Now What...?

Been a while. Yeah, I know. But the dearth of updates to this blog in no way should be interpreted as a lack of progress or activity. To the contrary, in fact. Despite a busy two months and a whole lot of crap at work, after a brief running break post Two Cities Half (all of about three days), I once again found myself hitting the pavement in the 'hood.

Several friends declared "good riddance" to 2009 rather emphatically. I found myself puzzled by this. Sure, from an economic and global standpoint, 2009 was a tough one for many, but their laments seemed to be much more personal in nature. I lost my mom in April to the scourge of our existence known as cancer, but for me 2009 was actually pretty good when all was said and done.

When the year was about to begin, I targeted running 500 miles for the year. Notice I said "targeted." That seemed less daunting than than calling it a resolution or establishing an actual goal. Believe it or not, I wracked up 660.6 miles during the year! Absolutely frickin' amazing! And most of that came in the last six months or so. Also amazing was the miles I put on my butt on the bike. I started logging my bike cross training in July. Through the end of 2009, I had put on 277.4 miles on my Trek mountain bike. All told, I invested almost 140 hours in training during the year--and that's not counting all the yoga classes either. Even with a demanding job that takes me on the road several days a month, I still managed to squeeze in an average of 3+ hours of training each week.

Other accomplishments? Ran my first race--the Cross City 10k. Ran the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure 5k. I also committed to training and racing my first half marathon this past November--and I did better than I could have hoped for. During it all I managed to stay healthy and injury free. Oh, and did I mention that this was accomplished by a 47 year old introverted couch potato?

So now what? For 2010 I'm upping the ante. New year, new approach. The annual training plan! I've already looked at the entire year and identified my training goals and objectives. Notice I'm not using the word "target." I've identified several races that I definitely want to train for and participate in. I also plan to take my cycling from something I do to cross train, to something that I'm actually training to improve. And since I have some level of fitness already in running and cycling, why not go for the ultimate in endurance tests--triathlon?

OK-that triathlon thing has not risen to the level of a committed training goal yet--but certainly the components of it have. I've nailed down my run and bike training for the next several months. Once all the craziness of the new year subsides, my next mission is to track down a swim coach to give me some lessons on technique--and I'll take it from there. Who knows--I'm thinking a late summer/early fall tri competition might be just the ticket! We'll see.

The start of a new year is always a time when the topic of resolutions surface. I've never liked the idea of identifying resolutions. It always seems like such a zero sum game to me. Once you fall off the wagon, you're done. Instead, I prefer to establish intentions. One continually renews an intention. Even when there is a failure or backsliding, you can renew the intention. Wipe the slate clean and start fresh. For 2009, the intention I identified was to seek balance. In looking back over all that transpired in '09, I believe I found balance more often than not. Work, home, family, personal obsessions--all seemed to mesh just as they should with no one focus assuming dominance over the others.

My natural tendency is to go balls out on something to the detriment of something else. For 2010 then, I have renewed my intention to seek balance. To that intention however, I am adding the intention to seek connection with others. The older I get, I'm finding it increasingly important to shed the 'lone wolf' in me and to connect with others on a regular basis. Finally, I'm adding one more: 5 - 9, and lots of colors. That's five to nine servings of fruits and veggies per day, and in every color of the rainbow whenever possible.

2010 here I come!

Pre-Race Thoughts...

Well, it's finally here. Well almost, anyway. The Two Cities Marathon and Half--the event I have been training for these past 16 weeks, will start tomorrow morning at 7am. In usual fashion, I'm neither 'stoked,' nor apathetic. I just am. I suspect as today wears on, anxiety will mount. Something tells me I'm not going to sleep very well tonight :)

I feel really good about my training. I have no doubt I will finish the race, and finish it strong. Not sure about my time though. Last Saturday's 8 miler was fairly easy at about a 10:30 pace. Eight miles is not 13.1 though. Of course, it should be a little cooler than last week (although some weather reports indicate we could have some wind. Wind! Really? Fresno only gets windy in big storms or about three other times during the year. But of course, one of those windy days would have to fall on November 8!). I'm also reasonably well rested. Very light week at work--surprisingly. Slept reasonably well most of the week. Tried to honor the taper by sticking to my training plan with one session of speed work on Tuesday, and then only three miles, easy, on Thursday (it feels really funny right now not to be gearing up for a Saturday morning long run and at the same time, it seems like such a luxury). My diet during the week? So, so. I could have eaten less fat and more of the green stuff, but it just wasn't meant to be. One thing's for sure, I stayed very well hydrated all week. And healthy, too! Can't forget about that. Everyone--and I mean everyone--I came in contact with the last couple of weeks seemed to be harking up a lung or coming off swine flu. Must have been all that hand washing and hiding out in my office that kept me germ free :)

So anyway, back to my time. Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, 2:45 is absolutely no problem. I would be happy with breaking 2:30, and ecstatic with anything remotely close to 2:20. I do think 2:20 is in the realm of possibility if I'm feeling good. As for race strategy, I plan to go out at about 11:00 for the first couple of miles to get my bearings and warm up. Depending on how I feel after that, I plan to pick up the pace--or not--until the finish. Oh, and my mantra? "Don't eat the paste." Just because Little Jimmy is eating paste (blazing by me and because I feel good and fresh, I feel like I can keep up) doesn't mean that I need to eat the paste. Jimmy will get sick from all that paste eating at some point and I will too, if I'm not careful.

Pop and Bro are coming to town later this afternoon; Pop to spectate and support, Bro to run. It will be nice to have a friendly face in the starting corrals with me--even though Bro hopes to run it in 2:00 and I probably won't see him much beyond the start, and at the finish.

Looking forward to a nice pancake breakfast when it's all over. Race report to follow at some point.

Funny The Way It Is...

From the moment I heard that new song by the Dave Matthews Band, it resonated with me. It's true...it is funny the way it is. You can want something, but when the going gets a little tough, you can think of a million and one excuses why it no longer matters and you want to abandon the goal.

I've only been running a little over a year. Like many, I took up the sport as a means to an end--I had about fifteen pounds to lose. The calorie burn promised by running is very attractive--particularly for the time investment. Seemed like a winner to me. Followed the "Couch to 5k" plan like so many others and in just nine weeks, I was a runner. I vividly remember the first time I ran steadily for thirty minutes. I cried tears of joy. Something that seemed so impossible at the outset became a reality.

Somewhere the Type A in me took over. It was no longer about losing weight or getting fit (sure, those things happened, but by that point, it was immaterial). Suddenly it was about the run...getting better, going faster, enduring longer. I always tracked my results and studiously analyzed each run after it was completed looking for clues to improved performance. Still, I listened to my body each day. If I felt like running, I did. If I didn't, I didn't. If I wanted to run fast, I did. If I didn't, well, you get the idea. It was fun.

Like many runners, I decided to dip my toe into competition. I targeted a local half marathon, the Two Cities, in November, 2009. I carefully researched a number of training plans and read countless running books looking for pearls of wisdom. The 'beginner' plans just seemed too easy and unfocused...run thirty minutes, run for one hour. I craved more structure and challenge. I wanted that plan that said do this for this long and at this pace. In the end, the First training plans hit home. Structured? Most definitely. Down to the prescribed pace. But without a local track nearby, following the plan religiously was going to be difficult. In typical fashion then, I re-worked the plan to take advantage of my treadmill for the speed work. Not quite the same, but it will have to do.

And that's when it got funny...suddenly the structure felt like a noose around my neck. The runs that I used to so look forward to became like drudgery. Instead of running when I wanted to and how I felt like it, I now had to accomplish something on a regular basis. You should hear the dialogue going on in my head as I struggle to pull myself out of bed to put on my running shoes.

Funny the way it is. How about you? Do you struggle like this, or is it just me? What mind games do you play with yourself to keep focused on the goal?