First Run of the Year

Made my first run of the New Year yesterday. It was cold. It was wet. It was perfect running weather! The only thing that wasn't perfect was me! The goal was a 12 mile run around the Back Bay with the Cal Coast club. But, I was kind of like a football team committing a penalty in the red zone. Whistles. Flags. "Half the distance to the Goal" Yup - I made it out and back six miles.

It was a tough call. I was well within my target heart rate. I was having to slow down all of the time (a good sign on my LSD). But I just didn't feel right. It seemed that I was putting in a lot of effort. About two miles in I started feeling tightness in my right gluteus and thigh. That wasn't a good sign. There wasn't any pain, but just a lingering tightness.

As I was running, I was remembering Coach Sumner's topic of discussion before we took off - coming back from injury. As Coach put it - there is an overriding desire that most have to pick up where they left off prior to their injury. All too true! I am finding myself frustrated that I'm not back at where I left off, even though I've been off for two weeks and have cut back mileage going on four weeks now. So, I hit the three mile point and decided that it would be prudent to turn around and head on back.

I'm sitting here now on Sunday morning with a little overall muscle soreness, but my hip and right leg seem to be fine. I'm also understanding Sumner's point. I'm glad I didn't push too hard yesterday! At least now I can go out and try another four to six miler this afternoon!

Looking Forward to 2009

My last blog was about some of my accomplishments during 2008. I was thinking back to how I really had no goals for the year once I completed the RnR marathon. It's a bit of a wonder that I accomplished what I did while just wandering down the path!

So, it's time to set some running goals for 2009! Here they are:

1. Build my base to 35 - 45 miles per week
2. Put in 1500 miles during the year
3. Run one marathon
4. Keep it fun!

Shooting low? Maybe. But of the four goals, I think #4 is the highest priority for me. Over the last year and a half, I have come to really enjoy running. I have come to grips with the fact I will probably never win an age group award. And, being a results driven person, I know I've found something that I like because that doesn't bother me. More importantly, I haven't burned out even though I know I'm not going to win. As long as I am able to keep running fun, I'm pretty comfortable that I won't burn out. And, if I don't burnout, the rest of the goals will take care of themselves!

Now, on to 2009! I will putting my tactical plan together on a month by month basis to achieve these goals....

Happy New Year! A look back at 2008

If you are here, then you've made it to 2009. Happy New Year!

Yesterday was 2 days in a row without pain! Yay! Four more miles! I hope I'm back on track. I still feel slow, but afterwards, I analyzed my run data and noticed that my recovery pace yesterday was *exactly* the same as the same runs three weeks ago. Maybe all isn't lost after all.

It's also time to look back at 2008. I entered the year with only one running goal in mind - running a marathon. I managed to do that in June. The rest of the year was icing on the cake! The amazing thing is here, six months after achieving my goal, I am still running and still enjoying it. Up until my hip episode a couple of weeks ago, I felt like every run was making me stronger and faster.

I am also happy about other running accomplishments this past year:

1. Continued to set PRs at every distance (means it all worth it)
2. Learned a whole lot of new stuff about running, exercise, heart rate training, diet and the like
3. Set weekly and monthly distance records
4. Was set to hit 1000 miles for the year (fell short by 43 miles because of my injury)
5. Only spent two weeks on the shelf due to running related injuries

Now that I've been at this for a while (close to a year and a half) I think it's probably appropriate to set some goals for 2009. I'm going to put my thinking cap on and make that the subject of my next blog tomorrow. Thanks for reading along and Happy New Year!