Physical Goals

My primary physical goals involve nutrition and sleep [duh?]. I have found more than ever how vital my nutrition habits are, especially in marathon training! I went from being the skinny kid who ate anything and everything to now being very stubborn about making sure I meet my needs. I know when I am training at this level it makes a big difference when, what, and how much I need--and I can't always trust my feelings to guide me into the kind of eating that pays off in my training. I have bounced around in various types of meal plans, but keep coming back to basic calorie counting [to make sure I get enough--not restrict!] with some other goals [protein, fat, timing, etc.]. The biggest difference is in my performance and health. My body’s pretty good about adapting to maintain the weight [on 2000 calorie differences in energy balance!] but when I don’t eat right I get hurt, sick, don’t reap the full potential out of my training and [obviously] perform under par.

Sleep is a tougher issue for me. On this one I can’t so much report how much it helps because I have very little experience with actually getting enough sleep to compare! I do know that I went from an all-over-the-place sleep schedule two years ago, going to bed any time from 3-5am and getting up 7-10am, and feeling exhausted and deflated from the afternoon on; to last year at least having a relatively consistent schedule of going to bed between midnight and 1am and getting up at 7-8am. I had a major difference in overall zest for life in addition to my athletic performance.
I probably don’t even know how good I good feel just to get a solid 8 hours a night! Heck, that’s recommended for your average person, much less someone pounding her body to the ground [needs extra recovery time].
I am also a morning person, feeling and doing my best [and most] in the early hours—even when I haven’t had enough sleep. My poor time management skills and the people around me influence me too much and I continue to stay up too late for my liking and best kind of life, but I am determined to get back on the early schedule where I thrive.
Dedicated runners get their rest and recovery, and for the most part go to bed early. Some how, some way [and yes, I need to pin point that or it won’t happen] I need to do that too.