have seen! It feels hard to build both strength training and running at the same time, so that is great how you were able to get more of a strength routine in place this month.
It was definitely a good month to focus on other things like strength and spinning!
Good luck with the car shopping. I did that last year, and it was a lot of information. Once I whittled my list down, it became easier with the test drives.
Yea, luckily we’re not in a rush. It definitely helps to eliminate some and then have a shorter list of options!
Winter definitely cheated ME this year. There’s snow on the ground right now, it’s snowing, and snow is in the forecast here for the first week of March. It has been UNREAL. I have never looked more forward to Spring in my life! I strength train 3 times per week. It’s tough to fit it in but I know how much it has helped me!
That sounds like what we had in 2014 when I was training for an April marathon! Snow storm after snow storm..and then another in March. I remember an inch of snow on St Patricks day. I really hope this is the last of it for you!
There was no cheating winter here! Woke up to a dusting of snow again, we have averaged well below normal for temps and above normal for snow. I am so over running in the cold. Looks like you had a great Feb! Mine went pretty well I would have to say I am happy with it and so glad we are over the worst of winter
I really hope this is the last of the cold weather for you! You deserve some nice spring weather now!
I suppose there’s plenty of time for winter to rear it’s snowy head, but January and February are typically our worst months and they were SO tame. Plus there’s longer daylight now too. Congrats on a strong month, even if you weren’t totally satisfied with the way running went.
Thanks- and I totally agree that March can’t be TOO bad (hopefully!)
This winter was just weird. I’d love one actual snow, but all I’m seeing around here is 50s on up (and something like high 70s tomorrow!)
I suck at doing much besides running, but I have gotten much better about planking and I can tell a difference in my waist. So, yay me! LOL
The winter definitely is weird! I also wanted some snow this year but now I think Im over it. Nice job with the planking!
You always do such a good job with strength training. I hope your foot behaves, but it’s awesome how you keep on going with all of your other fitness routines!
Thanks! I enjoy the strength training so that makes it easier to stick with it.
The start to my February running/workout sched. was rocky thanks to an extra busy workload, but as of last week I feel like I found better balance. I don’t think my schedule is going to really clear up until June which is tough to think about, so I am trying to take it one day at a time!
This week got crazy for me and I feel like the weekends are so busy! Taking it one day at a time is the way to go!
Looks like you had a great report card overall. I definitely applaud the variety of exercises you do! Do you have the forerunner 735? Do you think the HR function is accurate?
I have the Forerunner 235. I actually did a little experiment this morning when I was on the bike. I wore my wrist based HRM and HRM strap connected to my old watch at the same time. It was really close! Not sure if its as accurate with running but I would think so.
I need to work on my stretching more too this month now that I am upping my workouts. Here’s to happy feet for both of us this month
Yes! Fingers crossed!
I try to strength train 3 days per week on top of my running and really like it. I have a gym membership by work and do this at lunch when i can.
That’s great! It’s so important to do other things besides just run.