Happy New Year!

I spent most of the week before new years running, relaxing, and ruminating on 2013 and the goals I want to accomplish in 2014. I didn’t write a post like this last year. I think the New Year’s 2012 post where I declared that 2012 was the year I would pass the bar burned me a bit. However, I have some goals for this year and I want to share some of them with you. I’m leaving my personal and professional goals off the blog because I don’t want them on the internet for the entire world to read forever.

With no further ado, my health/ fitness/ food related goals for 2014!

Train well and run a HAPPY marathon on March 9th

I want to look like this

Not like this…

On March 9th I will be running the LA Marathon. I have had the LA Marathon as a goal race since I started running. I’m so pleased to finally be taking it on. I just ran the Long Beach Marathon in October. Running marathons close together in time gives me some advantages. I remember vividly how training went and how I want to improve moving forward. This means more speed work, tempo runs with running club, and keeping myself accountable with the food I choose to fuel with. I’ve been dreaming about speeding down San Vicente in the marathon for years. I want to set myself up so I feel great about it when it finally happens!

Explore South Bay

I’ve loved living in Manhattan Beach for the past year. In 2014 I’ll be moving and taking a big step forward in my personal life. Likely that will include leaving South Bay and moving back to LA proper. Nothing is 100% decided yet but because the possibility of leaving South Bay is on the table I want to enjoy every moment I spend here and appreciate Manhattan Beach for the amazing place that it is. That means: more strand runs, more time at the track near my house, and exploring more restaurants that I’ve wanted to try in South Bay.

Return to the Farmer’s Market

The farmers market in Manhattan Beach in on Tuesday afternoons which is sometimes difficult for me to make. I desperately miss going to the farmers market weekly like I used to and I want to make sure that I incorporate it again. My schedule is flexible enough that I should be able to make it on other days of the week.

HIKE MORE!

The last time I hiked… I believe this was March 2013.

There are so many trails nearby, and hiking is such a good way to enjoy the city and embrace an active lifestyle. I think I only hiked once last year. I can do better.

Eat more protein, fuel smartly during training

Steak and sweet potatoes.

Last but not least, I want to be more careful about what I put in my mouth during training. 4 years ago when I was losing weight I was pretty rigid about my diet. As I started to run more I relaxed a bit. With marathon training my food becomes a free for all of humongous portions, late night snacks, and nearly daily bags of chips. This time around I want to focus on eating a diet that isn’t 70% carbs. To this end, I have started using the Lose It! app on my iphone to track my calories. It’s been helpful so far. I ran 10 miles yesterday, logged the run in the app and was actually surprised by how quickly I was able to work back from the deficit. I think I’ve been over eating during training cycles. Also, because I’m tracking what I eat, I’m more conscious of my protein intake. I want to be clear; I am not tracking because I am on a desperate quest to lose weight. Not that there isn’t some holiday weight that I would like to see go away, but rather I also want to make sure I’m eating enough throughout the day. I am notoriously hungry the day after my long runs which will never fully go away but I think it would help my hunger if I ate a more protein rich diet.

What are your food and fitness goals for 2014?