I Ran Every Day for 30 Days – Week 4 Recap

Week 4 in this challenge was by far the hardest. I had a major setback this week and had to change my goals. Plus, motivation was not running high and the weather didn’t make things any easier. If you want to see my other weekly recaps, you can open this link. Otherwise, let’s get into Week 4!

Week 3 Review

Distance –>

The total distance I ran this week was: 17.99 km.
I can’t say I’m disappointed about this distance but I’m definitely not impressed with my lack of motivation and effort. I’m beginning to feel fatigue from previous runs and the challenge is definitely putting strain on my already-tired muscles! On Friday afternoon, I injured my ankle at soccer and was not able to run or walk at all on Saturday. Today I went for a walk to make up for it but I’m overall sad I wasn’t able to reach 30 days of running! ; (

Notes –>

My ankle injury was a major pain (literally)! I fractured it earlier this year and it’s now really swollen and achy. Even without that setback, though, this week has been really tough. I’ve learnt that putting pressure on things you enjoy can sometimes backfire and make you not look forward to them!

Eating Recommended Serving Sizes

Today I tried out something new and embarked on a food-related challenge. I ate recommended serving sizes at each meal throughout the day! I’m really enjoying doing challenges like this so let me know if you have any recommendations -I already Ran Every Day for 30 Days and you can read about that here. Anyway, here’s what I ate at each meal:

Breakfast: Yoghurt with Muesli

With my muesli this morning I had organic Greek yoghurt. The recommended portion seemed way bigger than what I would usually eat, weighing in at 125 grams. The muesli I ate was homemade, organic and fruit-free so the serving size was harder to find. I settled on the recommendation for the muesli that I would have otherwise bought: 45 grams. This meal was really filling and probably more than what I would typically eat at breakfast.

Lunch: Salad and Focaccia

I was full throughout the morning and didn’t have any snacks. When it got to lunch, I got out my measuring cup and piled 1 cup of salad and raw vegetables into my plate. I ate cabbage, lettuce, tomato, feta and cucumber along with some focaccia. This was much harder to calculate than breakfast as the food was all homemade so I found the recipe we’d used and worked backwards from there to reach 1/16th of a 500-gram-flour focaccia.

Afternoon Snack: Fruit and A Muesli Bar

I’m in the habit of having a mid-afternoon snack and today I ate a nectarine and 40 grams of our homemade muesli bars. I wasn’t too full after my light lunch and this snack was the perfect pick-me-up.

Dinner: Homemade Pizza

When it came to dinner, I definitely failed when it came to counting portions! Our homemade pizza is very light and has a super thin crust with no extravagant toppings. While most pizza stores and recipes recommend eating 2 slices, I knew that this wasn’t an accurate judgement. I ate a whole personal pizza (find out more about the concept here) and I definitely don’t regret it!

Overall, eating serving sizes was hard for the foods that I really like but definitely could be realistic as I didn’t feel too hungry throughout the day. Although the portions are not always realistic, I was very lucky with my food options. Let me know if you’d like to see me participate in more challenges in the future!

I Ran Every Day for 30 Days – Week 3 Recap

For the past 20 days, my challenge has been to run every single day. I’m about three quarters of the way into my goal of reaching 30 days straight and let me tell you, it has been a bumpy ride! Here’s an overview of Week 3:

Week Three Review

Distance –>

The total distance I ran this week was: 24.67 km.
This week I really wanted to beat the total distance I’d run in Week 1 since I was pretty disappointed about my decrease during Week 2. Motivation was high throughout the week and I felt as though any run shorter than 3 km didn’t feel complete – I can’t believe how much has changed in just 21 days!

Notes –>

I ran really far this week and I’m very proud of the distance I reached but I don’t think that I’ll be trying to beat it next week. We’ll see how I go, though, as my competitive spirit might flare up!

If this is the first post on Chamomile & Colour that you’ve stumbled upon, feel free to check out my first weekly recap to get up to speed. You can find it here.

I Ran Every Day for 30 Days – Week 2 Recap

Hi again! You may be aware that I recently challenged myself to go for a run every single day for a whole month. I’m not a professional runner and this challenge has been a little difficult so far but it’s improved my fitness and endurance so much. Here’s my review of this week.

Week Two Review

Distance –>

The total distance I ran this week was: 20.53 km.
I actually ran less than last week but I felt really good during the 5km longer runs that I completed; a big improvement from my spluttering self last week. My motivation was a bit lower, though, an aspect I can hopefully improve in the next few days.

Notes –>

It’s reaching the summer season here in Australia and the extreme heat is causing some problems for this challenge. On really hot days, I have to wait until late to run (or wake up early) and I often complete shorter routes too. It also doesn’t help my sleep schedule as the sun squeezing in through the windows wakes me up pretty early, making me more tired during the day. I hope that next week I can be organised enough to run a longer total distance by rearranging my schedule a little.

That’s it for today but you can come back next week for my Week 3 Recap!

I Ran Every Day for 30 Days – Week 1 Recap

Welcome back to Chamomile & Colour! Today I’m doing something completely new – I’m starting a running log online. I recently challenged myself to run every day for a whole month right in the thick of exam season because I wanted to prove to myself that I have more time than I think. While exams are on, I leave many things undone; I don’t practise the piano, I forget to tidy my room and I’m a bit of a mess overall. I hope this experience can change my ‘busy mindset’ and maybe even inspire you to join in!

Week One Review

I started this challenge on a Sunday as I had seen the idea on YouTube and was excited to join in – I like running and I’d been feeling unproductive and unmotivated due to my school exams.

Distance –>

The total distance I ran this week was: 21.59 km.

Notes –>

The biggest changes I have seen so far are in my appetite and drowsiness. I found that I’m eating a lot more and that I’m much hungrier than what I was a few weeks ago. Another interesting change is how much more energised I feel daily which I hope will translate into more sleep.

Each week I’m going to be checking in and hopefully I can see some progress in distance and how I’m feeling as well. I would encourage anyone to participate in a similar challenge as it’s taught me heaps already! Stay tuned for more updates!