10 for 2010

Yes, everybody's doing it, so let's all join hands, jump off this bridge together, and ponder our goals for 2010.

1. Run at least two half marathons in the spring and two in the fall. Last year, I did three in the spring and one in the fall. 13.1 is my favorite distance to race, and I'm going to continue to devote myself to it in 2010.

2. Set a PR in the half marathon. I don't care if it's one second; I want a new PR.

3. Set a PR in the 5K. I'm going to keep running this distance and want to keep shedding seconds as I go.

4. Run at least three new races. Yes, I said this last year and ran considerably more than three new races, but I'm keeping the number at 3 figuring that eventually I'll run out of new local races to tackle!

5. Strength training and core training at least twice a week. I am such a slacker about this, and for no good reason. It really doesn't take long, and I have everything I need at home to keep up a minimal routine.

6. Drink more water. Not so much while I'm running as during my day to day life. I really need to work on this one, just to be healthier overall.

7. Eat like an athlete. That doesn't mean that every single thing I eat will be healthy, but most of what I eat will be, and I want to think about the effects food has on my body and determine what makes the best fuel. And if I do that, I can eat the occasional homemade cookie with no guilt.

8. Incorporate more hills into training. When I go out for a run, I tend to keep it flat. No more. I'm going to come up with some standard 3 and 4 mile loops that include hills at different points in the route. I know that this will make me stronger.

9. Remember to actually wear my Road ID when I go out. In 2009, I was probably at about 75%, and that's not good enough.

10. Keep a training log. I'm devising my own training routine this spring based on FIRST and my race goals, very carefully following the 10% rule. The log will add even more structure and accountability to what I'm doing.

It's going to be a great year. What about you, Internet? What are you doing in 2010?

Last one!

Sunday marked my last long run before next week's half marathon trisko. The entire group - both those training for the marathon and for the trisko - ran eight miles. Russ, our coach, told us to run them easy, have fun, and try to run with somebody new.

That sounded like a good idea, so I kept my iPod in my pocket and found a couple of runners to hang out with for eight miles. I'm glad I did. Both women were training for their first marathon, and it was fun to hear what they were thinking about and how excited they were about their first race.

After the run, we had a potluck picnic. I read somewhere that runners have no guilt at the buffet table, and our training group definitely proved that. One guy loaded up his plate with both fried chicken and doughnuts. John, another of our coaches, had a cinnamon roll in one hand, and a beer in the other - a fine Sunday morning breakfast. My own breakfast included a ham sandwich, tuna noodle casserole (surprisingly delicious after an 8 mile run and before 9:00 in the morning), lots of fruit, and cake.

So now, with that last run behind me, I am feeling excited. I have my race day outfit ready to go (featuring a new pair of Wright Socks), have looked at the course map, and am excited to do some shopping at the expo. Let's get this party started.

Fuel for Thought

There was a time not so long ago when I pretended not to have any responsibility for what I ate. Unfortunately, I'm not talking about when I was pregnant (in that case, I maintain that a force greater than I insisted on my eating ham sandwiches, ice cream, and gummy worms). I'm talking about those months post-baby, in which I'd go to Starbucks three or four times a week, order a latte and a scone, and tell myself, "Well, that's not such a healthy choice, tee hee, but how bad can it be?"

The dual combination of Weight Watchers and gettng serious about my running forced me to acknowledge exactly how bad it could be. And, in the case of those scones, it was very bad indeed. If you're using their Points system (which I loved and highly recommend), you are allotted a certain number of Points a day, which are based on calorie, fat, and fiber counts in your food. And one of those scones represented over 90% of the points I was given for an entire day. They're good, but they're not that good.

My primary rule for what I do and don't eat is very simple:

It has to be worth it.

On one side of things, that rule points me to food that will make me strong and healthy for running. It draws me to our good friend the carbohydrate and causes me to snack on things like almonds and fresh fruit. It makes me choose lean sources of protein and encourages me to look at the labels on the food I buy to make sure that my bagels have a decent amount of fiber in them.

That rule also keeps me from suffering in the name of eating healthy. Fat free cream cheese can go to hell - that stuff sucks, and I'm not going to eat it. I'm not going to eat a salad made with iceberg lettuce because it's bland and flavorless. I am not going to eat rice cakes, which I don't like, when what I really want is chips. Because you know what? I would eat the rice cakes, but it sure would not make me stop thinking about the chips, so I'd wind up eating them anyway. Wouldn't it have been better to just buy a small bag of chips, feed the beast, and be done with it?

I scoff at the diet advice that tells you that if you want chocolate to just eat a "fun size candy bar." As far as I'm concerned, those little candy bars are just big enough to make you mad. If I eat those, what, three bites of Snickers, it does not really satisfy me. Instead, it makes me want three MORE bites. I'm better off not having any at all.

And when I do indulge in something less healthy, babies, I am going to do it right. If I want a chocolate chip cookie, I'm not going to eat a cardboard-flavored Chips Ahoy cookie; I'm going to bake one of my famous Job Interview Cookies. That's right - these cookies are so good that they once got me a job. It's worth the effort and it's definitely worth the calories.

If food is fuel that keeps me running, I'm using high-octane all the way.