On the Road to PR City

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." This is obviously a totally famous quote that I'm sure everyone has heard before. We can all relate to it on one level or another, right? This is especially true for fitness and weight loss routines.

In January, I made a declaration of certain goals I wanted to achieve in the year 2014. They weren't resolutions because those are Most of them were fitness goals and some more long term than others. One of those goals was to run a sun 4:30 marathon. For some people, this is a snails pace and they would die of embarrassment over it but I'm realistic of my running abilities and anything under a four hour marathon is really not in the cards for me unless I make running my entire life and even with that, I don't know if this body can do that. And I'm okay with that. What I'm not okay with is not PRing this October when I run the Chicago the marathon. I don't care if I run a 4:29:59, but it needs to be faster than a 4:30. It needs to be.

Even though this will be my eighth marathon, they certainly don't get any easier. I've trained more or less the same way with my past marathons and have done decently well for me. The past two years I've set my goal at below a 4:30 but made no changes to my training schedule, so how could I expect to just do better? I did what I've always done and got what I always got. I don't want that anymore. I want better. And in order to do that I've got to make some changes. This year I'm not messing around. In order to get a better result I need to do some things differently. From how fast I run to what I eat to what I wear, I am changing up my training routine. And here a few ways how...

1. Spandex shorts. In the past I have always run in running shorts with spandex under (so I don't chafe, obvs) for summer runs, running crops when it's cool, and running leggings when its cold out. This time around, I am wearing straight up spandex shorts. This is a big deal for me because I hate my legs. They are gross, but I am not going to hide them in crops and sweat to death in them. Luckily, I finally found a pair of spandex shorts that I am comfortable in. Ones that are the perfect length (not too short and not too long), that are thick (and don't need running shorts over), and that don't ride up. Do you know how hard it was to find them? It was a very strenuous, frustrating shopping process but I finally succeeded. Finally, I found some I liked thanks to both Lululemon and Athleta. I actually had to buy "tall" shorts and get them hemmed to the perfect medium length because the regular ones are too short and the "talls" too long. Now they are just right for how I like them.

Wearing these shorts is a huge issue for me because I am so self-consious of how my legs look (which is why I previously wore regular shorts over my spandex). For someone my age and who has my high activity level, my cellulite situation is less than to be desired and straight up disgusting. It's gross and makes me want to cry every time I look in the mirror. I am however, trying this new thing out where I am trying to just appreciate my legs for what they can do for me and not how they look. (It's really hard in case you are wondering, but I am making strides. Literally and figuratively.) Sure, I still don't want to be in public any longer than I have to in my shorts, but at least I am now running in them and that's a plus.

2. Garmin. I don't know why I waited so long to get myself one of these. Oh yeah I do, it was the giant price tag, and also a little fear. Fear over what you may ask? Well, I know I can get a little psycho about certain things and I feared that if I had a Garmin I would put even more pressure on myself to do well.
Without the Garmin, I am already a bit of a psychotic, über competitive person so I feared this would magnify this even more. However, the days of me just timing my runs, estimating distance, and assuming I was running a ten minute mile are over. Although I knew I was faster than that and have run the same parks and paths so many times, I wanted exact data. With the Garmin, I will have exact data of distance and pace. Since I bought the Garmin last week, I got a baseline from a long run and plan to  work from there on speeding up. With this watch, I will know when I need to pick it up and really push myself if I want the time that I do. I just hope I don't obsess over the data too much. No promises, though. Eeeek.

3. Speed Work. Getting a faster time is my ultimate goal so obviously adding speed work makes the most sense. Before the Washington DC half, I incorporated speed work into my training and felt I was getting faster and then boom, a UC flare. Succckkkkeeed.  But out of my control.  I had to cancel my race entry and just focus on getting healthy again. I had to build up my endurance again after that for the Brooklyn half and them just got into a steady running schedule; one I was comfortable with and put the speed work aside even though I was actually really enjoying doing it. I like pushing myself and running 7:00 to 8:00 minute miles in 400 meter spurts will only help me improve.

4. More cross training/weight lifting. Spinning at least once a week (usually the day after my long run to keep the muscles loose) and more squats, lunges, and core work is the plan. Okay, and arms too. This all will hopefully pay off. I still skip my "cross training" day on Mondays and use it as a rest day, but I am adding the weights and stuff in addition to my shorter weekday runs and hopefully this will strengthen my body.

5. Eat better. This was another goal of mine for the new year (and one of the hardest for me because seriously guys, I love food. So much.) and I go into patterns of being really good and really bad with my food choices. I don't like diets because I don't want a "quick fix." I want sustainable lifestyle changes that are easy and affordable. I hate to make excuses for being on vacation or out of town for my poor eating habits but sometimes I just can't resist a Shake Shack burger or Lou Malnati's pizza. And every once in a while that's fine. But I need to get a better handle on cooking at home. High protein, high fiber, and high in flavor. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Ugh. Right. I mean, I love big salads, juices, and veggies like the rest of us, it can just be expensive and laborious to cook. I need to make a better effort though.

I know that life will, and already has, gotten in the way with some of the training because of trips and work and that's out of my control. I plan and do as best as I can on the road and think I do a decent job of prioritizing my workouts, sometimes annoying so. I handle what's in my control and work from there. I am just going to do the best that I can and hope that all these little changes will add up to a big happy result for me in October. Until then, I will continue on a road of improvement and hopefully that will lead to PR city.