Now that it’s been a week since my Hot Chocolate 5k triumph, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking (as I normally do). This post will be much less structured than normal and will be a mish-mash of everything I’ve been thinking about as I move forward setting new goals on the next stage on the journey.

Achilles

First off, my Achilles is doing great! I had a little bit of tightness the morning of the 5k, but it’s really been holding up well. I still need to keep up with my stretches and PT for the time being, but it’s really refreshing not to have to worry about it every time I work out.

In fact, I had the confidence in my body today to really push myself. It was a strength day, so lots of inclines and heavy weights, needless to say I was exhausted!

The Achilles is finally starting to become an after though, and that’s a very good thing!

Massage

I rewarded myself for my good performance by treating myself to a recovery massage. There was a deal on Groupon for a 60 minute full body massage with a 15 minute foot massage/reflexology. The price was right and what was included was perfect for post-race!

I’ve gotten a few massages before, but never a foot massage. Oh wow was it great! He worked out knots….in my feet….I had no idea you COULD get knots in your feet. I suppose it’s just like any other muscle, just something you don’t really think of since they’re smaller.

I’ll definitely go there again though and I’m recommending it to all my friends. Gotta support those small business that do a good job!

Next Race

I haven’t decided on what race to do next, but I’m hooked. Pretty much every advertisement I see for a race that has good swag I want to sign up! But don’t want to break my bank just yet, but I do want to keep up running.

At first, I was super cocky, looking at the races coming up I thought, “The Cinco de Miler on May 6th…5 miles isn’t that much more than a 5k, that’s doable. Then the BTN 10k on July 23rd would be doable, giving 3 months to train for next year’s Hot Chocolate, but do the 15k to get that ballin medal.”

But then I remembered it took me 4 attempts to run a 5k the entire way, so I pumped the brakes for now.

I think I’ll find another 5k to do and work on improving my time and perhaps increase distance as well. One would think increasing distance would help with the timing anyway right. So the scenario above could still happen, I just won’t be planning on it just yet.

New Fitness Goals

On top of increasing speed and distance, I want to get my strength back up as well. I plan to keep doing yoga to keep myself well rounded as well.

If all else fails, I think what I’m doing fitness-wise is pretty good. My cardio has improved, my endurance is greater, and I can feel my muscles changing.

When I say feel, I literally mean feel, externally, when I touch them with my hands. Specifically the lower body, the quads and calves have better shape and seem to be sturdier for lack of a better word.

Overall Goals

Time to face the elephant in the room. While doing 5k training, I primarily focused on improving my performance while pretty much ignoring my weight. The miracle about my performance last week was I PR’ed a 5k, both in time and endurance, and I weigh maybe 20 lbs more than I did when I made the previous PR.

Imagine my strength and endurance as is, but with 20lbs less stress on every single step. I could DESTROY the PRs.

So, now that I feel that I’ve gotten back into a groove physically, time to really focus on the weight loss portion. I would be willing to forfeit strength gains for more fat loss, because it’ll just help out with everything. Sort of like switching from bulking to cutting for the more advanced fitness people, while mine’s more strictly mental.

It all starts with nutrition.

Yes, I’ve been saying this for a while, but this time I’m actually motivated to do it. Been decent this week and just made some chicken burrito bowls with the slow cooker.

I do enjoy cooking, and it’s so much cheaper and healthier than ordering take out. The only thing it isn’t better is in time. So it’s time for me to stop being lazy and start cooking again.

I’ve also stocked up on better snacks, my fridge is finally starting to look like it’s supposed to again!

New Motivation

Also, I have some good news, a good friend of mine asked me to stand up in his wedding! So I have until July to bring the sexy. Hey, I’ll take any motivation I can get, right?

Speaking of, this is another thing I really really have to work on, my mentality. After I was asked to be a groomsman, I thought about it being a motivating factor. But then I immediately got angry at myself that I need outside factors like weddings and 5k’s to get me motivated.

I should have all the motivation in the world. Family history, opportunities, confidence. Things I’ve written about many times in the past.

This is an overlaying problem and I really should think out. In the meantime, just keep plugging away, writing her to keep me honest, and keep going. I do need that focus, but like I said, I’ll take any bit of motivation I can get right now!

That got unexpectedly deep at the end, as is my crazy train of thought!