It’s been four weeks since my Colorado adventure and the Bear Chase 100k-turned-50-miler, and while the break has been blissful, I feel myself getting antsy again. I need to have some kind of goal I’m working towards, some purpose to my workouts, something I can focus on every day — because that’s just the kind of neurotic, restless person I am.
After training hard for the better part of 2015, my body and mind still need a break. My body is telling me to change things up, and my mind needs a rest from the hours and hours of long runs that’s left it feeling drained. So for the next couple months, here are the top things I’m going to focus on:
- I’ve decided on working towards a 10K PR — this will allow me to stay motivated and fit while changing up my workouts and mental approach. I’m following Hal Higdon’s advanced 10K training plan (below) and am on week 2 — I have to say, I’m really enjoying it so far! Focusing on going faster versus going longer is a nice mental break and still challenges my body to its fullest.
2. I haven’t decided on what my goals for 2016 will be yet — I’m debating between chasing after a BQ, attempting the 100K distance again, getting faster at the 50-mile distance or sticking to 50K and under for a year. I’ll be pondering and planning this for the next couple months, but when I do decide, I know I need to take documenting my training more seriously. I’m terrible at consistently writing down my nutritional intake, run/race times/splits, factors that might affect performance, etc. SO I purchased this nifty new training journal by Oiselle for whatever 2016 holds in store! It has all kinds of helpful information, reminders and motivation to keep putting training down on paper.
3. So what else? Another benefit of training for the 10K distance is that I now have more time to work on strength training — hooray! I’m planning on doing strength training at least 3-5 times per week, and because I tend to not get enough calories, I’m going to force myself to down some extra in the form of protein shakes (gross). This is me now, and I hope my baby abs will finally grow up by early next year.
4. When I have spare time, I’m also going to be working on developing recipes for my nutrition and food blog, Strong Trumps Skinny, and taking the final steps to launching my running business, Venture Running — more to come on that soon!
5. Fifth and finally, I know I’ve somewhat neglected The Ultra Life over the past few months, so I am going to make a big effort to post on a regular basis. Upcoming posts you can expect are updates on training, race reports, “Friday Favorites”, videos, gear reviews and more. Looking forward to what’s in store!
What are some of your top goals right now?
Cheers,
Jackie
trailsandkale.blog 