Back to basics

Happy New Year! I weighed myself today and it was not pretty. I'm the heaviest I've been in almost two years! 138 pounds. My goal is to be down to 120 by the end of June (when I turn 40).

I have to admit that in the last month or more, I've been eating a lot without any thought behind it. When I do that AND I don't exercise or run like I used to, I obviously gain a lot of weight. It was just two months ago that I weighed 130. Oh well, I'm not going to worry because I know when I am back to running regularly for at least 45 minutes a day, the weight will come off rather quickly. It always does. I'm also tracking what I eat and limiting my calorie consumption to what my body needs based on my current activity level. Before I get into full swing marathon training, I only need about 2000/day to lose a pound a week. When I get heavy into training, I can eat about 2200-2300 calories per day and still lose a pound a week (if not more, depending on how hard I train).

I went for a wonderful, glorious run today. 45:30. I'm running based on TIME alone for the next 10 days, and then I will start paying attention to actual miles covered. Today's run was just a quick jaunt over to the nearby rain basin which is very deep and has great grass to run on. When I got there I ran up and down the sides of the basin for 25 minutes, charging up the 'hills' (about 9 seconds long) and then jogging back down. Before running home I did 25 pull ups (combined jumping with kipping), 40 push ups and then 50 steps for each foot of the following:
heel walks with toes out to sides, exaggerated pronation walks on insides of feet, exaggerated supination walks on outsides of feet, and heel walks with toes straight up.

I felt so strong on the run today, something about running on grass and up and down the little hills. My feet were soaking wet by the time I got home. Even now, several hours later, my piriformis is NOT bothering me, nor are my feet, or my back.

I will be running some kind of hills (even on a treadmill if I have to) at least three times per week during this easy base building phase. I will also throw in one session of short tempo running (no more than 20 minutes at a time), and probably strides once a week (like 6 x 100 meters). I will also do a medium long run during the week and a long run on the weekends, not to exceed 30K until I'm in actual marathon training.

I just want to have fun and get the joy of running back. No pressure, just freedom! I want to feel good again and not beat up. I will get my strength back and when I do, look out, because that's when I'll be racing again. I can practically taste it right now and I can't wait! But I will be patient, smart and not put undue pressure on myself.

Miguel is giving me a base building schedule that includes all the things I just typed. I'm looking forward to working with him again!