I thought I'd break up all my updates into categories so they'd be easier to review later- if I ever actually do that- haha. So here are my goals for October:
1. Run a 5k
Conservative goal- Under 25min
Challenging goal- Under 24min
All I have to do to complete my fall 5k goal is run at an 8min/mile pace (24:51 finishing time). A 7:40 min/mile pace would get me under 24 minutes (23:49). I'm not sure that I can run faster than 7:40, but I think that would be a reasonable, challenging goal. My 1/2 marathon time predicts a 23:30 5k time, which is somewhere in the 7:35ish min/mile range. That might be too agressive, but who knows? I think I run a little better in races than in training because I've been up for a little longer- I'm looser and my body temp is a little higher- so that might give me an edge. Plus I'll have about 2 weeks worth of training under my belt by the time I race again.
2. Run a 10k
Conservative goal- Under 51min
Challenging goal 1- Under 50min
Challenging goal 2- Under 49min
McMillan predicts a 48:51 10k time from my 1/2 marathon time, which is about a 7:50 min/mile pace. That may be too fast for me, but again, who knows, and I have additional training time. There are several races I'm interested in during the month of October- I just have to decide which one I want to do for my 10k and which for the 5k. Because the two races I'm mainly interested in are back to back weekends I'm thinking I'll do the 5k first just because the recovery will be easier. Not sure about that.
3. Resume strength training
Conservative goal- Group strength 1x per week
Challenging goal- Group strength 2x per week
I want to get back into strength training but I know that realistically I just don't work out very well on my own. Plus I honestly don't/can't spend the time I would need to achieve the goals I've set to get stronger at particular lifts. I'm primarily a distance athlete and doing an endurance style weight training program is more in line with my goals than a strength style program.
4. Push-ups
Conservative goal- Push-ups 3 days/week
Challenging goal- Push-ups 4 days/week
Despite what I said above, I don't think the push-up goal needs to be scrapped. I want to continue with the ReconRon plan (well, go back to the beginning and start it over).
5. Continue with intuitive eating. Stop trying to fix everything with additional exercise. Find a balance between life and working out. This is the workout plan I have in mind:
U- Rest/swim lesson
M-Spinning
T-1st run workout, group strength
W-Spinning
R-2nd run workout, group strength
F-Swim
S-Long run
I was getting a bit antsy thinking about how spinning and especially swimming burn a lot fewer calories than running, but it seems that the more exercise you do, the harder it becomes to lose "the last 5lbs" so I'm thinking this looks like a good balance. Plus being home most evenings gives me more time to cook, practice piano, work on Christmas ornaments, etc and not be sooooo tired like I am when I do doubles.
Can't think of anything else right now... hopefully I'll do a better job keeping this thing updated.
