20 LBS of Uselessness

In December I had a plan. It was well thought out and I merely had to impliment it. Winter would be my base period where I used snow shoe races and such to work on base running, Incorporate core workouts, crosstraining and a serious effort to drop some weight.

The success of this plan should catapalt me to great spring and perhaps the chance to find a PR somewhere. After decifering many of my best races and best years, I found that 15 lbs lighter (than my chubby norm) is a good racing weigtht for me......my goal is to drop 20 lbs.

This all sounds good on paper but by the end of December I had not accomplished much. Like any good distance goal, I knew one month was not going to affect me so January was my new focus.

Well, as it turns out, January was a bust too as I had run very little, cross trained minimally and actually gained about 5 lbs. In my defense, there were some circumstances that played a roll in my inability to get with the program.

OK, it's not too late, I figured February could be my breakout month and I surely would be able to get things on track. Starting the month with a weight loss plan that was very simple and easy to follow helped me feel like I was progressing.

As far as dieting goes, I am totally against it. You can't deprive your body of the things you love and need for very long without falling off the wagon. It is inevitable that unless you change your lifestyle with eating, you will spend it on a YO-Yo trip.

I actually think everybody knows this but doing it is another matter all together and the older one gets, the more dificult it is to trim up. For me it is really simple, I only need to limit my calories to a reasonable amount and get running. the rest will fall into place.

So, finally I am feeling like I am progressing. In the first two weeks of February I have lost 8 lbs, got in a few good runs (though I missed the second Bradbury snowshoe race), worked pretty hard on the crosstraining and expect to ramp up the running now that I am past a few hurtles.

The big question right now is, how much of my base have I lost this winter with little to no running? Though I did accomplish some crosstraining, was it enough? I am going into spring optimistic and if things feel well, I am planning a big race in May.