Run Talk

I enjoy running. My Type-A personality loves to set goals, create a plan to achieve them, and execute. I also like taking a break from my work/school/homework routine and having an hour to myself without a screen in front of me.

Which is all nice, but it doesn't necessarily make it easy to get out of bed before the sun rises on a weekday. Or to drag myself outside in the snow, rain, or when I'm not feeling 100%.

 

One thing I've learned over the past six years of keeping up my running without competition is that it's much easier to get out the door in the morning when I have goals in front of me.

I ran my second full marathon last November, and while it was an exciting accomplishment, training consumed most of my free time. I also seriously slacked on speed work or other types of exercise. My focus this year is to achieve time goals for shorter races and make an effort to cross- and strength- train.

Here's what I have set my sights on this year, and I'm hoping that posting here will hold me even more accountable. I'll check in after each milestone to update my progress and reflect a bit on training.

Races:

• 5k under 23:00min in June: I'd like to spend spring building a base and working on building regular speed work, yoga, and strength training into my schedule. I'm looking at Maryland Half Marathon festival.
• 1 mile under 7:00min in July: Most likely Montgomery County Road Runner's Midsummer's Night Mile.
• Half Marathon under 1:45:00min in October: This will be a tough one, since I'll probably run the notoriously hilly Baltimore Running Festival. I'm also looking forward to running the Charles St 12-mile as part of training.

Just for Fun: In addition to my main running goals, I'd like to sign up for a few fun events:

• Warrior Dash with my family in May: Would be a lot of fun to do as a group, and who doesn't like to get a little muddy?
• Mini Triathlon in August:  I need to take stake of my current swimming endurance before committing, but think it would be fun to do a very short distance triathlon just to finish. I'm looking at this one with a pool swim.
• Bolder Boulder 10k in May: This race attracts a huge crow and quite a few elite runners. The fan girl in me would love to be there/ I'm most likely planning a trip to visit a friend in Denver around this time, so would be awesome if it could be the same weekend.

That's it -not too overwhelming when I look at it, but writing this down is the easy part :)