Sunday, January 13, 2013

No day like TODAY!

After taking pretty much the entire month of December off from any activity that didn't involve eating, drinking or spending money, immediately followed by a week long vacation in Mexico that involved more of the same, I decided that TODAY was the day to get back on the proverbial healthy living bandwagon.  And let me tell you, even though my brain was ready for this transition, my body had to be dragged kicking and screaming out for a "pre-training" run.   The weather forecast couldn't have been more co-operative so even though I am still battling some kind of head cold, I knew I had to lace up my shoes and get out there.

I had been doing so well with maintaining my healthy eating habits for the first 11 months of the year, but everything really fell apart in December.   It's amazing how one bad month can really throw you for a loop.  I've noticed that my energy levels for the past 6 weeks have been somewhat comparable to those of a hibernating bear, which I am certain has a great deal to do with my diet.   Today, I was determined to make better choices and recreate the habit of "food journaling". 

I've been giving a lot of thought to the goals that I have set for myself for the upcoming year and I have to say, I'm definitely nervous scared s*%$less.  I almost don't know where to start.  I do have a "training plan" of sorts, but looking at it after not running for over a month is rather intimidating.    I figured today I would just go out and do a quick 4K, see how it feels and go from there.  

So how did it feel, you ask?    It sucked.   A lot.   So much so that I only ended up doing 2 of the planned 4K.   My chest burned and my head was pounding which, in all fairness, is probably due more to the cold I am battling than the lack of exercise recently, but still.   It did feel good to get past my "fear" of lacing up my shoes though and I gave myself permission to quit after 2K.  I figure it's a start and every journey has to have one even if it's not pretty.  

Even though my ultimate goal for the year is the Island Girl Half Marathon in September, there is another rather large and daunting challenge I must face on the way - the Mississauga Marathon 10K race in May - which will be my focus for the first 4 months of the year.  Even though I have already completed an 8K race, I will be going back to basics to prepare for the 10K.   I do know that a good portion of the course is hilly, so I will need to add some hill work as well as some interval speed training, which will be new to me.   

I'm going to follow a plan that is similar to the one that I used to prepare for the 5K last year called "Bridge to 10K".   It is quite short, only 6 weeks, so I will use a program that I found on www.runforlife.ca to take me to race day once I've completed the 6 week "Bridge" plan.   (I will also be following their "Half Marathon" training plan after the 10k is complete).  I'm going to spend the afternoon scheduling the runs, cross training sessions and yoga classes into my calendar so I have a clear picture of where I'm going for at least the next 4 months. 

I'm hoping that as my body gets re-accustomed to exercise and proper eating everything will start to fall back into place and the fear and doubt that have found their way into my mind will be remembered only in this blog post.

J :)

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