And so the training for Boston begins again......

I'm in "officially" now. I made my excel spreadsheet for training 2011. Started with a 26.2 on the week of April 18th and worked my way back to January carefully planning my long runs in cycles to build in recovery weeks and ramp up my mileage over the next 20 weeks including time for taper at the end. Good news is the training is actually stretched out more than it was last year because I'm not doing Goofy this year. So, I can ease into the training and enjoy the mid-long distance runs (12-14 miles) and get in a few extra really long runs (16-20 miles). The 16 and 18 milers are my FAVORITES! I have a beautiful loop I LOVE to run full of hills just like Newton.

I think I might be a little excited to start the training because last week I logged a total of 45 miles and I am only at the BEGINNING of the training!!!! That's more than I logged at the peak of my training last year. I did two long runs last weekend, an 11 miler on Saturday and a 12 miler on Sunday. So, I decided this week will be a recovery week and I'm taking it down a notch.

In the last few months I've been analyzing my nutrition in an effort to get to the best body composition for me. I crunched the numbers for about 4 months worth of data and turns out I'm very consistent. I eat 55% carbs, 30% fat, and 15% protein almost exactly without even trying. I've had my body composition measured and I'm at a very lean 17% body fat. I've been able to maintain my weight for the past 3 years while continuing to build lean muscle mass and lose fat. I think when I started at my current weight I was ~24% body fat. I'm having my resting metabolic rate tested again to make sure I'm eating enough and fueling my body right. Basically, I'm in tip top shape and should be able to train hard and run strong in April.

Only a few short fun runs coming up in the next few weeks. The Winter Classic 5K is giving a $250 cash prize to the best costume so I'm going to try and win it. I'll post pictures after the run so you can judge if my creative idea is prize worthy. Then on January 1st I'll be running the 1st Run 10K in Lowell. It was my tune up race for Goofy last year, this year I can just run it for fun.

I really hope the weather continues to behave as it has up 'til now. A mild winter makes for nice training runs. Snow is pretty, but not fun to run in. Happy Holidays! Find your happy pace!