June Goals

Alright it's the start of a new month! May was a really good month for me, and I'm hoping to have bigger & better results in June!

May Recap: 

The month of May was record breaking for me! I ended the month with over 50 miles; the most miles I've ever logged since I started my running journey in October 2012. As you can tell I'm super excited. My original goal was to complete 60 miles, and I as look back on my history that may have been a little far stretched. Before hitting my 51.64 the most I've ever run was somewhere between 40-45 miles. I normally only achieve those numbers when I'm training or racing. So having only completed one race last month (Frederick Running Festival 1/2 marathon), I am very proud of myself for keeping up with my miles when I wasn't training for a race. Yes I felt short of my goal, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad and for that I'm very glad! Progress not perfection is something I always strive for.

Special shout out to Black Girls RUN! DC for keeping me accountable with their May 30-60-90 challenge! Always great networking with like-minded folks.

June Goals: 

Moving on to June, here are my goals for their month! Overall I plan is to maintain my current level of activity (4-5 workouts a week), and clean up my eating.

• My weight goal is to reach 160. At my last weigh-in I was 166, so that's about 1.5 pounds per week. 

• My monthly mileage goal is to 30. I'm not racing this month, and there's no since in setting the bar too high when it's the summer. I respect those that can train/race all year long, but June-August is my time to enjoy with family & friends.

• My nutrition goal is to eat clean 80% of the team. I've been consistently using My Fitness Pal since the start of the year, and will continue to do so. Ideally, I would like to never exceed my calorie intake goal, but the reality of that happening is slim to none. So my plan this month is to track daily, and stick within my calorie six out of seven days a week. 

• My activity goal is to mix things up a bit. Last week I ordered the P90x3, so I'm looking forward to that arriving, and getting started. Since the workouts are marketed as 30 minutes, I hoping to get in at least two 30-minute runs in addition to following the program. 

I could use a little motivation and accountability for meeting these goals, so feel free to comment & leave me some encouragement.

Titanium Girl Recap

On my quest to become a Half Fanatic, I became a Titanium Girl! Yours truly completed the Iron Girl Columbia and Frederick Running Festival half marathons exactly one week apart from one another. Below is a my brief recap of both races:

Iron Girl Columbia:

Sunday, April 27th was another “wake up & lace up” day, as I set forth to tackle the hills in Columbia, and be crowned an Iron Girl. I experienced many mixed emotions about this race, because about 5 -6 weeks before it was announced that the organization was having financial limbo. To train or not to train? Register for another race or wait it out? These were just a few questions that ran through my head, before it was announced that another organization stepped up to the plate, and the race would go on. Needless to say, I kept the course and continued my training. Thanks to  BGR! Baltimore and W.E. Run! for the hill training and completing half #2 (Philadelphia Love Run) a month before, I was overly confident about the race. Despite the delayed start (apparent accident on course), I truly enjoyed this race, and it’s a for sure do over! My favorite moments were: BGR! cheer groups, seeing my name in chalked into the ground around mile 10.5 (love ya Chris), and a new PR. Yep I shaved over 15 minutes for Philly!

Frederick Running Festival:

Fast forward a week later and it was time to do it all over again. I arrived to Frederick and met up with my W.E. Run! crew, and they knew I wasn’t feeling it. My mood was blah, and all I could think of was why in the hell did I sign-up to run another 13 point 1 freaking miles. I made my way to my corral, and chilled until it was “go time.” About 1.5-2 miles in I heard chants & screams of my name, and was surprised to see some of my run-boos from BGR! DC.  Thankfully, that gave me the extra push I needed, bc it usually takes me 3-4 miles just to get in my groove. About mile 4, I met up with some more Black Girls RUN! ladies who were doing 1:1 intervals, they invited me to join.  We laughed, talked and shared stories and the miles we’re just flying by. The scenic views in downtown Frederick and the neighborhoods were just beautiful. I zoned out and loved how involved the community was. As expected I hit my “wall” around mile 11, but thankfully looked down at my watch and saw I was on pace for another PR. For those last 2+ miles, I was in my zone. Dropped the intervals and just wanted it to be over already! Before I could blink, I beasted (yeah i made that word up) up that final hill, and took my victory lap around the track. Just as I was closing in on the finish line, I was greeted by more cheers from my run-boos and ended the race with another PR.