Reward for a Job Well Done

I've been evaluating my training/reward ratio for my training and I think I've gone awry right on track. I've always been a firm believer in the concept of rewarding myself for a job well done. With my work, I set loosely followed goals to accomplish before I do my blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc. For my running, I'm following the same pattern. 

I have a chart with my training schedule for my September marathon. The first few weeks, I was very diligent and excited about checking off my runs. I was careful in having a good recovery drink with the proper carb to protein ratio, I made sure I was drinking a sufficient amount of water, etc. 

If I accomplished a good long run, I rewarded myself with a trip to local burger place—a great source of protein, carbs and sodium. 

I've done some tweaking to my schedule and thought I'd share it with everyone.

1-5 miles = chocolate cookie, bow of ice cream, brownie, etc. If all else fails, then a handful of chocolate chips will work. Of course this is after I have properly rehydrated, had a recovery drink.

6-10 miles = Stepping up from the previous list. Ice Cream is stepped up to Ben and Jerry's, Brownie is now a brownie sundae,  recovery food is now leftover pizza, generous helping of Dr. Pepper, etc..

Are you with me now?

11-15 miles = Wendy's or McDonald's. If the run is closer to 15 then it is perfectly acceptable to tack on a couple apple pies or maybe a hot fudge sundae.

16+ miles = favorite burger place (the wait is long, but the food is good), maybe taking the family, possible trip for pizza

I could reward myself with a bowl of granola or a nice juicy banana...yeah that sounds as exciting as sticking to a training schedule. After a while, it just gets old. Now, take that same granola, add a scoop of Cherry Garcia and now you've got something going. Take that banana and stick it in a pot of melted chocolate and you've got a reward worthy of the 5 mile run you just put in. If you're coming toward me with oatmeal, it better be wrapped up in cookie form or you can take it back.

It's all about rewarding yourself for a job well done.