Over the past few months I have taken a bit of a break from running. I needed to get some other things in my life in order before I started my training again. I have done my fair share of training since I started running ultra marathons but contrary to what most people would assume I do not run all the time. Some of the reason for this was that I was working 60-70 hours a week which wears on you after a few years. I have also never made myself a serious training schedule. Staying up downtown at the bars was not helping either.
In elementary school I once wrote down that one of my life goals was to hike the Appalachian Trail. Over the years I started running and this goal has grown into a desire to make an attempt at the speed record for the fastest known time for the trail. My goal is to accomplish this next summer and my training starts today. I have given myself more time to be outside by only working one job. I have stopped drinking and started eating healthier. The only elements left are to start running, find a crew and do a ton of planning.
I set my goal as a 5k minimum 6 days a week to allow myself for one day of rest every week. This will be a good base to start with and will escalate throughout the year to an average miles/week that I have never accomplished before.
One of the things that I am most excited about with this goal is to start my day by running and use the motivation and energy that I find during my runs and apply it to the rest of my day. Similar to how chugging 16 to 20 ounces of water can kick start your metabolism in the morning, running can kick start your day and provide you with an intense amount of energy and positive thoughts . If anyone would like to follow along with my training and fall races I will post updates to my Strava account . Here is to pursuing goals and turning dreams into realities!
In elementary school I once wrote down that one of my life goals was to hike the Appalachian Trail. Over the years I started running and this goal has grown into a desire to make an attempt at the speed record for the fastest known time for the trail. My goal is to accomplish this next summer and my training starts today. I have given myself more time to be outside by only working one job. I have stopped drinking and started eating healthier. The only elements left are to start running, find a crew and do a ton of planning.
I set my goal as a 5k minimum 6 days a week to allow myself for one day of rest every week. This will be a good base to start with and will escalate throughout the year to an average miles/week that I have never accomplished before.
One of the things that I am most excited about with this goal is to start my day by running and use the motivation and energy that I find during my runs and apply it to the rest of my day. Similar to how chugging 16 to 20 ounces of water can kick start your metabolism in the morning, running can kick start your day and provide you with an intense amount of energy and positive thoughts . If anyone would like to follow along with my training and fall races I will post updates to my Strava account . Here is to pursuing goals and turning dreams into realities!
End of Week 22 Update
Week 22 was a huge milestone for me in this project. I have been noticing the effects of having a healthier food and liquid diet in instances such as having more energy in the morning and of course not being hungover and thinking more clearly by not drinking alcohol. This week though I started putting my body to the test again on my runs. The results blew me away. I ran the fastest 400m I have since high school not even one week back into training. Four days later I ran the fastest 1k and 1/2 mile times I have run in years. It felt so rewarding to see that the changes I have been making are paying off and exactly in the way that I wanted them to. One day in the near future I'll throw a Go Pro on and show everyone just what I love about trail running and how much of a rush it can be.
The biggest challenge with the new running goal is that it takes up usually an hour of my day and leaves me wanting to take a nap afterward. Now that I am through the initial pains of getting back into shape I imagine that the end of my runs will not leave me as tired as before. The days are becoming busier, filled with cooking, planting, running and tons of other positive activities leaving me with not much time for activities such as the computer.
End of Week 22 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 78.58 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 266 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $396.39
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 105
Pushups - 1120 Crunches - 1020
Days Flossed - 90 (missed one day)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 11
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 195
Items planted - 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans
Letters written - 7
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation,
Deworm the World Initiative
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette
Miles ran - 38.1
Week 22 was a huge milestone for me in this project. I have been noticing the effects of having a healthier food and liquid diet in instances such as having more energy in the morning and of course not being hungover and thinking more clearly by not drinking alcohol. This week though I started putting my body to the test again on my runs. The results blew me away. I ran the fastest 400m I have since high school not even one week back into training. Four days later I ran the fastest 1k and 1/2 mile times I have run in years. It felt so rewarding to see that the changes I have been making are paying off and exactly in the way that I wanted them to. One day in the near future I'll throw a Go Pro on and show everyone just what I love about trail running and how much of a rush it can be.
The biggest challenge with the new running goal is that it takes up usually an hour of my day and leaves me wanting to take a nap afterward. Now that I am through the initial pains of getting back into shape I imagine that the end of my runs will not leave me as tired as before. The days are becoming busier, filled with cooking, planting, running and tons of other positive activities leaving me with not much time for activities such as the computer.
End of Week 22 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 78.58 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 266 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $396.39
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 105
Pushups - 1120 Crunches - 1020
Days Flossed - 90 (missed one day)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 11
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 195
Items planted - 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans
Letters written - 7
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation,
Deworm the World Initiative
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette
Miles ran - 38.1