One race, one goal
I’m signed up for exactly one race (so far) this year. A local 5K at the end of February. And I have a goal for it.
I don’t often set race goals, but I always seem to with this race! I’ve tried to PR on it (bad idea, it’s hilly) and I’m always trying to win my age group (I’ve been in first place 4 of the 7 times, and in second the other 3 times… it’s a small race, ha!).
This year, I am going for a course PR.
I ran it last year in 22:58. My 5K PR is 21:48. Should be a piece of cake, right?!
Ha! Not if I keep eating pieces of cake. Ha. Ha ha. Sigh.
I see three potential things holding me back from a course PR: weather/route conditions (a BIG if in February), hills, and diet. The first one is out of my control. But I can train for hills (I already have my speed and hill work planned out).
And… I can alter my diet?!
Ha!
Since the marathon, I’ve been eating like I am not training for anything (because I’m not!) – healthy, but not as diligent as in marathon training. Maintaining weight loss, but only losing a few pounds since the marathon. It’s time to get back with the program! The race is just under seven weeks away – I could make some major progress before then, and run faster with less effort, if I was lighter!
Or, should I start at six weeks, after my family Christmas?
Or, after the move? Yeah, that will definitely be stressful and mess with my eating. But how many weeks away is that?
Ha ha ha. JUST kidding… er…
I guess it’s really one race, TWO goals: course PR and shed a few pounds to get there. Here we go!
I usually don’t talk about weight loss on here. It’s such a different journey for everyone, and I don’t like people paying attention to what I weigh. But, I bet a lot of people are in the same boat as me after the holidays, so why not share?
Themocracy
Interested in your training for hills, hope you share. Yes, time to put the goodies away.
It will all be in my weekly training recaps! For hills, I plan to run my tempos on a hilly route toward my house. MAYBE do hill repeats at some point, but maybe not 🙂
Weather-permitting, my goal is to actually train enough to be able to run this race. Or most of it.
This is definitely a tough time to get back to eating right! I can usually shut the bad eating down after the holidays, but struggle with it other times of year (like summer, when I typically eat out a lot more often). But if you want to start now, do it, and let yourself splurge a little for the family Christmas this weekend. A day or two won’t set you back, but the week you wait until that’s passed probably will! (and I know you already know that)
Schweet! I hope the weather allows you to train for it!!! It will be a hometown race for you! 😀
Oh gosh, that is funny you mention the summer because I am the same way with the summer (always my heaviest then)! People always say to me “I eat more in the winter when it’s colder and eat lighter in the summer” but I sure don’t. Yay, it’s not only me! (only, not really yay)
Thanks for the encouragement, and you are right about the family Christmas! I will enjoy it more if I splurge a bit (especially if we go to HuHot, ha!).
Yeah, that’s why I want to do it! I loved running my old neighborhood race (Ravenswood Run), so I think it’d be fun to do the same in my new town 🙂
Well, I know there’s the tendency to eat a lot of heavy, comfort foods in the winter versus fresh veggies and produce in the summer. But I guess after so many years of resolving to be healthier, my brain just knows to reign it in this time of year!
There’s a HuHot there?? My brother used to take me to the one in San Antonio when he was living there. Apparently there’s one in Kenosha too!
Yes! Get the streak going while you’re here! 🙂
That is GOOD brain programmin!
Yes! And there is one in Kenosha! AND…. they give you rice AND tortillas. TORTILLAS!!!!
Whoa, then we should go there. Especially once you basically live in Wisconsin 🙂
Agreed! (and it’s hella close to our new house, lol)
You got this, girl! (PS You are FAST! I’d kill for a PR like that!) And you have plenty of time to get there. Good luck!! 🙂
Thank you!!! 🙂 And thanks for the nice words on my PR! 🙂
Yeah, I’m definitely in the same boat. I sadly got into the habit of sugary treats in December and now I’ve got to break that and get back to healthier food. Good luck with the course PR!
Sugary stuff is hard for me! Pre marathon I would have chocolate 2x a day, but during the holiday week… well, it was a lot more often than that 😉 Did you get rid of most of it?
Thank you!
We don’t have any more sugary stuff at home but there was still some at the office. I think most of it is gone now and I’m not even going to check on that 🙂 Better to just assume it’s gone.
Yeah! Don’t go looking for it! ha ha! 🙂
I’ve just about given up trying to understand the correlation between what I eat and what I weigh. I have consumed inordinate amounts of sweets and sugar on a routine basis for months, in addition to having (what feels like) a half-assed workout routine (compared to marathon training. I imagine my activity level is still higher and more structured than that of non-runners/bloggers, but everything feels so light and not-serious compared to marathon training, in my experience). Despite that fact that I’ve been eating like crap and running far less, I’m seven pounds lighter than I was during marathon season. I was SURE I’d gain weight over the holidays, but nope – nothing more than like .2 pounds. I don’t understand it at all, unless there is something to this seasonal weight fluctuation you and Anne mentioned farther up in the comments. In the mean time, I will continue to enjoy my cookies and chocolate until Lent rolls around in a month haha.
Maybe you are eating less overall? That would explain it! I mean, what’s his name lost weight eating McDonald’s each day, right?!
Whoo hoo!! I bet the hill work you do will help a LOT. I’m training for a hilly race myself, and while it still makes me nervous because I’m not good at hills, the feedback I’ve gotten from others who have raced it is that the hills felt like Everest in training but small bumps during the race.
I feel like winter in general is a hard time to eat healthy, as we eat a lot more heavier, heartier “comfort food” during the colder months. Not an easy time for weight loss :-/…but maybe you can ride the New Year’s Resolution wave of motivation that’s in the air all the way to your race? 🙂 All the stores are pushing the health foods right now 🙂
The hillwork will totally help you! (and me!) I did hills for about a month and a half to get ready for a hilly half in KCMO and it helped big time. I didn’t notice the hills as much had I not trained on them!
Ha ha ha! I should ride what I can!!!
I think it’s harder for me to eat healthy in the summer! The lure of ice cream stands and refreshing cocktails is just too much for me. Even still, the holidays were ludicrous and I’m in the same situation. I’m trying to rein it all in so I can drop weight for racing season. I want to nail a sub-2 half in April and I know shedding weight will be key.
Good luck on your 5k! I’m hoping to tackle a PR at that distance this year.
You can do eeeeeeeeeet! 🙂 Does having a goal race help you? It seems to for me for the marathon!
I hope you can get a 5K PR this year!!! 🙂
I’m not sure a race helps motivate me. It doesn’t hurt, though! Right now, it’s just to be at a healthy weight.
Good luck! The weather is so iffy this time of year, I hope you have a good day for the race.
Thanks! 🙂 It was 13 degrees with 11 mph winds last year… so less windy than that would help!
I think you will rock your goals. I am happy to report I didn’t gain any of the weight I lost back over the holidays, but I am guessing that’s due to the fact when I am stressed/sad/depressed I don’t eat as much. I still have a few lbs. to go though!! I look forward to reading your PR recap! <3
I hope you feel better soon! 🙁
Thanks, Kim!! I am getting better with each day!! We will get through this and come out on top!!!
Good luck! I’m also working on the simultaneous “get faster” and “lose weight.” While it was very challenging in November/December to even just maintain weight, I’m happy to find out that the January “buckle down” is going pretty well! I’m back to weight as of beginning of December, and I hope that I can get back to late October (pre-injury, pre-birthday, pre-Thanksgiving) weight in a few weeks! Looking back on it, at least the weight gain was slow, and it’s coming off easier. At least until I get to my Ironman weight– when I weighed the least last year!
Good luck! Are you running hills in your neighborhood, or doing a treadmill workout? And any special strength work you’re doing for your hill training?
Oh good for you! You are doing well to be back at your starting December weight! Keep it coming off nice and slow! 🙂
I will run hills in my hood (no treadmill access). You know, I don’t have any strength plans. I should brainstorm with my boss at Efit. Thanks for the idea!!! (I was just gonna keep doing my regular stuff)
Sounds like a fun challenging course- before throwing in the possibility of weather 🙂 I hope you discuss some of the workouts you’re doing to prepare for the course. And yes- seems like so many folks are in the exercise more, lose weight bucket these days. The holidays are so fun but leave January as a cleanup month 😉
Ha ha, right? I hope we have a good day! I’ve worn a tank for this race before… and long sleeves and a jacket, like last year!
I will put a note in my training recaps about them – it will just be my speed work (planned out until the race) and some tempos and hills when I can do them 🙂
Yeah! Super common topic this time of year. We are all in this TOGETHER. HA!
That is an awesome PR!
You have done well, time to hit restart before it gets too hard! I have been trying but not doing so well.
I am always battling the weight, it is an ongoing struggle. It seems every time I lose the last few pounds I need to get off, I get them back, it requires more discipline than I like to exhibit.
Thanks 🙂
Good point – I tend to be a yo-yo-er with my weight, so if I stop it now before it gets bad, I would be uber proud of myself, course PR or not! 🙂
What is holding you back? Do you get comfortable then aren’t as disciplined?
Good luck with your 5k course record attempt. Should be extra challenging if the weather isn’t agreeable. Are you doing any speed-work? I splurged over the holidays, going back for seconds and thirds at the “buffet line” with extra helpings of desserts. It was all good and I realize that a couple of splurges barely move the needle on the scale in the long run. But since I don’t eat like that too often anymore, I really notice how that “uncomfortably full” feeling messes with my sleep, ergo my workout(s) the next couple of days. So, while it’s fun to eat all the food, it’s not quite worth the hours of bad sleep and bad workouts afterwards. If I was not training for anything, I would probably not notice it as much as I could just lie on the couch and veg. Oh well, the holidays are over now and I will forget about this next year and overindulge once again in 2016!
Thanks! Yeah, I’ve been doing speedwork every week for a year now (woot, woot – in case you can’t tell, I am pretty proud of that, ha) and have it planned out for the race 🙂 I need to throw in tempos (which seem to occur naturally for me) and some hills too.
Isn’t it crazy how crappy those little indulgences can make you feel? I hate when I eat so much that I am thirsty (cause of all the salt in the food) then I drink a ton of water and feel even MORE full and I can feel the water sloshing around. HA! Totally not always worth it. But sometimes 🙂 Back on track, right? You still wanted to shed a few pounds, too?
Congrats on your speedwork streak! I need to get back to the track here eventually. I remember a time when most of my runs were tempo runs. Probably not the best idea, but I did not have a clue about varying intensities at the time! I hear you about the salt. Why is everything so salty?! I switched to unsalted peanuts and seeds a long time ago and I now can’t really stomach eating salted nuts/seeds because of the water issue and that general “salty” feeling I get. I need to lose about 8 to 10 lbs. to get to my ideal “race weight”. Although that would be nice, realistically I would be happy to lose (and keep off) 3 to 5 lbs. If only I could somehow eliminate cookies from my diet – it should be no problem! 🙂
Yeah! I know a lot of people are anti “junk” miles, or runs w/o a purpose (beyond tempo, speed, LR) but those easy junk miles runs are what seem to keep me healthy!
It’s NUTS (ha) how much salt is in pre-packaged stuff! It makes me feel blah, too.
Do you have a plan to take that 3-5 off? Hide the cookies?!
Yes, I like junk miles as well! I’ve now resolved to only eating cookies on the weekend (Friday thru Monday). If that doesn’t work, I’ll bake my own cookies with filling ingredients like oat bran and wheat flour instead of eating packaged cookies which are pretty much all sugar and fat. If all else fails, I will have to wait until the spring. When I have an important race looming it’s easier to stay cookie-free than it is in the middle of the “off-season”!
Wow, you are serious about this cookie thing! It sounds like how I’ve been with chocolate lately. We all have our weak spots!!! Ha!
Baking some is a fab idea.
You got this, Kim!!! I love how you are planning now, which will give you lots of flexibility and adjustment time as needed. I’m right there with you on wanting to get back on track with eating habits, too. And YAY for all the hills!!!!!!! (I can’t believe I’m saying that, LOL)
Thanks! Yeah, I am lucky it’s so far out!!! Do you feel like you are getting back on track?
Start those hills now! It does make them more fun. This Saturday, I was planning to run that hilly route I sent you once, but I liked it so much I did it twice! LOL
I actually wish you’d talk a little more about your approach to weight loss, bc it is different (and seems really healthy). I think it would be refreshing, interesting, and maybe helpful, too!
Aww, thank you! I wonder if I should. I just don’t binge eat and work out a lot. LOL!
Nice, it sounds like you’re approaching your goal with a plan and setting yourself up for success. (And even if you don’t PR, you’ll have put in a lot of work and will probably be reaping the benefits elsewhere in your life.)
It sounds like you’ve gotten into a good groove with your eating habits, and I know that has been such a struggle for you in the past. Awesome! If you’re comfortable writing about it, I bet a lot of your readers would appreciate hearing about how you’ve been able to make those changes.
Exactly! If I don’t have a course PR, I will still be in good shape for trying 🙂
Thank you! I have, it seems. I hope it sticks. I wonder if I could come up with something to share 🙂 I just… am worried I will get back to my old binge-y ways. UGH.
Go for it! Can’t wait to hear about it.