Looking Ahead at 2012

I know I'm a day late and 2012 has already begun.  I have a few running races and goals I know I'm planning and who knows what races I might add to that list.  I also have one resolution I'm focusing on this year.

My first running goal is to run 10 miles every week.  I know that some weeks I'll blow past this goal (like the weeks I run Half Marathons... aka 13.1 miles) and others it might be a struggle (weeks I'm recovering after races or if I get injured... which hopefully I won't).  Still, it is my 2012 running goal, as well as a condition to my parents sponsoring two of my races each year.

My race schedule for this year (that I know of thus far):

• Princess Half Marathon- February 26th
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10 Mile- September 29th
• Wine and Dine Half Marathon- November 10th
• Reindeer Run 5k- December

If I can swing it (in my schedule and financially), I might try and throw in a 5k from time to time.

Now let's get serious of a bit.  New Years Resolutions.  While I feel as though keeping a New Years Resolution should be a resolution in itself, but that isn't what I'm focusing on right now.  Before the new year I had read that one way to keep a resolution is to only have 1.  I have 1 resolution that has two parts... one you focus on after the other is done.

My resolution is a common one, but one I have not yet been able to really control.  I want to (1) lose weight and (2) keep it off.  Eating right and working out... let's see if I can't get a handle on this whole weight thing in 2012, shall we?

Eventually I'll Get There...

In one of my past posts I mentioned how I missed my distance goal on Nike+.  Well I eventually hit it.

I'm guessing I hit it on my small run yesterday (I only did about 2 miles), but I did eventually get it.  That's what I've come to learn one of the most important things about training is... you have to stick with it.  If you keep pushing yourself, you'll be able to reach your goals.  It might take some time, sometimes longer than you expect, but eventually you'll hit your goals.

That's exactly what happened to me.  Life got in the way and I didn't hit my goal in the time expected, but I kept at it and I've now hit it.  I'll make another goal closer to the Princess Half Marathon, but for now I'll run with the Galloway system and I'll be happy with that.

Missing Goals

So I had that distance goal on Nike+ and unfortunately, I'm not going to make it.  I kind of saw it coming last week when I realized 9 miles behind and would have to run 3 miles for 5 days.  I was positive about it at first, but along with my circuit workouts and work schedule, it just didn't work.

Nike+ is great and doesn't want to discourage runners so even though I didn't make my goal, Nike+ offers extensions.  I appreciate that considering I didn't even care about that goal when I realized I wasn't going to make it.  So now that I've extended it, I'm ahead of where I need to be and we'll see how quickly I finish up the 13 miles I have left.  I think I might run 2-3 miles 2-3 times a week for another month or so before picking up the miles again to prepare for the Princess Half Marathon.  I don't think I'll make another goal after this for a while, probably not until closer to the Princess..

While my original Nike+ goal passed me by, I did get my diet back on track.  I don't want to say I'm a calorie counter, but instead I'm calorie aware.  I know what I'm eating, about how many calories it is, and how much I can be eating that day.  I'm not sure strict about staying under the allotted calories, but I don't let them get out of control (most of the time).  I'm still eating what I like and not worrying about only eating certain things.  It just makes diets that much better.  Like I've said before, it's all about portion control and I'm proud to say I've been getting a lot better at that!

New Goal!

Since I met my frequency goal last week I decided to set up a new one.  I didn't want another frequency goal, so instead I decided to do a distance goal.  My new goal?

Run 45 miles in 4 weeks.  

The first run towards this goal... 4.08 miles. 

Alright, I'm already thinking that this might be too easy, especially since I have the Half Marathon next week.  The difficulty might come in the fact I'm going to probably take a break or at least not run as much after the half.  We'll see if I finish ahead, exactly on, or after the 4 week mark.  

Speaking of the half marathon, I'm kind of worried because I think my shoes might have died.  Or my insoles have died.  Still, I think I might be in trouble either way.  And of course there's no time to get new shoes because breaking them in would cause shin splints or other soreness... Well, this is wonderful, but life tends to like to throw these little complications at me and I just have to keep running through them.

Victory!

I've done it again!

That's right... I've reached another goal with Nike+.  This time it was to run 15 times in 5 weeks, so 3 times a week.  I was originally ahead of schedule by a few days, but then with dive training at work and other things going on I fell behind.  Still... my 5 weeks was actually up tomorrow so I am a day ahead.

I know I just posted a few days ago on while running in the morning is the best, but I actually ran this final run this AFTERNOON.  That's right, you read it correctly.  I ran in the afternoon.  I was so close to not running, but then I said I had to so I got up, and went down.  Luckily there weren't too many people in the gym and a treadmill was open.  With no excuse I was able to get a 2 miler in.  I'm still on the fence on if I'll run tomorrow morning or not... I have an extra 1/2 hour before I have to leave for work (I'm going in later to stay later...).  Hm... what to do?  What to do???

Whether or not I run tomorrow, I have another question to ponder.  What should my next goal be?  Another frequency goal?  Or maybe a distance goal?  Decisions Decisions...  Any ideas?

GOAL!

That's right, I hit my goal!  Barely, but I did it!

Originally, I was sure I could do 10 runs in 4 weeks.  It shouldn't have been too hard since I was already 2+ times a week.  However, there was one thing I wasn't thinking about when I decided to accept the challenge... I was moving to Florida in those 4 weeks, actually just at the beginning.  Not only was I moving, but I was starting a job and had no clue what my schedule was like.

Luckily, I was ahead of the challenge before I left California, which gave me some leeway when I moved.  It helped, but I was down to the day.  Still, I did it!

Now, I'm not one to say "Great I did it!  I'm done..." Nope, I've already set a new goal...

My new goal:

Run 15 times in 5 weeks... so 3 runs a week... I can do this :)