The other day I watched Bart vs. Comrades and couldn't wait to start training for my race.
Right at the end when Bart is talking about how he left everything on the course, that he had nothing left, that's how I want to feel at the end of the Pensacola Marathon in November. More than reaching my time goal, my ultimate goal is to know that I tried my absolute best, that I couldn't have done any better, or run any faster than I did. Like Lou Holtz says, "If you settle for second place, when first is available, you'll do it for the rest of your life."
I'm thinking I'm going to follow one of Hal Higdon's plans for this one, with adding some speed training somewhere in the week. I'm just pumped to begin, and I hope that I can carry that motivation into the rest of training.
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle -"
"victorious"
~Vince Lombardi
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Time to Refocus Goals
Hey all,
About a week or so ago I found out that I might be moving a bit earlier than I had planned for the next job. We're talking January instead of July or August. As a result, I've pretty much scrapped the Florida Keys 100 plan.
Since I said MIGHT I'm not going to focus on any races in particular for next year. That leaves me the Pensacola Marathon in November. It's pretty close to home, cheap, and flat. Should be a good way to get back into the swing of things to kill this post-50 funk I'm in.
This race wasn't actually my idea, it was Emily's!
.... I was shocked too
She wanted to run the half-marathon race and said I should do the full. She twisted my arm, bent my fingers in the wrong direction, and pulled my hair until I relented and said I would run the race.
Just kidding, I was in right away.
This is my only race planned for this season, so I'm going to up the goals a little bit. By up the goals a little bit, I mean try for a PR. Not just a "back to racing" PR but lifetime PR for the marathon. My previous best was 3:45 at the Marshall University Marathon in Huntington, VA way back in 2005. That means I'm shooting for 3:30 here. I figure the weather and the flatness of Florida will be working in my favor here. For those of you who are embarrassed to try math in public, this equates to just slower than an 8 minute mile.
When was the last time I trained at 8 minute miles? I have 10 minute pace engrained into my head! That means speed training....
ugh...
I'm going to have to come up with a plan...
About a week or so ago I found out that I might be moving a bit earlier than I had planned for the next job. We're talking January instead of July or August. As a result, I've pretty much scrapped the Florida Keys 100 plan.
Since I said MIGHT I'm not going to focus on any races in particular for next year. That leaves me the Pensacola Marathon in November. It's pretty close to home, cheap, and flat. Should be a good way to get back into the swing of things to kill this post-50 funk I'm in.
This race wasn't actually my idea, it was Emily's!
.... I was shocked too
She wanted to run the half-marathon race and said I should do the full. She twisted my arm, bent my fingers in the wrong direction, and pulled my hair until I relented and said I would run the race.
Just kidding, I was in right away.
This is my only race planned for this season, so I'm going to up the goals a little bit. By up the goals a little bit, I mean try for a PR. Not just a "back to racing" PR but lifetime PR for the marathon. My previous best was 3:45 at the Marshall University Marathon in Huntington, VA way back in 2005. That means I'm shooting for 3:30 here. I figure the weather and the flatness of Florida will be working in my favor here. For those of you who are embarrassed to try math in public, this equates to just slower than an 8 minute mile.
When was the last time I trained at 8 minute miles? I have 10 minute pace engrained into my head! That means speed training....
ugh...
I'm going to have to come up with a plan...
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Purge Round 2
The Purge is on!
What the hell is the Purge?
The Purge is my colossal attempt to rid all things unhealthy from my diet and turn myself into someone who resembles a fit person.
The Purge Round 1 was to eliminate soda and all types of caffeine from my diet. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a caffeine and soda junkie. 6 to 10 sodas a day wouldn't phase me at all, along with coffee (if you were buying), chocolate, or energy drinks, all those too. I could tell that it was really contributing to my inability to lose weight. I would run and do P90X every day for a month and I maybe lost three pounds. On March 26, I drank my last Dr. Pepper (my personal favorite). 80 days ago, the cravings have mostly subsided, but I still get them maybe once or twice a day. Better than the splitting, day-ending headaches I got the first week. I spent probably 60% of a week TDY in my hotel bed due to withdrawals. Given where I came from, once a day is easy to deal with. For the past 80 days, its only water or milk that I drink, nothing else. I'm declaring round 1 complete.
Round 2: Work out every day. Now that I eliminated the majority of my junk calories, I can begin to cut down on the spare tire I've been lugging around. Right now, its P90X. I started Friday morning so that the easier days are on PT days so I won't be completely wasted. I'm also sticking to my running routine so that I won't lose any time on my training. Running comes first, but I'm going to try my hardest to stick with P90X as well. Almost done with the first week, just one more hard workout left and it's all downhill til Friday.
I also went swimming in the base pool yesterday morning. Emily would swim down the length of the pool, and somehow I would make it down there too. She would power her way down there, even with me saying I'd wait for her on this end while I'm pushing off the wall to swim. Somehow I talked myself into a half mile, after not swimming in years! The last time I swam more than a lap was freshman year of high school 8 years ago.
Half mile = stupid
I am so sore right now. There was a triathlon guy doing laps in the lane next to me, putting both Emily and I to shame, and I have no clue how he did it. I'm thinking it's going to become a weekly thing, me doing a half mile, until I can slowly start to increase it.
Anyways, that's the update for now. I'm sore as hell every day and it feels good, but it hurts so bad too. 11 months to the Keys 100 and I need to start taking this seriously. Time to respect the distance.
And so The Purge continues...
What the hell is the Purge?
The Purge is my colossal attempt to rid all things unhealthy from my diet and turn myself into someone who resembles a fit person.
The Purge Round 1 was to eliminate soda and all types of caffeine from my diet. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a caffeine and soda junkie. 6 to 10 sodas a day wouldn't phase me at all, along with coffee (if you were buying), chocolate, or energy drinks, all those too. I could tell that it was really contributing to my inability to lose weight. I would run and do P90X every day for a month and I maybe lost three pounds. On March 26, I drank my last Dr. Pepper (my personal favorite). 80 days ago, the cravings have mostly subsided, but I still get them maybe once or twice a day. Better than the splitting, day-ending headaches I got the first week. I spent probably 60% of a week TDY in my hotel bed due to withdrawals. Given where I came from, once a day is easy to deal with. For the past 80 days, its only water or milk that I drink, nothing else. I'm declaring round 1 complete.
Round 2: Work out every day. Now that I eliminated the majority of my junk calories, I can begin to cut down on the spare tire I've been lugging around. Right now, its P90X. I started Friday morning so that the easier days are on PT days so I won't be completely wasted. I'm also sticking to my running routine so that I won't lose any time on my training. Running comes first, but I'm going to try my hardest to stick with P90X as well. Almost done with the first week, just one more hard workout left and it's all downhill til Friday.
I also went swimming in the base pool yesterday morning. Emily would swim down the length of the pool, and somehow I would make it down there too. She would power her way down there, even with me saying I'd wait for her on this end while I'm pushing off the wall to swim. Somehow I talked myself into a half mile, after not swimming in years! The last time I swam more than a lap was freshman year of high school 8 years ago.
Half mile = stupid
I am so sore right now. There was a triathlon guy doing laps in the lane next to me, putting both Emily and I to shame, and I have no clue how he did it. I'm thinking it's going to become a weekly thing, me doing a half mile, until I can slowly start to increase it.
Anyways, that's the update for now. I'm sore as hell every day and it feels good, but it hurts so bad too. 11 months to the Keys 100 and I need to start taking this seriously. Time to respect the distance.
And so The Purge continues...
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