Its been a busy, but restful couple of days … but its been a few days since I’ve had time to write anything. I spent the weekend in Groton, CT, where the weather was a bit cooler than it is here in southeastern Pennsylvania. That didn’t stop me from getting out to wrap up my recovery week after the Ocean Drive marathon and kick off the training for the Flying Pig. It was kind of nice because I ran different courses on HILLY terrain .. I always forget that Connecticut is much more hilly then where I am now. The explanation of why i have to run when i’m visiting family started on Friday night, and you know, non-runners just don’t understand..

I’m happy to say that I’ve snapped myself back into better nutrition now, and its funny how it only takes a few days of clean eating to realize that what I was eating previously was just wrong, and the massive portions I was consuming were even worse. Getting on the scale last week may have helped motivate me too …. anyway, I cut back on my consumption of breakfast cereal and made sure i’m eating the “right” breakfast cereals when I do and not those sugar filled cereals .. I tend to eat nothing but breakfast cereal at a certain point of my training, which isn’t good.

So i’ve been working hard on getting the right combination of protein, carbs and fats and have started using “the daily plate” from livestrong to track my calories. As of this moment today, I’m at 20%, 20% and 60%, with 60% being carbs.. not too bad, I remember how to do this, i really do. I’m hoping that getting this under control helps me train better and slims me down a little bit. Its really a good feeling to know you’re eating better (maybe its all the veggies that are giving me that great feeling).

I figure I have 2 real weeks of training to work out the rough points in my running performance and slim down a bit, which started yesterday .. I have (2) 22 milers scheduled over the next 2 weekends, along with adding an extra hill day eacg week and forcing the pace on my speed work Thursdays. The Emmaus 4-mile classic is this coming Sunday as well, so that will act as an extra speed work day for me. I have to prepare a bit for the warmer temperatures though too .. i’m too used to running in the cold, its hard to get me to shed layers until I have to, that could be a critical mistake if I don’t manage that too.

I’ve also added some weight training and core exercises to my routine, I haven’t been able to commit much more time at this moment, so these are pretty quick and simple and will hopefully get my upper body to help burn some calories. I never thought that my bottom half is in such great shape .. but my upper half is not, hopefully this will clear it up. I’ve started the 100 pushups program also .. at a level two, and let me tell you that it sucks, but i’ll do it. I’m just so out of shape on my upper half which is what is making it so bad… another week or so and i’ll be good to go (imagine me after 6 weeks, eh?)

So the emails from the Flying Pig folks have started to trickle in, and its really getting me pumped up for the race. The whole weekend looks like fun, so at least i’ll have something to do on the Saturday before the race. My family most likely won’t be traveling with me that weekend, so i’ll be bored really fast by myself before the race .. I’ve never been to Cincinnati, so i’m looking forward to taking in the sights (if there are any), or just hanging out with other runners ..

I guess the summary for the day is that I hope i’m on the right track now to push the pace again in just 4 short weeks. I feel good and rested, and positive that i’ve got the right combination to do better, but only time will tell..