Next up

• It's been 1 week since I finished my first Ultra Marathon. I did one short 2 mile recovery run at a VERY slow pace this week. But other than that, I'm giving myself a break. I know it is much needed both mentally and physically. Overall I'm feeling pretty good though. I had some soreness in my knees for a few days and my left ankle looked cankle-y for a few days... but I'm feeling pretty good now.
  

• I signed up for my birthday marathon today. I'll be running the Dallas White Rock Marathon in December to celebrate my 32nd birthday. I ran this one last year and enjoyed myself. I was looking to cross another state off my list, but couldn't find one for the weekend of my birthday that I really wanted to do... or that was fairly close.

• My goal for the next 5 months is to work on my speed. My goal for the White Rock Marathon is to break 4 hours, which would be cutting 16 minutes off my PR. I know I can do it if I train properly. Bring on the speed work!

• My other goal is to start lifting on a regular basis. I know I should be doing more of this already... but frankly, I'm lazy. And by lazy, I mean I just like to run. I've heard a lot of girls use this book to get them started... so I borrowed it from the library and am going to give it a shot.

I'm giving myself one more week of being lazy. I think I deserve it! The new workout plan will start on August 1st. That gives me 4 full months to get back into racing shape... time to start working on that training plan!