At the beginning of 2013, I set myself some goals, two of which were to compete in a fitness competition (or two) and run another marathon (or two). Of course, I’ve never competed in a fitness competition before, but I figured that this will be the year that I try something new and push myself outside the comfort zone. As far as marathons go, yes, I’ve ran one, you can read about it here. When it comes to running, my goal is always to PR or place in the top 3 in my age group.
So, I’m 9 weeks out from the fitness competition on March 23rd (yes, that means no birthday cake for me this year) and 15 weeks out from the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 5th. This means that between the competition and the marathon, I have 6 weeks. (I have other things planned as well, but I wanted to keep this post short.)
Now, this is an experiment for me.
I fully understand that both training and nutrition are completely different for fitness contest preparation and for marathon running. However, since I virtually didn’t lose any muscle mass while training for my marathon back in 2012 (which was proven by body composition tests before and after), I figure that maybe there is a way for me to maintain my muscle mass and at the same time train for both.
Above: photo by IMS FotoGrafix and clothing by Public Myth. I’m seeing some progress in the ab area.
I believe can still do my longer runs while at the same time training for my fitness contest as long as I eat enough calories from the right sources to maintain muscle mass and not gain any fat. Now, I will not be doing my longest run until about 4 weeks out from the marathon (after the competition), after which time I will gradually begin my taper and focus on speed work. My longest run will be between 36 and 39km. I created myself a training plan for the marathon and I will probably get a distance running coach as well. I will also begin complex carb-loading about two weeks prior to the marathon, which is especially important.
Above: clothing-Public Myth.
To prepare for my fitness competition, I’m currently working with experienced personal trainer and fitness competitor Tamara Hambly who created a body-shaping workout for me. The workout is different from what I used to do and is challenging at the same time. I’ve learned so much from Tamara already and I’ve only been doing her program for 1 week!
I’m both excited and a little bit nervous about this new fitness adventure of mine. I know one thing is for sure-I will work hard and I will give it my best. I mean, if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it. Hard is what makes it great 🙂
HAPPY TRAINING!
[…] Finishing this race is proof that I can train for both fitness competitions and marathons in a 15 week period. My experiment proved successful. […]