Happy Monday and happy March! It’s hard to believe that we’re already four days into this fresh new month. Before we get too much farther in – I want to backtrack to February to give y’all a recap on my February Walking Challenge.

FEBRUARY WALKING CHALLENGE RECAP

Let’s start with the data first and then we’ll talk about feelings and what I learned from the challenge. I decided that I wouldn’t put extra pressure on myself to walk on days that I went for a run so there ended up being 7 days total that I ran instead of walked.

THE STATS

• Days with a walk/run: 27
• Days missed: 2 (rain one day, life stuff another day)
• Number of walks: 20
• Hours spent walking: 17 hours and 30 minutes
• Miles walked: 51.63
• Number of runs: 8
• Hours spent running: 5
• Miles ran: 30.79
• That make for a total of 28 walks/runs in the month of February with a time of 22 hours and 30 minutes and a distance of 82.42 miles!!!

Pretty proud of those numbers!

MY FEELINGS ABOUT THE WALKING CHALLENGE

I am 100% happy that I committed to this challenge. It truly helped me re-establish a consistent walking routine and reminded me how much I love walking and how good it makes me feel.

There were several days that I either wasn’t feeling it or could have come up with a thousand other things to do with the time – but I never (ever) regretted going for the walk. They were a great reset and helped to both clear my energy and energize me.

Finn fully embraced the walking challenge and some of my favorite walks were just the two of us out in the neighborhood without the dogs (when he would request a “Finn and mommy” walk). He was so chatty and would come up with various scooter and running challenges of his own. It’s a beautiful thing to see a child freely roaming outside and using their imagination.

Hands down, my favorite time of day to walk is sunset. I find it to be a great way to wind down the day and walking at this time seems to fill me up with so much gratitude and peace. When I didn’t have Finn with me I would always take the dogs and either listen to a podcast or audio book or chat with my grandmother.

Moving forward, I won’t put pressure on myself to walk every single day but I’d really like to walk most days. It’s really good for my mental health and for how I feel physically in my body.

2 (PLUS) WEEKS OF WORKOUTS

On the topic of movement, I rarely share weekly workout recaps these days although I still get requests for them. I thought I’d show you what a little over two weeks of movement looked like for me in hopes that you can see the ebb and flow between the time I have Finn, busy work days, etc.

I still aim for a steady mix of lifting, running and yoga on a week-to-week basis.

DAY 1 (Friday) 
75-minute lift + 1.9 mile walk 
I almost always lift on Fridays. I typically have a few clients at the gym and will stay after to lift. This is especially true on weekends that I have Finn where I know I probably won’t make it back to the gym until Monday.

DAY 2 (Saturday – Finn weekend)
3.2 mile walk
More often than not, workouts on the weekends that I have Finn are walks unless I get brave enough to push the stroller!

DAY 3 (Sunday – Finn weekend)
3.1 mile walk

DAY 4 (Monday)
3.2 mile walk
Finn was back with his dad but on this particular day the only thing I had the bandwidth for energetically was walking. I wanted to move but I needed to gently move.

DAY 5 (Tuesday – my crazy busy work day)
4 mile run
Tuesdays are my busiest in-person workdays of the week. I typically have 6 training clients, 1 yoga private and 1 yoga class. It’s a LOT so I usually walk or rest on Tuesdays but I was in the mood to run on this day since I’d walked the last three.

DAY 6 (Wednesday)
60 minute lift + 1.8 mile walk
Was ready to pick up a weight after not lifting since Friday!

DAY 7 (Thursday – always a run day!)
3.25 mile run + 1 mile walk 
Thursdays are almost always run days! I have Finn all day on Thursdays so I drop him at school at 9a, train a client at 9:30a, teach yoga at 10:45a and then drive to his preschool and run from there. That way I know exactly how much time I have to run without worrying about traffic or being late. I can usually get in 3-4 miles (never more).

DAY 8 (Friday – Finn with his dad) 
60 minute hot power yoga class + 1.6 mile walk 
I would typically lift on Fridays but had a very busy morning training clients. I hadn’t been on my mat in over a week so this afternoon practice was very needed. Got showered and took the dogs for a walk when I got home.

DAY 9 (Saturday – Finn with his dad)
60 minute lift + 2.6 mile walk
I partner with NOBULL on some social media posts and decided to take on their “What’s Your 40?” challenge. Holy moly. So hard but so good. I don’t do a lot of metcons these days so this was pretty tough for me. My 65# bench press felt so light in the first round but got real hard as the rounds progressed. I couldn’t believe that my abs were the most sore after this WOD. Many mountain climbers!

Here’s my Instagram post about it!

DAY 10 (Sunday – Finn with his dad)
3 mile run + 60-minute hot power yoga class
My favorite Sunday morning routine when Finn is with his dad is to go for a short run and then my friend Ian’s yoga class at Khali. Fills my cup right up.

DAY 11 (Monday) 
40 minute lift + 50-minute hot power yoga class + 2 mile walk
This was a LOT of movement for a Monday for me but I found myself with a break between clients that gave me time for a quick lift (was VERY pull focused after Saturday’s push focused WOD) and I’ve recently been trying to change my routine so that I stay and take the noon class on Mondays after I teach.

DAY 12 (Tuesday – crazy busy work day)
2.8. mile walk
This is an example of if it not being for the walking challenge – this walk wouldn’t have happened but was so needed!

DAY 13 (Wednesday)
45 minute lift + 1.2 mile walk
Quick workout after training clients, teaching yoga, training another client and preschool pick up.

DAY 14 (Thursday – always run day)
4 mile run
I can’t even explain the ways that this run set me straight. There is nothing like running to snap me back into focus and alignment.

DAY 15 (Friday)
Hot power yoga class
I’ve told you that I usually lift on Fridays but the last two I’ve practiced instead. I have really been craving more time on my mat lately and try to listen when the shifts occur. <3

DAY 16 (Saturday – Finn weekend)
75 minute lift + 2.9 mile walk
It’s rare for me to lift on a Finn weekend but after a lacrosse practice snafu we found ourselves wondering what we were going to do and ended up at the gym. Finn LOVES working out with me but I try to only bring him along on occasion. We had a sweaty fun time. Later that afternoon, we met Virginia for a walk.

DAY 17 (Sunday – Finn weekend) 
3.2 mile walk 

I’m not sure if that exercise in sharing 17 days of workouts was helpful or not but my intention was to show you how I find a balance between momming, lifting, yoga, running, etc. It’s not a perfect science but definitely making it work.

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