Full Steam Ahead ...Sort of ...

As you saw in my last post, my race line up for the next 4 months is set. As most of you know, right now running is really an after thought since most days I have about 1 hour that I am awake, not at work, or not driving home from work.  With tax season ending in about 6 weeks, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Coming up with a training plan to go from now until the Baltimore Half with the 10k and the 10 miler along the way was a challenge. The biggest challenge is that my husband is running the 10k not the 10 miler but is doing the half. We run together but I know that I will be training for the 10 miler in June but he won't be. So after the 10-miler, I will be scaling back down so that we can start to train for the Half. I also have to keep in mind that I will be studying for the CPA which will be taking up another 20 hours a week roughly.

So my running since the two half's I did last year has just been running a 5-6 mile long run, occasionally a 3 mile mid-week run, and yoga on Thursday. Needless to say, no much but I just don't have the time. My first race I signed up for is a week after tax season ends ... I will not be trained but I am still excited for it and it will be fun. I am not worried too much abut my time but do have a goal.

As you can see - until April 17th, I am not really running much. And even at the "height" of training, I would say I run on the lower end of the spectrum and less than other people. My body tends to prefer it that way so I don't see the need to push it more at this point. I am never going to break and records and as long as I can get better compared to my self - I don't really care about others!

So after the Sole of the City 10K, I will be gearing up for the Baltimore 10-Miler.

Now after the Baltimore 10 Miler, the rest of the summer will be getting ready for Baltimore Half AND trying not to get hurt. I have been having random tweaks over the last few months, so I want to make sure that I don't risk not running it at all. My goal for this is to break 2 and right now my best Half time was 2:19. I know its lofty - but we will see!

The sad part is - I would have done it in excel just like that regardless of if I was posting it to the public.  I am a nerd ... I spent my only day off last week working on my spreadsheet. I even added an column for expected calorie burn. As of now,  Hot Yoga on Sundays is offered, so hopefully that will work out. I want to start doing Hot Yoga and hopefully some extra stretching will help keep my muscles from being less tight. 

How is everyone else doing? 

Back to C25K, Really?

So since trying to run on the treadmill (which I haven't done until the last couple weeks), I have developed some aches that are not typical for me.

Since I am not running any races until April (Sole of the City 10k), I figure this would be the perfect time to go to square one with my treadmill running.

Starting this week I am going to use C25K to basically ween my self into treadmill running and to avoid some of the aches and pains that I have been having.  So yup - me who ran 2 half marathons within a month of each other in October/November is going back to the basics and alternating walking and running for 20 minutes 3 times this week. Since I need to do more activity than that for calorie burn - I will probably add 20 minutes of the elliptical or arc trainer to it.

In other news, as mentioned above I signed up for Sole of the City 10k.

Come run with us at the Inaugural Sole of the City 10K in downtown Baltimore!

You want a fun, fast and scenic downtown course through Charm City? Check. 

You want food, a few drinks, and good times with friends and family after the race? Yup, got 'em, and done. You want a great race premium and bragging rights that you ran the newest event on the spring racing scene? Well-- that part is up to you-- be we've got the goods. Entry is limited to 2500 and we are well on our way. Check out the event page for registration details as well as the option to train with friends at a location near you. We can't wait to see you in the Spring!"

On the food front - I made a Bruschetta Chicken and that was delicious! A chicken breast (thin cutlet) that i lightly dredged in flour and sautéed for 3-4 minutes per side. Then I made the brushcetta topping - some tomatoes, onions, minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt, pepper and some mozzarella cheese.  I topped the chicken with this and served it with a small side of roasted garlic couscous.