Inspired by my fellow BibRave Ambassador, ‘She Runs By the Seashore‘ Vanessa, I plan to start a monthly blog roundup as a way to keep motivated and document progress, setbacks, and everything in between when it comes to fitness. In spite of (or maybe thanks to) COVID, this year has seen my highest run mileage yet, and most success on my fitness journey. With little travel, pressure of social gatherings, and work from home, I’ve been able to focus on fitness and school/work with much better results than any previous year. Everyone is different, but for me as much as this year has been challenging, the “great pause” if you will has allowed me to focus on things that really matter: health and quality relationships. So, without further ado, here’s my November stats roundup:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Endurance Athlete (@funsizeathlete)

• Stats:
  • Running miles : 159; year-to-date : 1,587
  • Cycling miles: 271; year-to-date : 3,278
  • Crossfit workouts: 19; year-to-date: 180
• Atlanta 10 Miler: Ran the modified, COVID-safe Atlanta 10 Miler on November 1 at Road Atlanta racetrack. The race was deemed the “Extreme Hill Edition” due to the insane, sweeping turns and hills on the track. The normal Atlanta 10 Miler course is already considered a difficult course so, hearing that this would be even more of a doozy, I wore a Halloween costume (Rey from Star Wars) with the aim to “just have fun”. Famous last words: I PRd the 10 miler big time with a finish of 1:31:59.
• Tony Banovich Roads, Tracks, and Trails Memorial Run: Tony Banovich, a good friend of Team BibRave, race director of the Missoula Marathon and Run Wild Missoula, and a seemingly awesome guy (I never had the pleasure to meet him), passed away suddenly in October due to complicationns from a heart condition. As a way to honor his memory and support the Run Wild Missoula mission, “an industry coalition led by BibRave, Event Southwest, and the Louisville Running Company created The Tony Banovich Roads, Tracks, and Trails Memorial Run presented by AfterShokz, with all proceeds benefitting the Montana nonprofit.” The virtual event challenges participants to run or walk 4.35 miles, the average daily distance of Tony’s 1,731 day run streak. Since I already run that distance regularly, I decided to use Tony’s memory to add a bit more of a personal challenge: run an average of 4.35 daily miles through the end of the year. I’m not doing this as a run streak, although I do run 5-6 days per week. My overall daily average through the end of the year will be at least 4.35 miles per day. My November daily average was 5.3 miles. P.S. you can still register to run through December 11 and have until December 31 to complete the run. 😀
• Professional Changes: Perhaps the biggest change this month which, although not directly fitness related can have an impact on how I structure my fitness routine, is the fact that I started a new job in a completely new career! After completing my PhD in Analytics and Data Science in July, I set the goal to pivot from federal service/public health into a private sector technology job by the end of the year. I made that goal happen and started at a small, startup Data Science consulting firm, A42 Labs, on November 16. Consulting can be a very busy, challenging career, but I was really motivated to get a position that I knew would be a challenge and allow me to learn a lot! I also knew that taking on a challenging new role could risk disrupting my fitness and nutrition routine. I made the personal goal to prioritize my health during this change and be diligent about scheduling my days around workouts. I wake up every weekday morning to run, and then have breakfast and coffee before 8am. Running before works gives me a great boost of energy and focus for the rest of the day. I then bookend the day at OxFit, usually at 5:30. It’s a great way to get my mind away from work and programming code before dinner and bed. So far the schedule is working really well, and has also been super helpful for keeping motivated and efficient while still working from home. Schedules and checklists are your friends folks!

That’s a wrap for November. I plan to keep the same work/workout schedule in December and hit at least 150 miles running for the month as well. There’s nothing else special planned since we’re staying home for the holidays.