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| Although I'm madly in love with running, this is the real love of my life:) |
So I've been thinking about where to go from here. I need goals to work towards and I'm not sure exactly what I want to commit to at this time. On the one hand, I would like to get back into instructing. I spoke to the Manager at the Running Room yesterday and he needs instructors for the 5K and 10K clinics that start in April. That was a touch disappointing for me because I really wanted to teach Learn to Run again with my gal Beverly. Now I'm contemplating the 10K clinic, but I'd be instructing that solo. The reason why I'm looking at the 10K is because my clinic and practice runs could be counted towards my weekly mileage. So I wouldn't have to schedule solo runs on top of my clinic runs. That is a definite positive. The other plus for me is the employee discount. I'm finally going to be a big girl runner and buy a Garmin. The employee discount will definitely help out with the expense of that!
After I run the Chilly Half Marathon next Sunday, I am going to focus once again on weight-loss. I think I'd like to drop another 10-15 pounds and really work on some running goals I have for myself. One of those goals is to work on my pace. That will improve with speed work (once my hamstring completely heals). And it won't kill me to drop a few pounds (mostly in my hips and thighs) which will also help with my pace. My focus in March and part of April will be weight-loss. Then from mid-April to the end of June, I will work on my speed. From the end of June until the end of October, I will train for the Road2Hope Marathon. It's a Boston qualifier, and although I'm not delusional enough to think I can qualify for Boston this year, I'm gonna give it my best effort. I'm also not registering until August. That will help me to determine how my training is going. If I'm doing really well, I'll go ahead and register for the full marathon, if I'm struggling, I'll register for the half marathon and make the full marathon my goal for the next year.
So back to phase 1 (unlimited lean protein, leafy greens and mostly green veggies) for me for six weeks! I can do it no problem. I did it for six months once, six weeks is nothing! I'm still going to run, just not the distances I have been. I'm going to ease back on running after the Around the Bay so that my hamstring can completely heal. I'll run to keep my fitness and aid in weight-loss, but I won't be doing any 20K runs. Maybe 12K will be my long run for six weeks. I'll still run 5 days per week, but scale back to 36K per week instead of the 50+K I've been running. I think a long run of 12K per week and 4 days of 6K is very reasonable. Especially when I'm cutting back on my carbs. I'll eat phase 2 on my long run day.
So that is my plan Stan! As soon as the weight is off, I'll work on speed and return to maintenance. I'm excited about my plans and even though I'm likely running solo for a good part of the next eight months, the weather can only get nicer, and I don't mind running alone. Don't get me wrong, company is always nice, but so are audio books! Plus my gal Tanya wants to run trails this spring/summer. My absolute favorite runs are trail runs, so I'm totally looking forward to the nicer weather. Bring it on!
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| We are a tall bunch of people! I'm wearing 4 inch heels which would bring my height up to 5'11"! Photo courtesy of CBC. |