Winter Goals

This was the first week I had to bust out my winter coat. That means its time to bust out my winter goals, too. Everybody else is doing it, what are you waiting for?

Here they are:

• Stick to my list of physical therapy exercises/stretches as if it was a religious document and I was the pope
• Regain the 5 lbs of muscle I've lost since graduation
• Make ab and core workouts a habit
• Slowly rebuild my mileage up to 40-50 miles per week. Slowly being the key word.

Thats it. Four goals. But each one is doable and will have a significant impact on my running and general fitness. The gaining of weight is probably a very foreign topic to most people. But I, apparently, live in a very different part of the galaxy! Gaining weight is a very difficult thing for me to do; my metabolism is naturally very fast, I (ideally) run 40-50 miles per week, and don't eat much junk food at all. I'm sure you'll agree with this goal after looking at the before picture!

Although I am not part of SLB's Running Through Th3 Wall Challenge, I am going to post my before pictures. It'll help keep me on track. And as usual, no smiling is allowed in the before picture, because that makes the after picture look that much better! Seriously, have you ever seen anybody smile in a before picture?


Putting those running shorts on for the picture sure felt good. They haven't been on for a while. In fact, I still have them on. Call it nostalgia. Maybe I should go grab my mylar blanket from Chicago too?

Notice that none of my goals involve races. Not yet. I am not looking at any races until I can painlessly run 25 miles in a week. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. Previously, I was considering the Myrtle Beach marathon in February, but it definitely isn't happening due to the amount of time I have needed to take off. The half at Myrtle Beach is a possibility, but I am not even considering it an upcoming race until I can run pain free. My goals listed above are much more important than any race, for now!

The chips are on the table. Its time to get to it!