Three Things Thursday: Try me, maybe?

Taper. I'm terrible at it.

I'm nine days out from Run the Bluegrass and rather than scaling back my mileage, I keep thinking of ways to add more exercise to the week. Seriously, I was running on the treadmill this morning and I was all like, "I could get up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, run 3 or 4 miles and still have enough energy to try Piloxing before work."

The workout on the Train Like A Mother plan? Three miles OR cross-train. Womp, womp.

I think I might be feeling thrown off because I punked out on my Monday recovery run but I'm also realizing that my goal race isn't so far away. Six weeks separate me and the Wisconsin start line, and I want to get there knowing I put in the work, the miles and the heart.

But I also want to get to Lexington with healthy legs.

In order to do that, I do need to abide by the taper (sort of) but I can can make some plans and a few changes to build my game.

1. Work on my core. I'll do bicep curls and squats till the cows come home but ask me to do a plank and I get all whiny. I do get in some core work with BODYPUMP but it doesn't get the attention I think it deserves - especially since I know that a strong core could come in handy during Wisconsin. I would like to make more of an effort to strengthen my center in the next six weeks, so I opted to borrow Jillian Michaels' "Killer Abs" from the library. I am not making any promises that I'll do it as regularly as should but it's the thought that counts.

2. Cut out or limit sweeteners. I did so well with the Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Holiday Challenge between Thanksgiving and Christmas but once Santa came a ho-ho-hoing, the wheels fell off the bus. I've tried with varying success to rein in my sugar consumption but still feel frustrated with the crap calories I'm eating. Last night - after a day that included orange poppy seed loaf, Chips Ahoy thin crisps and a homemade chocolate chip cookie bar - I decided that I needed to stop letting cravings control me. I wrote three goals for today on a sheet of paper and the first was no sweeteners other than natural fruit. (The other two? Run 5 miles and eat 4-5 servings of vegetables.) I'm going to take this sugar attack day-by-day but I'm hoping to feel strong and lean by May 4.

3. Ummm, I totally had a third one when I decided to write this post. I swear I did. I wonder if it was eat more chia seeds? I just ate some lackluster oatmeal and actually missed those flavorless little things. I was going to go to the co-op to pick up some from the bulk bins but went to the library instead to grab "Killer Abs."

Hmph.

For fun: Miles began his singing career with "Wheels on the Bus" and has recently added "It's Raining, It's Pouring" to his set list. This kid cracks me up!