2,017 in 2017

As I was scrolling through Facebook one day I came across something in my newsfeed that caught my attention. There is this "virtual challenge" that is called Run the Year 2017. Even though it's called "Run" the Year, the purpose of it is to motivate people to get moving. You can sign up to cover the 2, 017 miles yourself or as part of a team. The miles don't have to all be running. You can actually sync your tracking device (fitbit, Garmin, etc) and count your total mileage for the day based on your steps.

You can see where this is going, right? So, yea, I signed up for it. And since I guess I don't tend to do anything small; I'm tackling the 2,017 on my own. That averages to over 5.5 miles per day. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? So, I may or may not hit this goal, but it'll be fun and interesting to reach for the stars.

2012 Cleveland Half

What's one way to help me reach my crazy mileage goal in 2017?? Why sign up for a race of course!

And that's exactly what I did! On May 21st I WILL be completing my 5th half marathon! The last half marathon I did was in May 2012. I hit my half marathon personal best in November 2011. I DO NOT think that I will beat this personal best (at least not yet), but I am so excited at the notion that I am actually getting back out there. And I do feel pretty confident in the moment that I can at least do as well as I've done in 2 of my other half marathons.

The official training has already started. The race is still about 20 weeks away so we have PLENTY of time. IF I can also manage to average a 1.5 lb/week weight loss in these next 20 weeks, I will be within 3 lbs of where I was when I hit my PR in 2011. And frankly, if I can average 1lb/week I'll still weigh less than I did when I complete my full marathon in 2012.

November 2011 Half Marathon

It'll be what it is. My hope is just that I can stay healthy enough during this training so that I can actually cross that start and finish line come May. The last time I signed up for a half marathon I ended up not being able to do it because I was too sick. This time I waited until I have been basically back to 100% for over a year before I even attempted to start running again. Health wise I feel better than I even felt in 2012 when I was training for a full marathon. This is probably pretty close to as good as I felt in 2011 when I started all this craziness. Eating healthy and losing weight (as well as exercising) should only help me to continue to feel good.

2012 Columbus FULL Marathon

Like I said, the training started on Tuesday with a 3 mile run. The re-focus on my food has started today. As I type this I am about to finish off an entire gallon of water on the day! My calories were on point with several left at the end of the day (when counting my exercise calories as well). We all know how this goes though. When I finally get my butt in gear and find my motivation I am RED HOT! The trick is keeping that heat for more than just a few days, weeks, months. There is nothing wrong with indulging once in a while; but this up and down has GOT to stop. I mean, how many years have I been saying this?? But, let's see if 2017 ends up being my year......again. ;)