Here We Go!

Official DAY 1 of training for Half-Marathon.  I got 13 weeks to get my booty into a running machine!  I'm setting my goal time for the half-marathon for 2:05, but I can't lie... I'm really hoping to get under the two-hour mark.  I've studied the book "Run Less, Run Faster" and formulated my training plan (see "In-Training" tab on this blog).  Day 1 was easy... started with a cross-training day. Sweet!  I did 45 minutes of Spinning class, followed by an easy 2 mile run on the gym track.  Cross-train days are suppose to be light-moderate exertion.  That will be my biggest challenge I think.  It's difficult for me to go easy once I get started.


Up Next (Tuesday):  SPEED INTERVALS!  15 minute run warmup, 12x400 sprints with 90 second RI (rest intervals) in between, 10 minute run cooldown.  This should be interesting... and by that, I mean painful!

On another note, I weighed myself today, and the scale finally budged after a two week plateau.  Down 10.1 pounds for the month of January!  Only 24 lbs more to go!

Make a Plan!

I'm one of those people who thrive on a To-Do list.  So even when it comes to running, I need it written down and mapped out to stay focused.  And when I throw it out there publicly like this, I'm more apt to succeed.  It's just the way I'm wired... So here we go!

Month of January - focus on conditioning and strengthening, i.e. get my running endurance back.  Bottom line is I want to get the extra holiday pounds off and back to a respectable running shape (and no, round is NOT the shape I want!)  This will be my month to enjoy fitness flexibility... pick my own workout on a daily basis.  However, I did commit to a Spinning class every Mon and Wed morning.  

February-March-April - Official training months for the Illinois 1/2 Marathon on April 30, 2011.  Now we get serious, deep into a training plan (that I am yet devising...).  I'm currently reading the book "Run Less, Run Faster" to decide whether I want to try this popular new method of training.  I squeaked out a 2:09 in my September half-marathon, which now has me eyeing the 2 hour mark.  But whew!  9:09 is tough pace for 13 straight miles!  Thinking 2:05 might be more realistic.

May-June - Run the Komen Race for the Cure in Peoria, IL on May 7.  This one is an inspiring and meaningful day for me; the fight against breast cancer is on!  The rest of May-June I want to slow it down and recover - have some enjoyable runs along the river, the trails, neighborhoods at a relaxed non-training pace.

October - First full 26.2 Marathon!!  St. Louis 10.23.11 just one day after my 37th birthday!  So July-Aug-Sept-Oct will be four months of tough training...

A New Year doesn't have to mean a new you...

As the calendar flips to 2011, it signals a change for so many.  "A New Year, A New You"... really?  Does it work like that? 

With plans to accomplish my full marathon this year, I'm back on the running train, er, treadmill.  So after a week of strict diet and hard exercise, I meet with the gym trainer to do my stats.  While I keep looking ahead to where I want to be (focus on the goal!), it's sometimes motivating to look back.  Trainer pulls out my card from last January.  Yikes, do I want to see this?!  Not frightening, but instead comforting, motivating and made me smile.  What a change I made in a year (measurements, BMI, body fat...), and yet, same ole Jess,... pluggin' away at the same old goals.  So maybe not a "New You" in 2011, but a stonger, slightly smaller one.  Yup, I'll take that.