Showing posts with label marathon goal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon goal. Show all posts

Sunday, January 02, 2022

Notes on Running Goals

womenwholifeweights.com

Busy this morning with my 2021 running recap. Last January, I totaled up my 2020 stats—ran 363 miles, etc,—then totaled the mileage on my various running shoes,* then wrote seven goals for 2021. Here they are:

  1. Run consistently with excellent form. 
  2. Increase cadence to 170.
  3. Postpone Mesa 10k
  4. Lose 30 pounds
  5. Run a 10k by July
  6. Run 10 miles by December
  7. Use info in old running log

How did I do?

  1. In 2021 I ran 623 miles. I only slacked off post-marathon and due to recent illness. My form—chi running form—wavered in its excellence. As I entered double-digit miles, I would lose focus, run sloppy, and tire myself out. More attention on form this year.
  2. By September my feet were hitting the ground 170 times a minute. (I measure with a metronome.) Jogtunes explains why cadence matters to runners.
  3. Race officials canceled the 10k because of COVID. I only had to call and cancel my hotel reservation.
  4. By marathon week I weighed 220 pounds, down from the 250s in January. 
  5. Missed July, but ran a 10k in September. (First since April 2008.)
  6. On August 17 I reached the Elmer Smith Bridge, slapped the metal sign, and returned to my starting point at Lot K for another first. 
  7. Rattled by the rumbling approach of the marathon, I would leaf through my old notes in an emergency. But just because the info is old doesn't necessarily mean its dated. I've got plenty of data and training tips from my TNT days. All hard-earned. I need to take better advantage of that.

Nothing in 2022?


Stlll calculating as well as checking the calendar. Since I'm already on record as stating I wanted to break 30 minutes in the 5k, consider that goal number one. Goal number two will be to break 5 hours in a marathon. (4:59:59 if you please.) That's a pace of 11:27 a mile. All I need now is select the marathon and work backwards, charting out my training weeks. (Then train properly and not get injured.😎) Let's say five more running goals will be forthcoming.

God willing, I'll update in early 2023.




Now, I need to show the same goal-setting dedication with my writing.

*Like cheap tires, the cushioning of running shoes wears thin after several hundred miles. And, like tires, its best to rotate your shoes during training. Replace as needed. (Or when you can afford a new pair.)

Saturday, November 20, 2021

From Marathon to Couch Potato (And Back)


 

Coming Soon!

My 13-year-saga to complete a marathon. If you read this blog—perhaps one person does regularly—then you know my story.  But for the benefit of distance runners and the general public I am chronicling my fall and rise from a man training to qualify for the Boston Marathon to a broken specimen informed that he will never run again to man in his late-60s training for 26.2.

Out by Christmas in non-fiction ebook form? We shall see. I'll know more after I finish collating years worth of notes. 

The question arises: who cares? Could be most people. But I'm hoping anyone facing long odds will find hope in this brief tale. 

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