Goals are Good & Consistency is Key

I’m pretty excited that my last two “injuries” have healed up super quick. My doc told me I strained my calf after my half marathon, likely because I banged it up pretty well at the Gladiator Run. After the ROC Race, I was told I had tendinitis in my shoulder. Both were supposed to take a good four to six weeks to heal, but my leg was better after a couple of days, and my shoulder is 80% better after less than a week. Whew…

Lesson? R-I-C-E. Pushing through the pain isn’t always the best idea, and following a course of treatment (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is a good idea. I’m a big fan of foam rolls, and more recently, the Rumble Roller. Lots of active stretching and being well warmed up before any static stretching has been super helpful as well. I used to not be a fan of taking the time to stretch, but it’s soooo much better for your body, your workout, and your recovery (DUH, I know). This is one of those things that feels like a waste of time, but the consistency has been key to keeping my body from falling apart.

I’ve had a good couple weeks of running, but have been terrible at keeping a record beyond the Nike+ app on my phone. The last few weeks have just been running to build consistency while minding form and staying injury free. Once I start my “official” training plan next week, I’ll be logging my workouts in an actual old school journal. That’s the goal anyway. I’ll be running toward my half mid-August and the full in October, and want to feel like I’ve actually put in the work and the training verses ‘winging it’ like I did a few weeks back.

Goals are good. They give me something to work toward. I signed up months ago for a virtual 10k with ~~The~~ My Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I “met” this group of women last year and they were the springboard to my twenty pound drop, so I’m looking forward to doing this again, and have talked a couple other local sisters into doing it, too! It’s a goal, but without the drive, packet pick up, etc. that comes with other races, so I can still be on semi-vacation mode from the long weekend.

This actually worked out to be the perfect segue for the Runner’s World Summer Running Streak.
There are 38 days between Memorial Day to the Fourth of July, and I will be running (at least) a mile a day. Goals are good. This is ~~manageable~~ ridiculously easy considering the plan I intend to follow to avoid a near death experience for my half in August. Even on a rest/recovery day, a mile is ten quick minutes to shake the legs out.

Goals are good. ~~I’m hoping to finish~~ My goal is to finish my half in August in 2:30. My hope is that it would be closer to 2:15. I haven’t fully attached a goal time to my full marathon in October. Five hours of running is a long time no matter how you slice it, but then again, five hours could be a realistic time to finish. There are a couple other half’s that are on my radar, so I’m hoping they will give me a better idea of a legit time to do a full without setting myself up for disappointment.

For now, I’m just happy to have warmer weather, a healthy body to run with, and am going to enjoy the run.

Question: What races do you have coming up? What goals do you set?

What training plan are you following, or do you create your own?