Enough is freaking enough. These were the words I told myself last weekend after gorging myself with chocolate and choosing to skip three workouts in the span of five days. Recently, I’ve been on a downward spiral, inching closer to the land of bad decisions and unhealthy choices. I felt my motivation lacking and my will power waning … which is the exact opposite of what I really want. I also came to terms with the fact that not having a focused running goal has finally taken its toll on me (have I mentioned I’m a clinical Type A person?).

So, I did what any logical, rational runner and coach would do: I shook myself out of it and signed up for a race. Ahem, two races. I also developed a training plan for myself that isn’t just easy running (if you haven’t read between the lines this year, I’ve pulled back on all serious training for baby-making purposes … still in progress). I prepped and planned meals for the week, started tracking my nutrition again and officially started training for some February half marathons. Simply stated, I refuse to sabotage myself and have gotten back on the proverbial track.

I’ve signed up to run the Sedona Half Marathon in Arizona on February 6, 2016, with my dear friend Elizabeth who is running a half marathon/marathon in every state. I believe this will be state 39 for her. For those keeping track at home, this will be state #10 for me, 11 if you count the half marathon I ran as part of the Beach2Battleship Half Iron Triathlon in North Carolina, and 12 if you consider Washington, D.C. to factor in somehow. I am not racing the states, but it’s still fun to think about all the places I’ve raced.

I’ve also signed up to run the Gasparilla Distance Classic Half Marathon here in Tampa on February 21, 2016. I figured it was time to break myself in on the local endurance running scene and accept that I’m going to be running in a hot weather climate for the rest of my life.

While I’m not looking to run a personal best at either of these races and my training will be more conservative than if I was aiming for a PR, I do hope to run between 1:39 and 1:43 (my current PR is 1:38:24). Sedona is hilly and will be more for fun, but Gasparilla is flat and appropriate for this goal if the weather behaves. Essentially, I want to race on more than easy running, which is how I raced in my three half marathons this year.

I will share more with you about my plan in the coming days. I have nine weeks until Sedona and 11 weeks until Gasparilla. I’ll be running 4 to 5 days a week, strength training twice, doing restorative yoga at least once and cross training one to two times per week (elliptical, cycling or swimming). Just in time for the holidays. Here we go.

How is your motivation holding up during the holiday season? What’s the next race on your race calendar?