Turning 40. New plan. Run smart. Lose weight.

I started this blog when I ran my first 50k  as a place to put my race reports. I then changed it to what you see now so that people could follow along on my journey to my first 50 miler. Well that didnt go as planned so here I am to try again! Feel free to follow along here and/or on my facebook page.

RUNS: Oh yes! Enough crying about the last one. Time to move on to the next adventure! Since I didnt get to run the 50 miler before my 40th bday...I now have a whole year to get it in and run a 50 miler DURING my 40th year! And since I turn 40 this coming Wednesday what better time to start the new training plan! Actually I will start on Tuesday since that is when the plan starts. Happy B-day to me!

Well, I guess I am lying about that because the plan calls for 36 miles for the first week and I am REALLY hoping to get in 40 miles this week for my 40th birthday. Anyone want to join in that fun?!

Who else would get this excited about looking forward to RUNNING a crap ton of miles over then next several months except us crazy runner folks. Some people just dont understand!

My target race is called Bull Run Run held in Clifton, Virginia in April. But I wont know until February if I get in or not since they have a lottery entry. So that means I will be training for a race that I dont even know if I will run until only weeks before. Have no fear. I do have a back up race to...just in case!

Im really hoping that I learned from the last go round and train a little bit smarter this time. Below is the training plan that I will use. Well, I actually use that as a base and then tailor it to my planned races and other life happenings.

I plan to continue the yoga twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am going to drop the Bodypump that I have been doing and instead make a core workout plan for myself. That way I can workout the muscles I feel I need to work instead of what they want me too. Realizing that I will need to adjust this plan in the last weeks when my mileage gets up there.

But if I only learned one thing from this past year is that cross training is invaluable. It NEEDS to be done (as long as I can). I am all sorts of lopsided and unbalanced. Who knew a trail runner would be unbalanced? Not me!

I was always told how running trails is such a good overall workout. Its true in that it is but, it is not enough. You need to work out that core. It needs to be even stronger for the trails because of all the dancing around rocks, logs, debris, water, etc. and we can get fatigued quicker. Which means your form suffers and injury eventually surfaces. (Ahh, sounds so familiar!)

EATS: Now the not as fun part is the eating. It seems like the more I run, the more I eat, the more weight I gain. So needless to say, I need to work on this BIG TIME. I knew that I have gained some weight over the past 1-2 years but I really just didnt realize the seriousness of it until I saw myself in the mirrors at the gym. Looking at the scale or my tight clothes didnt register for me. It wasnt until I was injured (I know part of it is because of my extra weight), joined a gym and actually saw my whole self in the mirrors for the first time in a VERY long time did I "get it".

Recent picture of me.

Just because I am vegetarian doesnt mean that I dont eat junk. I do. Lots. I eat some of the most delicious foods but then I always seem to want to wash them down with a candy bar. Gah!

I need to eat to fuel my workouts and recovery. That is it!

Easy enough, right?!

So anyway, I dont plan on dieting per se but just watching what I eat more closely and try to drop some of this extra baggage that I dont need to be carrying around on my runs. What fun is that!

PLEASE feel free to offer any advice or suggestions at any time during this journey. I welcome it all. I obviously still have alot to learn.

Do you have any big plans for the upcoming months or year? (Remember, big is relative to you!)

Peace.