New Year, New Goals, No More Excuses

OK, so I'm a bad runner and a bad blogger!  The holiday rush got the best of me both physically & mentally.  Wifey was gone for most of December so it was really difficult to fit in time for runs.  And then when I could, it seemed I was always sick with one thing or another.  Since New Year's though, it has been pure laziness.  I have commented on this before that once you get out of your routine it's REALLY hard to get back into it.  The last time I ran was on December 16th, over a month ago.  It's SOO embarrassing!!

And let me tell you, I feel the effects!  I feel sluggish, I feel like there is extra weight on me (although according to the scale I am exactly the same weight as before - that can't be right).  I feel like there is that weight on my chest that makes it difficult to breathe when exerting myself.  My face is doing some weird acne thing.  I don't understand it.  I was fine until I started running and then I noticed some minor breakouts - I figured it was from all the sweat.  But now that I've been inactive it's like my skin has erupted.  And what I hate the most is the blob that is my midsection!!  It took so long to get it back into something that resembles abs and it is absolutely amazing how quickly that loafs right back to goo on there!  So yeah, I'm paying for my mistakes & inaction, BIG TIME!!

The surprising thing is the lasting effects that running has had on me, even though I haven't moved in over a month.  I had a physical done the other day.  Just your standard, regular, run of the mill checkup.  My resting heart rate went from 92 in March of last year to 60.  I wonder what it would have been if I had kept the activity up?!

So I'm dropping the excuses & hitting the pavement (or rubber treads on my mill as it were).  Wifey comes back home from a trip tonight and I'm getting my butt back in gear!  I already have a first race planned on March 16th, which is right around the corner so I have to get myself back to 5K ready by then.  And then my 2013 running goals begin!

I didn't have any lofty goals in 2012.  It was basically to complete a 5K without walking, stopping, or dying.  I did that but I pretty much missed most of the 2012 running season/races because I wasn't ready until the end of August.  So this year I plan to take part in as many runs as possible, especially on the boardwalks (or what's left if them).  My goal isn't just to run but to run faster.  Specifically, I want to complete a 5K in under 28 minutes.  That's the big goal.  Here's the whole list:

• Run a 5K in under 28 minutes
• Run a 7 minute mile.  Just one 7 minute mile, not a whole 5K at that pace, though I am sure that I will want to repeat it :)
• Run 5 miles.  I am pretty sure I can do this now, but I've never tried it.
• Run on more boardwalks!!!
• Run with Kashi
• Do a Pub Run/Mug Run/Whatever you want to call it.  Running & Alcohol.  I'm in.
• Do The Color Run with LM again (set for March 16th), who is fantastically doing the Couch to 5K program right now!!  She's going to kick my butt this year!
• Run with MFC
• Do the LUNGevity 5K run instead of the walk with Kris
• Do the Race For The Hungry Holiday 5K in Burlington with Wifey

I want to complete this by the end of the 2013 running season, and my last race will be in December so I have a while.  I want to work up the courage to set a longer distance goal (settle down!), but I'm not there yet.  10 miles or a 1/2 marathon still seem super unachievable for this year & I don't really want that now and I'm not sure that I will in the future either.  It's not a matter of thinking that I can't do it - I'm sure I could if I trained for it & put my mind to it.  I just don't have that desire to do a long distance like that.

So here's to a new year, starting fresh, and new goals!