Labor Day is gone. Summer is fading fast. Getting darker earlier each night. Two thirds of the year have flown by, where did the time go?
How is everybody doing with their goals for the year? Have you already accomplished it or hope to do so this Fall? Details....let's hear it.
Short term goal- stay healthy for the next week and a half, start, finish, and enjoy my first half marathon- it IS at Disney so it has to be at least a bit fun, right?
Shortish term goal- run throughout the winter! I was pretty scared off of a NY Day run as it had rained the day before and was hovering around freezing (in conflict with goal above), but I did not hate the treadmill, even if I could not bring myself to do a long run on it. So, I want to keep up the lunch hour running outside through out the winter.
Longer term: Stay healthy, pick a second half marathon, run more this year than last, find a training plan I like.
ATTQOTD: figure out how to make time to do all the long runs. I’d also like to be faster so I can cover more distance in the same time.
Reflection is good, I've been feeling a bit defeated in terms of running. I did run my first half in January, and my second in June. I will run my 3rd at wine and dine. If I this had been suggested it would be my choice to do so even last year I would have laughed. I ran all winter in cold and snow, and did make peace retreating to the treadmill when it was icy. I also did so when it was miserable outside or when traveling places that were not suitable for an outdoor run. While I go much shorter on the TM, I also would not have bothered to even try two years ago, and I would have whined about it last year. Today I got up and went to the hotel gym without a second thought- until I realized the TM was off and I needed to run by feel and time, and not concern myself with what the read out said. Progress. I did fine in the stay healthy part until early August when I pulled something, and I did as well as can be expected going easy on the running. With other family changes I was able to substitute in some strength training for the runs, and I think that was a positive choice but I am not sure how much of it will be able to maintain with the new school year. I did schedule in some long runs, but I think this will continue to be a struggle. I am not really any faster, but I am optimistic that the onset of cooler fall temps will aid with that.
I am still debating a September race, I cannot seem to get it out of my mind, but minor injury and lack of buy-in from DH are not in my favor.
Fall goals: There will be Wine & Dine. I want to figure out how to run while in Japan for work. I would like to get back to where I was in total miles last fall to be able to exceed 2018's milage (still possible even with nearly a month of down time). There are not any local races in the fall (because football), but I am going to try to sneak something in before December.
What do I want in running in more global terms? I want to enjoy all the runs. I want to do it a minimum of 3x a week. I want to run in new places. I want a sub 2:30 half- this last one is arbitrary.
Edit: The time of 2:30 is arbitrary, but also something I think I should be able to do based on maths and where my fitness has been on good stretches. The target for any race pace has to be comfortable and not me pushing it to the edge- I cannot be wasted for the rest of the day, there are meals to be cooked, games to be played, snuggles to be had, and people who depend on me to do them. So basically I want to be able to do 11:30s and feel like I could do them forever, instead of just for 5 miles.
Racing tips for beginners, anyone? Thanks!
