2013s Plan

I hadn't given my 2013 goals/resolutions a whole lot of though before January, and have to confess to still not giving them a lot of thought so I thought I better do that this morning! Time for some action on that.

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 I am not going to set a mileage goal this year.  Last year it was to run 1500 miles and I ran over 1600.  I decided not to focus on mileage this year so I don't feel any sort of pressure to have to run when maybe my body just needs a rest or some cross training.  I still plan to track my miles on DailyMile but I don't want it to be a focus or an obsession.

So far I have two half marathons this spring on the schedule and another in the fall.  There will be no marathons this year and I am okay with that.  I will do another but 2013 is not that year.  There will also be some 5ks, 5 mile,  and 10k races thrown in. 

My Hood to Coast Team didn't get back in this year so we are looking hopefully doing a Ragnar Relay somewhere.

I want to continue doing HIIT type workouts at least three times a week, but no more than 5 times. Rest days are important! I have been a lot of ZWOWs lately or making up my own. Bodyrock.tv is no more and their new site is to crazy for me.  Simple really is best and Zuzanna keeps it simple.

Nutrition wise my plan is to minimize processed foods as much as possible.  Keep lots of fruits and veggies in the house for snacks. 

Last year I seemed to get a little over reliant on using energy gels. I had it in my head that I needed to take one before a run or a couple of miles in so that I would have lots of energy to run.  I quit doing that a couple of months ago and have done up to 10 mile runs with no energy gels.  That's right, I went cold turkey on them and have survived! 

I do still plan to use them once I start doing runs longer than 10 miles, but very sparingly!

Write down a training plan!  I have never done this, I just sort of wing it.  I think this made me a little over trained for my marathon last year and resulted in some burnout afterwards.I also think it will help me get faster and I want at least one PR this year.  (who doesn't!)

Quality over quantity for running mileage.  This relates to not setting a mileage goal for the year.

Last year I kept running clothes in the car so that I could run after work if I had the time.  I quit doing it in the summer when it got so hot and never started up again in the fall.  Part of that was listening to my body.  I started doing that again. After work runs are short and easy usually never more than 4 miles and if they are longer than I cut back the next day.

Continue to not worry about weight.  As long as my pants fit and I feel good I don't care what the scale says.   After all a pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat.

Take time everyday for the kids.  It can be so easy to get caught up in the day and what I need to get done that I don't always take time to play with the kids.  We are good about reading books everynight and plan to continue this for as long as they will let me :)