The Perfect Mind

So, I'm about to come clean to you here. I feel like I've been holding a little something back and it's time to just get real.

I am a total, utter freak.

For 79 weeks (yes, you heard me) I have tracked all of my workouts. All of them.

It started innocently in April last year to ensure I was not increasing my mileage by more than 10% each week (one of the culprits -- in my opinion -- of my downfall in training for the 2011 NYC Marathon. Seems reasonable.

It also helped with knowing when to change my shoes (every 300-400 miles for me and my delicate arches, for those counting). It also made sure that I added in enough cross-training which I also firmly stand by as an injury prevention tool.

Then...the hurricane.

As I was planning for Miami, I wanted to see what I had done that got me to a place where I felt marathon-ready despite, you know, not running the marathon. So I started using my past plan to design my future.

And then I brought the color coding into it as I began 2013 training. And that's where we stand today.

So, without further ado, would you like to see the schedule of a mad woman? Who is training for her 4th marathon in hopes of running her second? Here it is:

...what....the....what....

Let's walk through this together, shall we? Let's.

It started early July when my third NYC training adventure began (although if you'd like to see anything between then and April 2012, I can surely provide). Lavender means a "normal" run (and purple is my favorite color!). I try to do these at a good solid pace, but nothing crazy. Orange is strength-training and yellow is cross-training. Green is my [often unsuccessful] attempt at doing yoga once a week. Rest days are in a cleansing white. Red alert means "quality workouts" with hills or speed. That's something new I've added in this year versus the past to get stronger and faster. And they are hard. So red.

Total weekly mileage is totaled on the right so I can make sure I'm progressing in a good orderly fashion. Notes (such as the upcoming nuptials of my friend Mel) that I'll need to keep in mind that week are in the last column.

Upcoming runs are in grey and then I "actualize" weekly.

I'm really sorry, that must have scared you. I scared myself a little. But it feels good to get that off of my chest. I can get crazy.

However, on the other hand...

So, if you'd like to refer to my spreadsheet, you'll see I have 20 miles coming up this Saturday (with new shoes coming up the week after! Oh happy day!)

So how am I doing today? Aside from the obvious mental deficiencies which led me to the spreadsheet?

Well, after a crazy Total Body Conditioning class yesterday and a brutal hill repeat workout on Cat Hill in Central Park this morning I'm kind of like...

But I'm feeling like I'm dying in a normal, non-boot-needing type way. And knocking on wood every 30 seconds. And just really, really, really looking forward to [possibly] running the NYC Marathon this year on November 3rd.

Save the damn date. Because with a crazy mind like mine, you know there's really only one thing keeping me from running the 2013 NYC Marathon this year.