Thank you, Next

Okay, so I think I have finally recovered both physically and mentally from my Marathon. Physically, was actually not as bad as I thought it might be. Overall, I was good, with the exception of a minor muscle strain that had developed tibialis anterior well before I ran. I've been to a doctor a few times now for recovery treatment - electroshock, icing and rehab exercises - and that is going nicely. I've been give the go ahead to workout/run as I want to as long as I am smart about it (plus no plyo, which, I am 100% cool with). 

Maybe I'll now finally stop mentioning my Marathon constantly
Probably not though...

The mental has been okayish as well. When you have such a big goal for so long, you can kind of feel a bit let down when it finally has come and gone. Especially when, like me, you were not terribly happy with the end result. I am trying to focus on the positive aspect - I FINISHED A FREAKING MARATHON, and less on the negative - I didn't finish it as well as I though I could have. When it comes down to it, it is what it is, I cannot change the past so I am choosing to focus on the fact that I am a Marathoner. 

But now, it is time to look forward. More specifically, it is time to set new goals and start to work on those. 

In 2018 I set a metric butt-ton of goals. Those kept me hyper focused throughout the year and dare I say, a bit more stressed than I probably should have been, esp towards the end of the year (8 races in 2 month, yo). Then, I immediately rolled into Marathon Training with nary a moment to breathe. Needless to say, that was the only thing I could focus on, so I never really set any 2019 goals (other than, you know, the obvious Marathon). 

Now that those 26.2 miles are in there rear-view, it is finally time to set my (much more mild) 2019 Goals. 

Yeah, not even close... and I jumped to get up there

Goal #1 - Do a Pull Up
Despite my best efforts and 3 days a week of strength training (at least 1 of which upper body) I still have a pretty weak upper body. This year, I am determined to master doing a pull up. Just 1 is all I want to be able to do. Is that too much to ask for? To do this, I plan on never missing (if possible) Arm days and Back/Chest days at Burn. I will also attempt the bar every time I am at Burn, no matter what the training focus is. I have also added a pull up bar to my Amazon wish list. 



Goal #2 - 1000 miles -  Making the Miles Challenge
This one I've been working on and am confident I can reach. My local Fleet Feet Sports is hosting a 1000 mile challenge on the Garmin Connect app where at certain check ins you earn rewards: 50 miles ($7 in nutrition), 150 miles (socks), 250 miles ($20 gift card), 500 miles (sunglasses), 750 miles ($30 gift card) and 1000 miles (medal). The early marathon training really helped to boost my numbers and as of today (3/28) I am already at 364 miles. I am not going to say that this goal will be easy (still have 636 miles to go) but I'm well on my way. 

Goal #3 - Run a 2 hour Half

Heading back for 2019 to hit that 2 hour Half

This one is the real challenge for me. In 2018 I set 2 new Half PRs 2:07 and 2:05. For the latter, I didn't go into the race looking for the PR, but saw at around mile 10 that it would be possible. That late in the game, it was too late to bring it down much further, but I think if I train hard, and go in with PR mentality, I think I can drop my time for RnR Savannah. I have until Nov. to work on this one and this will be the main goal for the remainder of 2019. Heck, I will settle for anything below 2:00:59. There are a lot of things that will have to come together for this goal including more strength work (core especially), better nutrition (still a struggle for me) and maybe even enlisting a friend of my as a coach. I'll see where I am 20 weeks out for final prep. 5 minutes doesn't seem like a big difference, but it is!

Interested in joining me in Savannah? It was my very favorite race of 2018 - read more about my experience here: https://runnerdgirl.blogspot.com/2018/11/rocking-n-rolling-in-savannah-part-1.html You can register with discount codes “19RNRBRP16” for $16 off half/marathon or “19RNRBRP6” for $6 off shorter distances. I will also be running the 5K on Sunday as well. 

Well, I think that is all that I am going to officially declare currently. I always have a few goals here and these on my mind, but I am trying to be more flexible and rediscover fun in my running instead of taking things so seriously. The last 6 months or so of running for me were more stress causing than stress reducing as it should be. I'm planning to race less and put less pressure on myself and see how that goes. It's pretty outside my character, but something's got to change or I will burn out to either stress or injury. 

So what are your 2019 goals? I'm sure you've set yours way earlier than mine, so let me know how it is going so far in the comments below.