Mid-June Update

It's been too long since I've done an update!  2015 has been an interesting year so far.  Some good, some not so good.  I set a bunch of goals at the first of the year, let's just see where I am today:
 
Running
1 - Run another marathon.  I registered for the Revel Canyon City Marathon on November 7th and I'm really excited about that!  True training starts on July 19th.  I reapplied my training plan in TrainingPeaks and noticed some changes.  I'm really planning on working on my pace this time, I neglected speed work last year big time!
2 - Improve my pace. I really haven't gotten much faster overall, but I am working on running fast downhill.  This is important since most of my marathon is downhill.  My fastest downhill mile is 7:53.  I have a new route that is 8 miles - 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 more miles up and finishing with 2 miles down.  I did it for the first time last Sunday.  My downhill miles were 9:05, 8:53, 8:36 and 8:35!  It wasn't easy, and I'm definitely planning on doing this route some more.

Mileage
I want to cross the 2,000 mile mark again this year. I am currently at 871.60 miles.  I had a slow start due to the flu in January, but I've slowly been gaining momentum:

January 101.58
February 150.43
March 127.00
April 175.71
May 200.00*
June (through 6/17) 116.88

*I really couldn't have hit exactly 200 miles in May if I tried - that just happened!

Cycling wasn't listed in my goals, but I have really upped by riding lately.  I've been riding the trail and riding on the street and I'm seeing a lot of improvement!  I rode 13 miles this morning then came home and ran 2 miles with Les.

Weight and Health
I'm currently 13 pounds over my goal weight.  My doctor wants me to lose 8 pounds.  So goal number one is dropping 8 pounds, then I'll work on that additional 5. 
UGH!! This has been the worst part of my year.  I've lost about 20 pounds and gained about 20 pounds!  It's one pound up, one pound down.  I have been so diligent in my eating and tracking everything, I'm not sure what to do anymore.  I'm actually only 2 pounds overweight for my height, but that's higher than I want to be.  I'm not giving up, and am hoping that eventually my body will respond!  It seems this lovely thing in life called menopause has meant metabolism pause for me.

I will say that I'm feeling really focused and good about my activity lately.  Even though I'm not officially training, I just want to make my workouts count.  I'm healthy and injury free, so in spite of a non-budging scale, I'm calling it good!