Friday, April 18, 2014

Friday Five Link-up: Fitness Goals

Happy Friday all and Happy Holidays to those that are celebrating a holiday!

I participated for the first time last week in the Friday Five Link-up hosted by You Signed Up for What?!, Eat Pray Run, DC and Mar On the Run. Thank you ladies for hosting this link-up and for giving us great ideas each week!

This week is 5 Fitness Goals. This was a great one and really got me to focus on my fitness goals are in general and for the immediate future. So without further adieu, here they are:

1- Complete My First Half-Marathon

I am registered for the Rock n' Roll St. Louis Half-Marathon on October 19th and I'm incredibly excited for it. Last year I went and cheered on some of my friends and sister-in-law who were all running and wondered, "When are you going to get there?" At that point I was just running 3 miles a few times a week and had a few 5ks under my belt with no real specific plans for more. After my first runDisney event a few weeks later, the race bug had taken full hold. So now here I sit with a few more 5ks, a 6k, a 5 miler, a marathon relay and a 10k under my belt and I'm feeling good about this goal!


2- Get My Pacing Correct


I run about 10 minute miles. During my leg of the marathon relay, I ran 9:36 or under for the first 3 miles, but that's the most I've ever done at that pace. The thing is whether I'm tracking myself or not, that seems to be my pace and truth be told, I think I can run faster. I feel like I just have too much left over at the end of some of my runs. I know training runs are not supposed to be difficult, but I feel like I'm just kind of hanging in this space where I could be doing more. Last night I ended a 5-miler with a pretty steep hill. While it was awesome to feel so good finishing 5 miles, I know I should probably have left more out there. I'm not going to do anything about this until I meet with my new running coach (yay!) on May 6th. I do not want to assume anything and would rather go with what he prescribes after talking about goals and watching me run, etc.

3- Hold a Steady Plank for 2 Minutes

I know this seems like a small one, but I'm currently participating in the #plankaday challenge on Instagram and increasing my hold time is not going as fast as I'd like. I'm finding it's taking me a few days to hold 5 more seconds. I'd like to get to the place where I'm holding a plank for at least 2 minutes, steadily and with good form...which will hopefully be helped by my next goal-

4- Backin' it Up!

I, like so many others, do not focus nearly enough on my back strength and conditioning. It's so stupid considering it's the thing holding the rest of me together! When focusing on core strength, I tend to focus too much on ab work and throwing a few Supermans (Superman's...Supermen...who knows) in just for good measure, but I know to really achieve a strong core, it's all in the back!

5- Just Breathe

During my awesome runs I don't even notice my breathing too much because I am just in the zone and doing everything I need to be doing without doing a mental checklist. But I'll admit that as a new-ish runner there are times where I know that my breathing is off and that I should be more focused on getting it in line. I know I'll be a more effective runner with proper breathing so it's something I really want to work on as I move towards my half-marathon. This is also something I plan on addressing with my running coach.

Thanks for reading and have a GREAT weekend...hope Spring has sprung wherever you are...unless I randomly have some Southern Hemisphere readers then I hope that the Fall is treating you well!

12 comments:

  1. Love your goals...how exciting to be signed up for your first half! I am sure you will love it and do a great job! Planking is so tough...sometimes I think I'm good and then a week later I'm shaking the whole time! I'm sure you'll get there soon! I struggle with pace too...I'm similar to you with where I am, but after being injured I try not to worry too much about pace and focus on consistency. Hope you have a great weekend too!

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  2. Thanks Janelle!! I'm very excited about the first half and you're right on about the pacing, consistency is key!

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  3. Great goals! I also have a lot of trouble with my breathing, and have really been focusing on that lately. Good luck on your half training!

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    1. Thanks Amanda! It's so funny that something like breathing, which I do 99.9% of the time without thinking about is actually something I need to "focus on"!

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  4. Love your goals!! Good luck with your half marathon training :) thanks for linking up with us!!

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    1. Thanks Mar...I appreciate the opportunity. Thanks for hosting!

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  5. thanks for linking up! breathing while running is something i struggled with for awhile. what helped me was running with friends and learning to be able to talk while running. it sounds weird, but it helped!

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    1. Thanks! I agree with the talking while running thing. I don't mind running w/o music, but even when Joe and I run together he still needs music. That's why I like doing group runs (which I'm doing tonight) and will be joining a training group later this summer!

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  6. Congratulations on signing up for your first half!

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  7. Love your goals, and the pacing myself is something I need to work on too!

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    1. Thanks Cynthia, it's a constant struggle in my mind about pushing myself hard enough on my pace vs. making sure I have enough in the tank to finish strong. We'll get there!

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