A wise person once said that it is important to write down your goals. This same person said that it is also important that you write them in pencil. I have a goal of breaking the 2-hr half marathon mark this year and I still plan to do it yet. One thing though is that I am uncertain whether that will happen on May 5th. This realization does not deter me from trying, however, all evidence points to me having slowed down a bit since last year or rather I’m just peaking at a different time. Today I completed the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon Training Series 15K in 1:33:34 (unofficial). I am happy with this time, but it is over 5 minutes slower than last year’s time of 1:28:06 (official time). So, there are 12 months in a year and this one isn’t a third of the way done yet. In another words, I have plenty of time!
Including the warm-up and cool-down I ran an extra 3.4 miles beyond the 15K today and I feel great! So it’s interesting to see that while I have slowed a bit in 12 months my endurance is high. Today I am 4-weeks away from the mini-marathon. I know what I have to do for training. It’s all written down…in pencil. 🙂
Over the course of the next 4-weeks I am concentrating on cutting weight and maintaining my speed and endurance. One easy way to get faster (to a point) is to run lighter. I am very much enjoying learning more and more about how my body responds to training and seeing the effects on a weekly basis.
I’ll keep you all updated on the mini marathon training over the next 4-weeks and then I switch to my ultra training plan for the remainder of the year. I am so looking forward to this next training cycle!
What did most of the people do on the plane ride from Orlando to Indianapolis the Monday after the Disney World Marathon Weekend & Goofy Challenge?
Answer: They slept.
What did I do?
Answer: I planned out my training program to get me a PR finishing time at the Indianapolis Mini Marathon on Saturday May 6th.
The Goofy Challenge proved to me that I have a bit of endurance in me. I felt better after three days of running a total of 42.4 miles than I did the previous year after my first full marathon. While I know an extra year of training and the post race recovery methods I employed were much of the difference from year to year I can’t help but want to change focus from distance to speed. They say speed comes with time. Great! I’ve been training for over two years now so I’m going to focus more on the speed and less on going a “further than last weekend’s” long run of 26.2 miles.
My most ambitious goal would be to try for a sub 2-hour time. My previous year’s mini marathon time was just under 02:06:00. Shaving off nearly 6 minutes from my run would take a lot of dedication but more accurately some very smart and specific traini especially considering I just got over fighting off a rhino virus which quite foolishly wandered too near my immune system…silly rhino virus.
My first order of business is to fully recover from my 42.4-mile journey (and the stupid cold), which I have done over the last 2 weeks. In the interim, I focused on biking, some elliptical work and lifting weights while also getting plenty of sleep. That time period not only refueled the body but also the mind and spirit after a long distance fight in which I’ve come a long way.
While I have mapped out a 14-week training program the intensity does not ramp up until next week. Monday I’ll refocus on my previous FIRST training regimen of three runs a week with two cross training days. I’m going to focus on regular stationary bike and spin classes for my cross training along with resistance training thrown in to build more strength. I’ll write more on my bike focus in a later post as it involves a future goal.
Also, this is a good example of how as soon as you finish rewarding yourself for a job well done on hitting a goal you should immediately plan the next “BIG Thing.” For me it’s relative speed in a particular race.
Churros & Dos Equis! - My Victory Dance
So look at 2011, smile at what you’ve accomplished, and look ahead to what comes next.
I’ll post my entire training program in a few weeks. Until then…
Welcome and thanks for reading my blog! In time I will discuss all sorts of things related to my fitness journey such as exercise, strength training, walking, running, diet and hopefully the motivation to keep at it! Happy reading!
Where to start? Perhaps a little about me. I started my fitness journey back in December 2009. Last December I wanted a change so I made a plan. I decided the only way to keep training was to have a reason to do it. At the time I was +/- 75 pounds over weight weighing in at close to 245 pounds.
That’s me on the right weighing in at 245 pounds.
So I signed up for a 5K in March and a half-marathon in May. I put the cash down and actually registered. I wanted to give myself a reason to really go for it and not slack off so I added a second half-marathon in May just two weeks after the 1st one. Looking back maybe I was a little too ambitious. But darn it, I wanted results!
I was afraid that I would train a bit, eat healthy for a few weeks, finish the second half-marathon and stop training like I had in the past so I started to look at running events later in the year.
This is the time I should let you know that I am a Disney fan. I had heard of the “runDisney” series and started looking into the race Disney puts on in January that goes through all four Disney parks. Considering I had a year to train I decided to register for the full-marathon and put down the cash. I figured if I was going to run that far I might as well run the 26.2 most magical miles on Earth!
Still, I was worried. There is a lot of time and great BBQ weather between May and January. What if I slacked off after the May events? What if I lost focus later in the year? Or worse, what if I saw all that time to spare and decided I could afford to be lazy again and started to regress?
So I decided to add one more event later in the year to get me through. I looked for another half-marathon and found a small local event in early September. This would keep me training through the summer and I’d be set to push through to January and my first ever full-marathon. My running schedule was set or so I thought.
As luck would have it I received an email from runDisney.com advertising a half-marathon in October called the Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon. It was the inaugural race! I couldn’t resist! It was Disney after all and it was to be the kickoff event to Disney’s Food & Wine Festival! So I registered and wondered if I could handle four half-marathons in one year! At this point I had barely ran a single mile for my first half of the year! My friends may have started to doubt my sanity. 🙂
Fast forward to present day. I am happy to say that I completed all four half-marathons and even did three 5K runs in total including that first one in March. I have lost 45 pounds and I am approaching my goal weight slowly but surely. I’m in no hurry. Progress comes slow at times or stops all together when I hit a plateau.
So what’s the point? A blog post should have a point right?
Goals. What’s yours?
My goal is to enjoy life as long as I can. My goal is to earn a PR (Personal Record) during an event every once in a while. My goal is to be fit so I can do more. My goal is to combine my love of travel with my new running habit!
Your goal could be to look good for a friend’s wedding, it could be to lose 10 pounds for your 20 year high school reunion, it could be that your doctor told to get active “or else” or your goal could be to be around to see your children grow up. These are all goals, but I encourage you to find a goal that is all yours and no one else’s. Remember though that this is when it’s okay to be a little selfish and do it for you.
Running Down a Dream 23's Blog 