Today was my first day back to working out after the marathon. I made a deal with my body last weekend that if it just let me finish, I would give it "almost" a week off. We both kept our ends of the deal. It was weird coming straight home after work rather than going to the gym and then home. I also ate like crap all week, felt guilty about it, but continued anyway knowing that I was actually starting my Running Resolution a full week after completing the marathon.
My 2014 Running Resolution is: Train Consistently. Obviously I would love a new P.R. for the half and full marathons, but I thought that Train Consistently summed everything up, and then I added several goals or milestones to get me there. Today it began at 7 a.m. in Forest Park. I joined the Big River Running free training group, along with over 400 other St. Louis area runners. When I P.R.'d at the San Antonio Rock and Roll half marathon I had been training with a group through Pacers Running Store in DC, so I wanted to give group training another shot. This was one of the steps I had under my 2014 Running Resolutions: Join a running group to meet other runners and to have a sense of accountability. When I train by myself I run slower and sometimes get lazy. I wanted to avoid that and Big River had a free training group, so I signed up!
Another goal or step in the process was getting in better shape. Big River Running's local competitor Fleet Feet started a weight loss competition this year called Ton of Fun. The initial weigh in was yesterday which will be followed by weekly weigh ins through April 12. This program cost $50 BUT if you lose 2% of your body weight, you will earn a $25 gift card to Fleet Feet. If you lose 5%, you earn $50 so you break even. There are also different levels according to weight lost such as 5k (lose three pounds or more), 10k (lose six pounds or more), etc. all the way up to ultramarathon (more than 26 pounds). There are prizes for each level as well. What a great deal!
Another step was to make myself a "regular" at a class or two at the gym. Right now I am thinking either boxing, kettlebell, yoga, or spin. That will also start this week as I make my way back into the gym. I plan to try the different classes and see which is the best fit. I just enjoy that accountability of being a regular somewhere and feeling like I "have" to be there.
So 2014 is off and running. I am hoping that the steps I laid out help me meet my overall Running Resolution of Training Consistently. I hate that feeling of arriving at a race only to feel unprepared and wishing I would have done more. I want to know what it feels like to be at the start thinking; "I am going to try to P.R. today" all while knowing that it is possible because I have trained hard for it!
~Off and running...
