GOALS!!

Welcome to 2011, it's time to set some new goals!  But first, let's not mistake these as resolutions for the new year ...  I don't believe in those :)  A resolution is something that a person makes at the beginning of the year and falls off the boat after a short attempt at follow-through.  Although, I DID pick the New Year's Day Half as my goal race because I wanted to start the new year off on a better foot ... so what the heck.  Call them whatever you want, Resolutions, Goals ... either way, I'm not falling off ;-p

Race Goals:
Rock N Roll Dallas half marathon - 2:10 finish (March 27, 2011)
Rock N Roll San Antonio FULL marathon - my first!! (Nov 13, 2011)

Fitness Goals:
19% body fat (down from 23%) by June 1st
20 "real" push-ups

The Breakdown
Race Goals: 
When I decided that I wanted to challenge myself and shave some time off my half marathon, I went to my friend Michelle Blackard.  Michelle and I knew each other at UNT ... well, I should say we knew "of" each other.  Last February, a special someone from my days at UNT was brought back into my life.  And although things with him didn't work out the way I wanted, Michelle happened to be married to his best friend!  Lucky me ;).  I haven't seen her in something like 10 years, and the first conversation we ever had was last year ... and it was about running. 

I told her what I wanted to do, but wasn't sure how to do it.  A couple days later, she emailed my new training program.  I named it the "Incredibly Uncomfortable, I'm Going to Puke and Curse Michelle" training program.  Track workouts, tempo runs, pace awareness, the works.  But it did just that.  It worked!!  I wanted to finish the New Year's Day half in 2:30, and I finished in 2:25:33.  My previous best on the half was 2:56 ... I cut 31 minutes off my time and went from a 13:30ish mile to an 11ish  mile in 10 weeks.  Not only did I surpass my own expectations, but in Michelle I have gained a client, a coach, a source of inspiration, and most importantly, a friend.  She tells me that speed is mostly mental; that my body is ready and able; that I just need to allow my mind to let me run faster.  Well, here I go again - "Incredibly Uncomfortable, I'm Going to Puke and Curse Michelle Part II" 10 week training program.  BRING IT. 

I'm not giving myself a time goal for the full marathon, just want to finish it.  Under 5:00 would be awesome, but I just want to get the miles in and see if it's something I want to do again!

Fitness Goals:
Working at LifeTime Fitness has been a wonderful thing for me.  I've never been a terribly active person, as much as I may have tried in the past.  (Does 8 years of marching band count?)  I started running pretty close to the time I made the move from the wellness center to LifeTime, and surrounding myself in the lifestyle of other active people has definitely helped me stay in the mind-frame.  In July of '09, one of the most intimidating trainers in the building approached me with a question ... "so when are we gonna start working out?"  yeah right!!  This dude is scary.  Anthony Blue.  He's the man with a plan.  And his plan was to kick my ass up and down that gym floor twice a week.  I stuck with it for 3 months almost, and I went down a pant size and was stronger than I've probably ever been. 

At the end of that three months I fell off the wagon entirely.  Stopped training, stopped running, nothing.  Last July when I got back on it, I focused strictly on running.  But I knew Blue was just around the corner, watching me, waiting to torture me.  So I agreed AGAIN!  We did a reassesment and it turns out that in spite of my 6 months of inactivity, I was down 5% body fat.  Not too shabby.  (I'm sure all those track workouts helped slim me down).  So now I'm sitting at 23% ... and we all know that one of the best ways to pick up speed is to slim down.  So that's our new plan.  Well, that's MY new plan.  His motivations are different than mine.  When he uses phrases like "tell your friends to lock up their husbands," it makes me laugh.  OK, he didn't say that exactly, but that's the gist of it.  And I must admit the vanity factor DEFINITELY plays a part.  I think he enjoys seeing the transformation.  That, and my payment for his time comes in the form of a trade; training sessions for massages.  Lucky him.  Oh, and did I mention that I can't do a push-up to save my life?  Yep, that's right.  I'm a massage therapist that specializes in deep tissue and I can't do a real push-up.  Girl push-ups are the best I can get.  Embarrassing much?