Overcoming Hurdles

So, it's officially December!  I'm so excited.  This is my favorite time of year due to the double-whammy of my birthday and Christmas in a two-day-long yuletide extravaganza.

My training focus so far has been to build up my running base so that I can begin more direct marathon training in conjunction with the New Year.  I haven't had the best behavior as far as my diet has been concerned...pumpkin pie and holiday treats have appeared too often on my daily menu.  And although I've been keeping up with my workouts, they've been suffering due to a combination of insufficient energy (from garbage calories) and added body weight.

I feel pretty lousy about my behavior, but I learned something valuable, so it wasn't a total loss -- I am either 0% or 100%, with no gray area in between.  In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, I decided to "ease up" a little and play things by ear.  I told myself "if there are cookies around, you can have a couple; if you're feeling tired in the morning, skip your workout and sleep in."  What resulted was almost of WEEK of sleeping in and a diet that consisted of the 3 food groups: sugar, butter, and flour.

Luckily, I am bouncing back, but this has cost me some valuable training time (not to mention feeling HORRIBLE due to a combination of guilt and probable vitamin deficiencies).  

LESSON LEARNED:  I thrive on structure.  I always need a meal plan and I always need a workout schedule.  Otherwise everything falls apart.

Since "easing up" clearly did not work for me, I am going to try a different approach for Christmas. Every day leading up will be super-strict with training and diet.  The 24th (my birthday) and 25th are off days.  Then, right back on the 26th.  No week-long nonsense.

So, with the past in the past, I'm looking forward to a great month of feeling good and getting stronger.