The beginning... again!

This year is a new year, it is now 2012.  When thinking back on the last two years, it seems that they were two completely different years.  Two years ago, I decided it was time to kick my self in the behind and start to get into shape.  With the end of college looming and only one semester to go, I started going to the gym in February 2010 to run and work out to get into better shape for Ultimate Frisbee.  Little did I know the type of effect it would have on my future.  By the end of the year I had lost 70 lbs and weighed only 215.  Not only that but I had become addicted to running and had my mind set on running the Cleveland Marathon, even to the point of signing up in January 2011.

However, 2011 was not as good to me.  I began to run farther, faster and harder but it came at a price.  By March I had dropped below 200 lbs for the first time in who knows how long and weighed only 195 (where I currently stand too).  The downside was I had hurt my hip in my running and did not heal it properly.  By the end of March I had to give in on running and drop out of the Marathon to start physical therapy.  After months of this including a second PT stint for runners knee, I was okay to begin running by the beginning of September.

From September until the end of January, I have been in Israel enjoying the trip of my life.  It has been quite the experience from meeting the most amazing people to seeing beautiful sights and hearing influential speakers.  While here, I have been able to run again and have been quite happy.  I ran three different 10k races and have been under the "Israel 45 Curse" as I have ran each race in roughly 45 minutes for various reasons.  I wanted to break 40 minutes but in my being unable to accomplish this, I have learned  how to prepare for races on many levels.  From injuries to eating habits, all will aid me in my return home.

2012 is a new year and is already on the right track!  Injury free, healed up completely, and looking forward to running!

Though I dropped out of last years Cleveland Marathon, I was able to transfer that registration over to this year.  Now that I have been fully registered again, I have been working on creating my training plan.  I return home at the beginning of February and have decided I will give myself a week back home before fully running.  I will use this time to continue regular runs and overall fitness training, just as I have been doing in Israel.

As of now this is what I have come up with for my marathon training.  I did a lot of research and want to be able to cross train at least one day and rest at least one day too.

Current Training Schedule:

Week	Week Ending	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	Feb 6 - 12	Cross	3 mi	5 mi	3 mi	Rest	5 mi p	10 mi
2	Feb 13 -19	Cross	3 mi	6 mi	3 mi	Rest	6 mi p	11 mi
3	Feb 20 - 26	Cross	3 mi	6 mi	3 mi	Rest	6 mi r	12 mi
4	Feb 27 - 4	Cross	3 mi	6 mi	3 mi	Rest	6 mi p	10 mi
5	Mar 5 - 11	Cross	4 mi	5 mi	4 mi	Rest	7 mi p	14 mi
6	Mar 12 - 18	Cross	4 mi	7 mi	4 mi	Rest	7 mi r	16 mi
7	Mar 19 - 25	Cross	4 mi	7 mi	4 mi	Rest	8 mi r	17 mi
8	Mar 26 - 1	Cross	4 mi	5 mi	4 mi	Rest	Rest	Towpath Half
9	Apr 2 - 8	Cross	5 mi	8 mi	4 mi	Rest	8 mi p	18 mi
10	Apr 9 - 15	Cross	5 mi	8 mi	5 mi	Rest	5 mi p	20 mi
11	Apr 16 - 22	Cross	5 mi	5 mi	5 mi	Rest	8 mi r	12 mi
12	Apr 23 - 29	Cross	5 mi	8 mi	5 mi	Rest	5 mi p	20 mi
13	Apr 30 - 6	Cross	5 mi	6 mi	5 mi	Rest	4 mi p	12 mi
14	May 7 - 13	Cross	4 mi	5 mi	4 mi	Rest	3 mi r	8 mi
15	May 13 - 20	Cross	3 mi	4 mi	Rest	Rest	2 mi r	Marathon

On Cross Training days I am hoping to go swimming.  Along with this, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when my runs are shorter, I am going to do weight training to make sure I dont get injured.  Also, one day a week I will be taking a yoga class.  I am going to be the new face of the JCC with how much time I will be spending there!  Last year all I seemed to do was run run run and never followed my plan correctly and ended up running into injury.  This year I will be doing it right and right from the start.

My time is going to be full as I am returning back to school to hopefully get a degree in Physical Therapy.   Currently, as my background has been in Food Service and Business Management, I need to complete over a year's worth of prerequisites before applying to grad school.  It is a new passion I found in me after the past experiences I have had and figured it out in Israel.  I am going to miss it here but am really excited and cant wait to begin my next steps in life.

Thanks for reading my inaugural post!  I will keep updating throughout my journey to my first marathon (second time around).   Feel free to comment or share any insight you might have to help me along.  I am an avid reader of Active.com and RunnersWorld.Com and really enjoy the random little tidbits I read about.