Posts Tagged: Surf n Santa
The fall focus
When I went for a run on Tuesday afternoon I had a blog post all cooked up in my head about how great September was both with the new family addition and having some great runs. Now I can’t even remember what exactly I was thinking about. A bike ride and another run later, September really feels like a long time ago.
Such is life with a newborn and an almost 5-year-old. And I certainly wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Someone once told me they didn’t understand what I meant by there being so many other important things in life than running. It’s those more important things that are giving me some new focus this fall as I come off lower summer mileage and prepare for races at the end of the year. If I didn’t add to my family this year I very likely would have been in this same routine as the past few years of getting ready for a fall marathon.
Quite honestly, that would be boring.
As I head into fall with so much else going on around me, I feel like I can make the best of the my running time so much more than before. That’s my 30-60 minutes several times a week to get it done. That time will likely be very split in mornings, mid-day and night runs for the next few months.
My 13 goals for the year have kind of taken a backseat to everything else going on. There are certain things I know won’t happen, such as my fastest 5k, but I’ve replaced that with wanting to go for a 10-mile PR at Surf ‘n’ Santa in December. There are certain goals that I’ve hit or will hit, and those will all be deserving of their own posts over the next few months.
With the final quarter of the year staring at me, I’m ready to focus on just a few things with running and my overall fitness. The same will ring true for 2014. It’ll be my 10th year of running, and I want to have a few goals that will leave me focused and feeling satisified as I aim to reach them.
I’d love to go back and redo my 13 goals, but I’ll just let that be a lesson learned. I’ll look back on them later this year and see what worked, what didn’t and how I can apply everything to next year.
No plan is the working plan, for now
As I look ahead to running the Blue Ridge Marathon next year, I’m already thinking about what I want to do for training. Plan or no plan or the in between.
Generally speaking, I do best when my exact mileage isn’t on paper or an Excel file. When I have a mileage range for each run or week, I don’t have any major problems. When I do have exact plans, I do OK for 2 weeks, then I get overwhelmed when I look at it and then change all my plans.
That, however, doesn’t mean I’m not open-minded about trying it again.
That, then, leads me to what I want to do the rest of 2013. This week is a perfect example of how not planning things has worked out to my advantage. While each day I’ve been anticipating possibly being thrown off for a long time with my second son, I got in 4 good runs, 3 short bike rides, and a solid amount of push-ups and sit-ups for my monthly goal.
If I can do that in a week filled with a lot of life’s stresses, then surely I can build a solid base through the rest of the year, run a decent Richmond Half Marathon and Surf ‘n’ Santa 10 Miler, and be ready for winter training for Blue Ridge.
Whether that’s on paper or an app or my own file or nothing at all is something I’ll do a lot of thinking about in the next few months. …
Thinking ahead
With moving this summer and a new baby on the way, I feel like I’m on fast forward with life. Yet things with running and what I want to do as year 10 begins on Jan. 1, things are becoming clear.
I’m closing out this year with two races (Richmond Half and the Surf ‘n’ Santa 10 Miler) that should help set the tone for a more dedicated winter training cycle. I love the colder weather, but I struggled this past winter after catching the flu.
By not training for a fall marathon, I won’t end the year run down; instead I’ll begin headed toward a new peak. Figuratively and literally.
I’m once again signed up for the Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke, Va. This year I’ve learned that I want to experience new challenges. While I want to get faster, I setting PRs aren’t at the top of my priority list. As I look ahead to how I want to celebrate 10 years of running, conquering this marathon simply tops my list.
I haven’t run it yet because 1) I’ve been unprepared; 2) One year I was coming off injury; and 3) I’ve been scared.
I’ve been so focused on Shamrock every year that a marathon a month later never felt right. Next year, though, I feel more confident that I can approach Shamrock as a training race and turn my focus to Blue Ridge.
August goals update
- 1,000 total push-ups: Currently at 649
- More biking miles than running miles: Currently 41.3 biking, 40.1 running
- Increase long run to 10 miles: 8.2; going for 10 this weekend
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