My 30-30-30 plan.

I love January 1st.  The whole starting over, resolution, new me, thing.  So I'm giving myself an overhaul.

I've been running for 2 years now.  2 whole years.  And in that time, I've run 4 5ks, 3 half marathons and 2 full marathons.  Not bad for a newbie.  But in each race I just kind of plodded along.  I focused on the finish.  Not my finish time, but crossing the finish - you know, in an upright position, smiling.  Not crawling and crying. 

So now I'm taking it up a notch.  I want to be faster.  I want to improve my training.  Be more consistent.  Change it up a little.

So I've created a plan.  I'm calling it my 30-30-30 plan. 

Forget Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan (thankfully, most people have.)  30-30-30 is where it's at.

I've committed to doing three things.
Lose 30 pounds.
Exercise 30 minutes every day. Every day.
Take 30 minutes off my marathon time.

I have tried and tried to lose these pounds for years now.  I struggle with commitment.  I struggle with sugar.  I struggle with emotional eating.  And training for a marathon leaves you hungry beyond belief.  And to satisfy that hunger and train properly, you have to make smart food choices, which I don't always do.

I'm committed to my running, but I struggle with it.  I need to have a race to look forward to.  If I don't have something on the calendar, I will easily ignore my exercise goals and skip my running because I'm too tired, because I was up too late last night, because the kids are sick, because it's raining, because I have to clean the house, blah blah blah.  All excuses.  If I have to get up at 5am then that is what I have to do.  (And the 30 minute exercise thing a day doesn't have to be running - its 30 minutes of conscious exercise.  Briskly walking the dog on a rest day will cover it.) 

I've never done speed work.  Never done intervals.  Never done tempo runs. I've just run.  Quietly trudging along my rural New Jersey roads.  Or on the treadmill.  Time to change that up.  I'm saying hello to intervals and tempo runs.  This, combined with a slimmer me, equals a faster me.

I'm not sure which marathon I'm aiming for in the fall.  I'll take my chance again with the lottery for NYC in November.  If that doesn't happen, then I'm thinking of the Wineglass marathon at the end of September. 

That gives me at least 8 months to say goodbye to 30 pounds and 30 minutes.  And hello to a healthier me.

Today was Day 1. 
3 miles, 33 minutes.
No more excuses.