Making the Commitment: Meatless February
Note: After my first “Commitment” post I have since decided to drop the Roman numeral title idea and will now go with titles similar to above.
Just like last year, I have started the year off with no clear cut goals, mainly due to injury concerns. Having dealt with injuries in previous years, I wanted to set the 1,000-mile goal early last year, but I waited a while before going public with it. I had to get through the Shamrock Half injury free before committing to running 1,000 miles. It had been a while before I really thought long-term with setting my goals.
If you have followed me long enough you can probably see my pattern: while shooting from the hip (“31 in 31,” getting to the 170s in December, making lists of foods to not eat right away) I don’t do very well, but when I set a long-term goal or a goal a few months out (April streak, 1,000 miles, Richmond Marathon) I do fairly well. Last year I set my goal of the April streak in February. I needed to prepare myself for it mentally, as well as physically, to continue running after Shamrock. And of course the marathon goal was a year in the making — perhaps too long term. (Sometimes I wonder if I would have gone for the Baltimore Marathon or the Marine Corps Marathon if I would have been OK.)
This brings me to thinking a lot about 2011′s goals. I have to do what works for me — setting goals well ahead of time, but also ones that make sense. In another words, SMART goals — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, Timely. I have them in my head, but I don’t like lists. Every time I’ve made a list of goals, something happens. For the first time in forever, I made a race schedule last year only to have things fall apart when I got sick and had a DNF.
My recent ITB injury has me fearing injuries again. Setting a goal for a PR in a half marathon is just crazy talk right now. It’s not even a realistic goal not knowing how long I’ll be away from distance running, not that I’m giving up hope for doing Shamrock yet. For now, though, I have to put running goals to the side and do some other things. That’s why the #2011commitments tag will last throughout the year and is about more than just running.
So for the second “Making the Commitment” post, I’ve decided that February 2011 will be a “meatless” month. That’s right, no meat.
I’m not going to go vegan on you — I still will have fish and eggs. Just no steaks or burgers or pork or chicken. Why? I want to do something different with my eating. I feel stuck in a rut. No burgers. No beef burritos. No New York Strip (not that I actually eat steak very often).
Why February? Well, it is the shortest month of the year. If I stick with it afterward, then fine. If I don’t, then so be it. What happens after isn’t as important as getting through those four weeks of change and committing to it.
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Good luck! Obviously I'm going to say that going meatless is awesome and you should stick with it, but enjoy it and have fun with it
And also, I wonder a lot too what would have happened if I had ran an earlier fall marathon than I did (Akron instead of Columbus). Would I have finished faster or still bonked? It's tough living with that question!
I'm with you … sometimes I have to think about my commitments for a while before I actually make them and do them.
I went meatless last January for one month to see how I would feel. I felt great at the end of the month, so I have stuck with it and haven't eaten meat since. I occasionally eat fish.
Good luck with your meatless February.
I was going to comment on how you picked the shortest month, but you already know that. Ha. Good luck with this. I know I absolutely could not do it (I have braces and am already very limited to things I can eat).
If you come up with any good recipes, you'll have to share!
Awesome committment!! I have to say that I chuckled at your SMART goal reference. My friends have given me a lot of flack over making SMART goals for a few years now. Hey…it works!!
I am definitely going to join you on this challenge. I've been thinking about trying to cut more meat out of my diet - tough though because of love a great burger - BUT, if I do it with someone, I'm more likely to be honest with myself about it. So, count me in!
It's probably a smart move to hold off on running commitments until you're feeling confident enough in your injury recovery to meet them. I'm quite the gung-ho type who makes huge goals and falls short. That's doing it wrong.
I saw your tweet yesterday about committing to a meatless February. It took me a full day to decide that I will do this because I LOVE my meat. I need to eat much better than I am, and it would absolutely help with my training for my March marathon, & I'm hoping will get me a better than I can hope marathon result. I'm in!