April Fitness Challenges, a.k.a. AM I CRAZY?!

You guys know I love a good fitness challenge. I've signed up for several in the past, including a mileage challenge last October, the #RunLoveChallenge earlier this year, and the Pulse Pledge Challenge, to name a few. I don't know what it is about challenges that draws me in. Typically, I set a manageable goal that is a bit more than I normally would do, and strive to get better in some way throughout the challenge. I think I like seeing what I can do. Maybe it's the structure of having a plan.  Or, maybe it's just my inner crazy finding something new to obsess over every so often?? (Don't answer that!)

Well, suffice to say that my inner crazy is being unleashed for the month of April. I'm committing myself to not one, but TWO challenges this month! WHAT?!

This is no April Fools. This is for real.

Is that a crazy twinkle, or just sweat?!

First off, introducing the Million Mile Month challenge, or MMM. I'm doing this one as part of my Team Beef Montana involvement. It's pretty simple. Everyone who signs up pledges to total a certain number of miles or minutes of physical activity in the month of April. I pledged 50 miles of running. For me, that's a bit more than I normally do in a month, so it's a stretch, but not impossible. I typically run between 10 and 15 miles each week (lately closer to 10), and with a few races penciled in for April, I think I'll be able to do it.

This is the old-school paper calendar I made to keep track of April mileage.
I also have potential races written in, and wrote in our Track Meet schedule.

Second, I'm also participating in the #OiselleFullHalf Challenge as a member of the Oiselle Team. For this one, the idea is to highlight 13.1 (or round down to 13) as being a FULL distance of a half-marathon. Full Marathon gets all the love, right? But achieving 13.1 miles is also quite an undertaking. So, for this challenge, we're supposed to set a goal of doing something 13 times in the month of April. I decided to run 13 different running routes/treadmill workouts during April.

The sign I made, expressly for the purpose of taking an Instagram photo. Yep. 

Since I had already committed to MMM, but still wanted to do #OiselleFullHalf, I wanted to choose a goal that would work together with what I'd already planned to do. I've decided that my 13 different runs could be done outside or inside on the treadmill. Outside runs cannot repeat routes exactly, but could build off previous routes. I'll continue to challenge myself to run trail routes on the farm, and to keep working to find new routes to and from our house, or in town. Inside treadmill workouts are allowed, but may not be repeated more than once. Again, they could build off previous workouts to extend time or distance. I think both challenges will help work together and will build off each other as running different routes/workouts will help keep things fresh and exciting as I work toward hitting my goal of 50 miles for MMM.

I added a #OiselleFullHalf tracking log under my calendar to help make sure I don't double up on runs!

Or, maybe I'll just go crazy trying to track both challenges, AND Shape Up Montana, which continues through April 30, while also balancing home life, farm, and the busiest month of Track Season.... WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!

Follow along all month by checking back on the blog, on my Facebook, Strava, and Instagram (@katie.r.bangs) to see if I'm able to keep it all in check, or if the craziness will overwhelm me!

And here's one more Pro Tip for you... Oiselle is on Zulily today! Go ahead and shop the sale! You won't be sorry... :)

Here's a screenshot I took of the Zulily event.
I own those Charcoal leggings and I LOVE them. Favorite tights.
I also have the Flyte top in a different color and wear it a ton.
Needless to say, it was easy for me to find a few more items to add to my collection from this sale!

Do you have any fitness goals or challenges lined up for April? 

I Took the Pulse Pledge!

I'm replacing my normal Thankful Thursday post with information about a new venture I'm starting out this week. I decided to take the Pulse Pledge! I'm not talking about the pulse of my blood coursing through my veins-- I'm talking about the small legumes known as pulses in the food/agriculture industries. By taking the Pulse Pledge, I'm planning to incorporate pulses into at least one meal per week for the next ten weeks.

What is a Pulse?
As you can see in the graphic below, pulses are things like dry peas, beans, and lentils... Have you ever heard them referred to as "pulses" before? I hadn't until I moved to the farm. I think the term is used more in agriculture, but part of the goal of the Pulse Pledge is to get everyone more acquainted with what exactly pulses are, and to incorporate more of them into their diets.

Image source: www.pulsepledge.com

I decided to take the Pulse Pledge because, besides being a nutritious food option, we grow pulses on our farm. Jeff and I have raised yellow peas the past few years and plan to do so again this year. I am excited to learn more about pulses through this challenge, and looking forward to expanding my recipe repertoire for these little legumes.

Here's another great graphic showing examples of pulses:

Image source: www.pulsepledge.com

So, to be specific, the peas that we have raised on our farm are "whole yellow." Typically, these peas are ground into flour to be used as a component in another type of dish and not consumed as they are. Sometimes they're used in making different types of snack foods, especially in Asia. The most commonly grown pulse in our area is actually "whole green" peas, and some people also grow chickpeas and lentils as crops.

So far, in the first week of the Pulse Pledge, I'm off to a good start! I've actually had three specific dishes where I've worked pulses into the menu. On Sunday I took a jar of three-bean salad (blackeyed peas, green beans, and green peas in a light dressing) I had canned over the summer and added some extra herbs, chickpeas, and sliced cherry tomatoes to up the pulse oomph even more. It was really tasty, and so handy to have the salad already pretty much made. Just open a can and go!

The next day, I made sort of a skillet hash with diced rotisserie chicken, bell peppers, onions, corn, and black beans. I seasoned it with garlic and about 1/2 cup of salsa. We ate this as sort of a burrito- inside tortilla shells.

Chicken skillet hash with veggies and black beans.
Clearly, I'm not a food photographer...

Tonight (Thursday) I'm hitting up black beans again as a side dish for beef fajitas. I'm combining black beans with stewed tomatoes and chilis, and mixing it with rice for a riff on black beans and rice. As beef ranchers, we LOVE beef in our house! Combining my Pulse Pledge with a favorite beef dish is surely a winner! (Note that this post was written on 2/4 but posted about a week later)

Overall, I'm overachieving in the first week of the Pulse Pledge. Having canned beans on hand makes it really easy to eat more pulses. I'd like to get better at using dry beans and legumes, so hopefully I'll be getting into that more in the coming weeks.

Do you have any favorite recipes involving pulses? Are you taking the Pulse Pledge?