new paths, goals and unbounded enthusiasm!

I've been doing a lot of reading and researching lately. And, I've put a lot together from the various training that I have had, and experiences I have had and also some theories I had.  I've found validation for them, and then stumbled across someone who I thought put it all together in a similar way, except did such an eloquent job of it.  It validated much of what I had found, and also rang true in every sense what I have echoed in some of my past posts about my current fitness level vs. where I really wanted to be and, more importantly, knew I could be.  It also explained some things I wanted to understand a little more.  I like it when "the light" goes on, and it was glowing full power with this stuff.

Even though I have found a level of fitness I had not attained before when I started running, and definitely got involved in a community of folks that I really think are inspiring and wonderful folks, I still could not believe that I could eat quite healthy foods (I'll touch more on this later) and even when I was training for BIG miles, I'd always seem to have 15-20lbs that I didn't need on me, "skinny fat" essentially.

I've known forever that I needed a LOT more strength training, and that especially my upper body had never been developed like it should be.  My legs have always been HUGE, but I always did things to work them like soccer, or jog or something of that nature.  Furthermore, every time I have touched closest to the fitness level and appearance that I wanted, I was doing weight training, and I was doing significantly more weight training that cardio.  In short, if I want a higher RMR, I need a lot more muscle.  That burns a LOT more fat.  I also need more core strength and muscle if I want to run better.  However, long distances are detrimental to bulding muscle.  Once you have the muscle, there are way of preserving with with nutrition, but really to build it, your body needs to dedicate a lot of time to the training, and also to the recovery, because that is when the new muscle tissues are built.

With all of that said - I'm taking a break from running except for a couple of high intensity workouts a week doing hill drills or speed drills.  90% of my workouts are to be strength training.  Being back on track with my nutrition has already made an enormous difference Which brings us to . .

Nutrition stuff:

Also, I knew in the back of my head that even though I was eating healthy, I could do better and eliminate a few things that still had in my diet that really aren't natural foods.  So - i'm on a 100% organic, natural foods diet now - basically, stay the hell away from anything packaged for man made except some select dairy items & sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel.  Wild game, wild fish, grass-fed beef only, etc.  Lots of veggies & fruits, and whole grains/legumes, too. NO refined oils of any kind, stay especially far from soybean oil.  Use only virgin or unprocessed oils like Olive oil, coconut oil (virgin) or butter.  Technology is the one place that really screwed up when it touched our food, back to the basics.   I was pseudo-good on that, but really had way too much processed soy& refined oils in my diet, and was limiting myself in some areas I really should not have been.  I also moved away from my 6 meals a day that was working GREAT, back to the stupid standard 3, which I think helped contribute to my sluggishness and depression.  As I mentioned before, being back on the 6 meals plan with nutrition finely tuned has made me feel like a brand new person!

I'm very excited about this new plan.  I started p90x toward the end of last year, and I did 2 months of the 3 month program before I had to start training for a race and I found it impossible to do both things, so I made the decision to train for the race and drop the weights until later.  Big mistake, because looking back at previous entries (in the old journal I kept then) I was seeing such dramatic results, and I even remember people saying stuff to me.  Then weeks turn to months and I look up - all gone.

New Goals:

So - I'm hitting the weights, core and flexibility training hard.  When I run, it's supposed to be hard, not slow, steady stuff for a while.  I think I'll probably do the p90x program again, it was awesome and extremely challenging, and I was seeing results.  There are a few extras I have picked up in some classes and seminars that I am going to add in at various intervals for extra vavoom.

I'm not really sure how long this will be, but my estimates now are about a 6 month break.  That is what I'm planning initially from lots of running, and well see where I am re: results then.  I was so stoked about this that I stayed up half of the night planning my new workout schedule, and meals for the next week.

So - here's to new paths, fresh goals and something I know that I can achieve, live with and maintain!!  Hopefully this will get me in the shape I've wanted, and give me a better foundation to be a more fit athlete overall and help me to run better in the future.  Time to harden up this old loose cage of mine!!  goal:  11% body fat by spring. and a much more toned and strong core.  I'm gonna have to work like hell, but I plan to break a lot of hearts this spring, watch out Austin ;-)

Also: I will not be pressured into doing any damn races, no diverting my goals this time.  Don't try it, I'm gonna be  a bitch about it ;-)