Oh, hi! I am still alive. It has just been a bit of a nutso week around here. I did have a few extra moments the other morning to enjoy breakfast at home while reading (I eat it at my desk at work 9 days out of 10) and that was a special little treat. It’s been an exhausting week. Training is getting to me again this week and a few other stressful things have happened. I am definitely more ready than ever for a long weekend.

Anyways, that’s about all I have to say or have time to say this morning so I hope you all have a lovely Friday and a lovely long weekend if you’re in Canada!

Previous weeks of 50KM training:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6

**

Man last week was definitely the week that Amber got her groove back. I felt awesome and had a really solid week of mileage though my yoga/strength training was definitely on the low side.

Monday – COMPLETE REST

I drove home from Vancouver on Monday and my quads were also pretty sore so I took a nice rest day.

Tuesday – 54 minute run + 75-minute flow yoga class (4 miles / 6.4 km) 

My quads were still pretty sore on Tuesday morning but a nice run in the trails loosened them right up! After work I went to an Ashtanga-inspired flow yoga class. This class left my hamstrings feeling sore all week long because we did lots of forward-folding!

Wednesday – REST 

It was a long day of work. It was hot outside. I knew I was going to be running the next four days in a row so I took another rest day. Excuses, excuses I know.

Thursday – 1 hour, 13 minute run (5.8 miles / 9.33 km)

Another nice morning trail run. My legs felt a bit sore this morning but only because my hamstrings were still super tight from yoga on Tuesday.

Friday – 53 minute run (4 miles / 6.4 km)

A gorgeous morning for a run! I took the above photo right at the end of my run (and no it has no instagram filter on it!) I know I’ve said it before but BOY am I ever lucky to have these trails so close to my house. The above photo is less than a mile from my doorstep!

So about an hour after the run on Friday Eric noticed that Chloe’s eyes were looking a bit puffy and before we knew it we were rushing her to the emergency vet because her entire face had swollen up and she had hives all over her body. We are still not sure what exactly happened because I ran in the exact same trail with her that we ran in on Tuesday and Thursday! Plus we run in them every week. I think she may have been bitten as she has a couple little bumps on her head still. Poor girl! After a few doses of benadryl she was back to normal by the end of the weekend.

Saturday – 2 hour, 40 minute run (11.1 miles / 17.86 km)

Poor Chloe was still pretty swollen on Saturday morning so I didn’t bring her on the run with me. She was SO mad. My friend Carmine and her pup Donut picked me up and we headed to Kenna Cartwright Park to do the Walk in the Park loop (psst. local people. This race is $12. TWELVE. DOLLARS.)

I really enjoyed this loop however it is EXTREMELY hilly. And to think the race in September also includes a 2-loop and 3-loop option. I am signed up to do one loop this year and that is more than enough for me! It is extremely beautiful though…

This was our “we can do this loop on our own” picture! I had never done the full loop before and Carmine had only done it once. We did have a map but of course it fell out of my camelbak halfway through the run!! We managed to figure it out though.

I’m not going to lie. This was a TOUGH run. It was hot and sunny out and it was HILLY. However the 2,000 feet of elevation gain we experienced has nothing on the 8,000 feet of elevation gain I will be experiencing at Squamish 50 so I think this loop will be a part of my training many many times this summer.

Plus it felt amazing and like a huge accomplishment to finish such a tough run! I then spent the rest of the day laying around and relaxing.

Sunday – 1 hour, 20 minute run (6.2 miles / 10 km) 

Another lovely trail run on Sunday morning. I felt fatigued when I got up that morning but once I was out running I felt AWESOME. My legs didn’t feel tired at all and I actually ran near the front for most of this run. I couldn’t believe how good I felt after such a hilly and tough run the day before. I guess this means my legs ARE getting stronger. Plus Chloe got to come again on Sunday morning and she was so excited!

Totals: 

Miles / Km – 31.1 miles / 50 km (crazy to think I will run this in ONE DAY in three months)

Miles / km to date – 185.2 miles / 298.25 km

Time on my feet – 7 hours

Elevation Gain – 5,526 feet

Yoga – 1 practice for a total of 75 minutes

Strength Training – Zero!

*Chloe’s miles / km – 20 miles / 32 km 

How was your week of training last week? Has anyone else ever had their pet have an allergic reaction like that? It freaked me right out!! 

Hello, hello and Happy Monday! First things first, I want to announce the winner of my Spa Giveaway! It’s my dear friend Lisa!!!! I honestly can’t think of anyone else that deserves a spa trip more right now! Thanks to everyone for entering

OK, onto recapping my April Goals and not setting my May goals. Yup, you read that right. Not setting them. Let’s be serious here, it’s May 12 already and the month has already been off to an intense start both personally and work-wise so I’ve decided to just take a break from setting goals in May other than maybe to survive the month without feeling totally exhausted and burnt out by the end. Sounds like a good plan, no?!

Speaking of the busy start to the month, I apologize if I haven’t been by your blog in awhile! I am really going to try and get caught up this week!! I have only opened feedly once in the last 10 days. Whoops.

Anyways, onto a recap of my April Goals:

Goal #1: GET OUT OF BED! HUGE SUCCESS. I have gotten up at 5:15 am to run at least twice a week all of April and most weeks it’s been three times. It helps that I make plans to meet a friend for these runs and also that the sun has been shining which always makes it easier to get up early!

Goal #2: Paint our living room. Another big success! you can see before and after photos here.

Goal #3: Get rid of stuff. Yup, we did this. Not quite to the extent that I wanted to but we did clean out our two spare bedrooms, sold our spare bed and got a futon instead (takes up less space!) and generally de-cluttered. There is more work to be done in this area but I’m happy with our progress. Eric was also a HUGE help with this one.

Goal #4: Eat clean. This was moderately successful. I used MyFitnessPal on a fairly regularl basis this month which definitely helped me be more accountable. Also with the hot weather all I want to eat is veggies and fruit, so that doesn’t hurt either – I’ve had salads almost every day for lunch the last few weeks! I definitely still indulged a few times. Especially when I was in Vancouver last weekend but I would say overall I ate better and cleaner than I have in awhile.

MAY GOALS: 

1 and only goal: Survive the month. Don’t get burnt out. ENJOY the fun things happening this month (Mumford & Sons concert and visiting Toronto to name a couple!) without getting stressed about having a crazy schedule.

How did your April Goals go? What goals do you have for May?