Y’all, I have a problem. I can run, well enough to finish races, even full 26.2 mile marathons [READ: #RapOnTheRun: 2014 Tobacco Road Marathon Review]. I can even complete races in enough time to not get picked up by the dreaded meat wagon (aka the golf cart that picks up runners who can’t finish a race in time or decides to drop out).

Last weekend I ran and finished the Tobacco Road Marathon in 6:53 (6 hours, 53 minutes). The race time limit was 7 hours, so I completed the run with about 7 minutes to spare. A 6:53 finish puts me right around a 15:43 minute mile. Today I’m 7 days out from the race. I’m ready to sign up and run another marathon. The race I’m eyeing is the annual Greensboro Marathon on October 18, 2014.

Here’s the problem: last weekend’s marathon time limit was 7 hours. The Greensboro Marathon’s time limit is 6 hours, 30 minutes. The problem: at current fitness level, I’m not fast enough to enter the race.

The interesting thing is that over the past four months in preparing for the Tobacco Road marathon, my minute/mile went from 15:54 down to 13:25 at the fastest pace. Y’all can follow my training progress on the ‘Gram, where I post long run pace times regularly. Yesterday I went out for a 7 mile run and my pace was 13:14. It was a comfortable pace, even though my legs are still a bit sore from last weekend. Pre-marathon, the longest run I did was a 20 miler, which I finished with a 14:48.

Last weekend I was happy to just finish the race. Now that it’s over and my body is almost recovered, I’m ready to set a new goal. Since I’m not a professional athlete, most of the information used for training is from running magazines and running blogs. Everything I’ve read in the past week have all noted that in order to run faster, you have to get leaner. The more bulk your body carries, the slower it is. This is because it has to work harder in order to carry the extra weight.

It’s no secret that my body type is considered to be that of a heavier runner. The shoes I run in are for stability, and the athletic bras I wear are for chicks with larger chests. I love my body and happy with how it has changed over the past two years of running. I’m content for it to stay the way it’s built right now. Shoot, in my mind, I’m a Brick House now. LOL. The reality is though, in order to get faster, I have to get leaner.

I’ve also read that in order to get leaner and faster, it’s best to add speed work and cross training. Therein lies my other problem. I don’t enjoy cross training or speed work. I don’t even like working out inside of the gym. I just want to go outside and run (rain, snow or shine!). With the last training cycle, I didn’t even do any speed work. I did one day of cross training a week, usually yoga, walking or the elliptical machine.

It’s said that in order to get different results, you have to do different things. So I decided to sign up for a fitness boot camp class. It begins tomorrow and has sessions two days a week. The class runs for eight weeks, so I’m very excited to see if several weeks of fitness boot camp will help my pace improve, as well as help my body get more lean. The only thing I’m praying is as I get leaner, my curves won’t go away!

I’ve also decided to run two more half marathons before the Greensboro Marathon in October. I figured this will give me a chance to see how my pace is improving over the months leading up to the marathon. The first half marathon will be in May and I’ll be announcing the name of the race soon! Y’all can stay tuned to my Twitter (@nancioishiphop), ‘Gram (@nancioishiphop), Facebook (Nanci O Is Hip Hop) and the blog. I’ll post training results to let y’all know how fitness boot camp goes!

#RapOnTheRun