Goal Driven Accountability
The Next 100 Days.
The Marathon buildup and race are over. I’m not sure I was mentally prepared for the post-training, post-race ambiguity of “What to do” following the race. For 16 weeks I had a plan, programmed by my coach and executed as closely as possible. That plan was developed, designed and executed with the goal of achieving a sub 4-hour Marathon. There was purpose to the training, there was a goal to achieve. It was easy.
Over the past two weeks I haven’t had a plan going forward. My nutrition has gone to shit and my running has fallen off drastically as compared to the Marathon build. I no longer have a coach programming my runs or checking in with and I’m not signed up for any races. Over this long Thanksgiving weekend I’ve had time to think about my health, wellness, fitness and goals.
I’ve decided that I function better when I have a goal to achieve. I am more accountable for my choices and actions when I am goal driven.
My overall goal is to be like Tony. This publication: The Long Run is not simply regulated to training for The Marathon, this is training for life. It is an accounting of the pursuit of longevity of mobility throughout life, autonomy and self reliance. Nobody reading this will cheat death, and we’ll all age and our bodies will degrade. It’s impossible to avoid. However, like my friend Tony who is well into his 70’s and just ran the Richmond Marathon, I want to remain active and running well into the later years of my life.
“How do you walk 1,000,000 miles?”
“One step at a time”
To achieve a lifetime of fitness requires consistency, accountability and discipline; most importantly an enjoyment of movement and happiness in fitness. Lifetime fitness is achieved through a culmination of years of motion, months of activity, weeks of dedication and days of discipline.
So here I sit, finishing up a great Thanksgiving weekend with family, friends and enough food eaten to make an appearance on My 600lb Life.
Tomorrow is Monday, it also marks 100-days until our Disney Cruise to the Caribbean! So there’s a goal. To look good without a shirt on!
Before that March 7th Cruise, there are a few more events and races that will require goal setting and training.
100 Days of Dedication
First and foremost is the Weight Training taking place with my 17yr old son. He has recently shown a renewed interest in gaining strength and lifting weights. He and I will be lifting weights 3x a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Working out with my son is more of an instructional event for me and not a workout, I’ll be lifting weights 3x a week on my own. I need to be moving a little bit more weight than my son is capable of right now, but believe you me, there is no doubt in my mind that the day will come where this young man is much stronger than me.
My running goal over the next 100 days is to log no less than 100-miles a month which breaks down to roughly 25-miles per week. I’ll be mixing this with a majority being “easy” runs where if I feel like adding distance mid-run I will and Quality runs.
Upcoming Events:
December 10th: Mill Chill 4-miler.
January 13h: Mill Town Java Jog 5K
February 25th: NCRC Snoopy’s Social 5miler
March 11th: Castaway Cay 5K (Disney)
April 20th: Tar Heel 10-miler (Double Down Challenge)
**These Events are all subject to change due to my travel schedule. Regardless I have some items on the calendar that are ready to go.
The cornerstone of all of these plans is nutrition. I’ll be back on the LoseIt app logging every bite I take. These will include high protein, high veggies with no sugar and little to no carbohydrates. In addition to eating real food that is nutrient dense I will be taking supplements from Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN)
I’ll be using these supplements to induce lean muscle mass and increase athletic performance. I used the BPN Creatine Monohydrate and G1M Sport during Marathon training and was more than happy with how they felt on my stomach. I also like to support Veteran Owned Businesses and Nick Bare is an owner who walks the walk.
Thanksgiving Weekend
I started my Thanksgiving holiday with our clubs 3rd Annual Turkey Day 5K. This unofficial event started during COVID lockdowns and has just kept going. Each year we get a few more people showing up and this year was the largest attended yet with just over 60 people including the dogs.
I took Friday off but was back on the trail on Saturday. The group run was to kick off at 7:45am, so I decided to show up early at 7am and get a few miles in before the group meetup. The entire drive down I was expecting to have a solo run, so when I arrived at 7am I was pleasantly surprised to see Anthony there getting prepped for a few early miles as well. It was an unexpected, yet great time to get in a run with Anthony. It was much appreciated he stuck with me, because the reality is he is a much stronger runner than I am.
After linking up with the group I did another 2-miles with the group before heading home to hang out with my daughter who unexpectedly flew home on Thanksgiving evening!
Sunday morning was another cool morning that I figured would lead for a good run. I went to a local park that I’ve ran many times before.
I’ve taken over control of my sons GoPro and decided to start making videos of my training. In addition to the written word, you may start getting a weekly video embedded in the post highlighting my week of training.
I appreciate all of you who have read to this point and will continue to follow along in my journey to achieve wellness.
For the next 100 days, this journey will be chronicled in all it’s highs and lows and ought to provide some entertainment and maybe even a little motivation to dedicate yourself to the next 100 days.