Happy Sunday, all! How was your weekend? Mine was busy…we went back up to my in-laws’ on Friday night because we wanted to go to the county fair parade on Saturday. It started at 9, so I knew that if we stayed home Friday night, there was no way I’d get my long run in and make it to the parade on time. It worked out well; I even had time to shower. Good thing, because I was a disgustingly sweaty beast.

After the parade, we watched our niece sell the sheep she showed earlier in the week. She did remarkably well in the sale; so proud of her!

We came home Saturday afternoon and spent the evening lying on the floor. Ha. We were worn out from the 20-mile run (me, not J) and a day in the heat, and doing nothing felt pretty darn good.

Today was a typical school-year Sunday. A month ago, I wrote a mid-summer post about Sundays being lazy days. Once school starts, Sundays become my domestic day: cleaning, laundry, groceries, meal planning, etc. In my mind, Sunday is the last day of the week, not the first, and I like having it as a chore day and a rest day from running. That way, I start the week with a clean house, stocked fridge, and fresh legs.

When school is in session, planning ahead is the only way I manage to get in my teaching, training, and basic living. Here’s how I do it:

This dude lives on the side of the fridge. On Sunday, I plan out all our meals, write anything we need on the grocery list, and write the meal here. Then, after I grocery shop, I chop up any fruit and veggies we need (for meals and snacks) and pre-cook any meat that I can (if I’m making enchiladas, for example, I’ll cook and shred the chicken on Sunday to save time later). It takes an hour or two on Sunday and saves me a ton of time on weeknights…and money at the grocery store!

(Random side note if you’re reading that menu…we normally have red meat only once a week or so. We get all our meat in six-month shipments, and we’re at the end of this one. We’re eating whatever’s left in the freezer…and it’s mostly red).

This week, I’m also trying something new. I saw it on Pinterest (a.k.a. source of anything creative I ever do).

Those are muffin tins full of our usual smoothies (green for me, not green for J). Pinterest said to freeze smoothies like this, then pop out enough to fill your cup the night before and stick it in the fridge. Allegedly, in the morning you’ll have a just-right smoothie to drink. I really hope it works; this will shave 10 minutes or so off my morning routine.

And now, let’s do some Target Practice (the weekly goal-setting post that I stole from Fit. Fun. Femme.). I think I’m going to start doing this on Sunday nights, since Mondays are so busy.

First, let’s check in on last week.

My LIFE goal was to enjoy the last few days of summer. Done and done.

My HEALTH goal was to eat clean despite the county fairs. I did. I also wanted to make sure I got enough sleep… that one didn’t go as well as planned. I’ll keep trying.

My FITNESS goals were to stick with my training plan, strength train twice, do yoga once, and stretch and foam roll once. Here’s how the week played out:

Monday: AM: 8.4-mile fartlek run. Fartleks are my favorite. And so fun to say. PM: 60-minute Muscle Works class. Also my favorite.
Tuesday: 8 miles easy
Wednesday: 6 x 800 meters w/400-meter recoveries. I actually got to do them at a track, because there’s a nice one about 1.5 miles from my in-laws’ house. 9 miles total with warm-up and cool-down.
Thursday: AM: 8.1 miles easy, with my new watch. I heart it so far. PM: 55 minutes of strength work at the gym
Friday: AM: 6.5 miles easy (should have been 8, but my stomach said, “Oh, you have to be at work at 7:45? Let me throw a huge fit and screw you up. Ha ha.” PM: 15 minutes core work, 30 minutes stretching/foam rolling
Saturday: 20-mile run
Sunday: Rest. With a side of house-cleaning and weed-pulling.
Totals: 60 miles, 2 hours of strength, 30 minutes of stretching, 0 minutes of yoga. Oops. Better luck this week.

And now, this week’s goals:

Life: In case you haven’t gathered this from the other 97,000 times I mentioned it, school is back in session. We have inservice days Monday-Wednesday, and students are back on Thursday. My goal is to stay positive through the inservice days and have a great first two days with kids!

Health: Again, the sleeping thing. While it’s still too hot to run in the evenings, I have to get up uber-early to run before school. Which means uber-early bedtimes. Just do it, self.

Fitness: I’ll stick with the same goals as last week and really try to get in the yoga this time!

That’s all for me, folks. Have a fantastic week!

What was the best part of your weekend?

How do you make sure you get enough sleep?

Your goals for the week?