It's TIME!!

It's time........

It's time to put together a workout schedule.  Enough of this "relax" running, it was good for a season but I believe that season is over, I'm ready to take on a schedule.  The important part of this statement is that my MIND is ready to take on the daily grind, crazy workouts, and the dedication involved in completing a training plan.   I've had my hiatus, had enough "down" time, had my relaxation, had my cake and ate it too, and now it's time to move on.

The biggest push for this new season to begin is honestly, the feeling of frump.  Yes, frump.  My word for feeling sluggish, blah, eating horribly, having no direction running wise, and my type A personality needing rigor and scheduling.  I can only go so long without schedule and routine before I begin to go haywire and craving order!  Oh yes, I've been running 4 days/week including long runs, track workouts, and hilly adventures but I need more.  The need for completing a goal, having direction, finding order, and working towards a purpose has come to a head....it's time.

Yesterday, July 4th, I ran a four mile race.  My goal was to run it faster than I had last year, at 31:39, but to also run it at a faster pace than I had run the 8k in June.  Given the added heat, humidity, and hills, I wasn't sure if any of it was possible, but these were my goals.  I ended up finishing in 31:02 but that made it a 7:45 pace.....SAME as my last half marathon AND the 8k, both were PR's.  I guess what this proves is that I'm a very consistent runner, I have no other "gear," and I am better at running longer distances.  :)    Did I mention before that I'd rather run 100 miles at a happy pace than run 3 miles at a fast pace?  Me and short distance don't mesh well.  But, I'm trying to run faster these days, so I'm working on it.  In this four mile race, I walked 3 times and wanted to drop out from the half mile mark ALL the way to the finish.  Luckily, my amazing friend Kara had planned on being my pacer for the race and I knew she was waiting for me at mile 1.  Honestly, this was the only reason I kept going.

Truthfully, I'm ready to eat better, be more focused, work harder, struggle through workouts, get some races planned out, and get into gear.  Let the calendar making, training planning begin!!