Some might say this represents too large of an increase in miles, but I've has many months at this level but I haven't managed to keep things going throughout the year. For example, I've had 57 and 59 miles recorded in certain months and 4 or 8 miles in other months. Obviously, the higher miles corresponded to times before an event for which I was training.
In 2012 I decided to train for my first half marathon. It was called "Its about the shirt" and was at the end of September. The course was pretty flat with minimal elevation over the first mile which was given back over the first 6 miles. The last six miles were along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay (in Alabama) so they were at sea level. It rained alot during the actual race but shortly after I finished the rain turned biblical. My wife was running the full marathon and ran several miles in such a heavy downpour that she could not see 30 feet in front of her. As far as my performance, well, let's just say I finished. There was some confusion about the course and it was altered during the race. My GPS claimed that I ran 14.4 miles and I finished between 2:45:00 and 2:50:00. I had a miserable foot cramp and walk-skipped the last few miles. After the race I intended to take several weeks off before getting into some regular routine. I had no other races planned and those few weeks that I intended to take off turned into months. That race was a "first annual" and didn't make it back for a second year.
In 2013 my wife and I decided to run a half marathon together. We picked another flat and well reviewed course in Orange Beach, AL. The Kaiser Realty Half Marathon was the weekend after Thanksgiving. We stayed together throughout the race and finished at 2:13:43. Our goal was anything under 2:20:00, so I think we did great!
Here is the Race Map and you can find more info for the 2014 race by clicking here.
As far as pictures go - There are no pictures from the first half that I ran. Or, I should say, there was one online but it was so hideous I didn't even bother to save it. These two pics are from the 2013 race. You may notice to orange-red spots on my running shirt. I'd battled some nipple issues throughout training and forgot to prep them with vasoline on the morning of the race so... yeah... that's blood. Sorry.
I knew exactly why I had quit running after the first half marathon - I had nothing planned and no accountability. If I took more time off, I wasn't dooming myself to a miserable race because there was no race. So, before race day in 2013, I made sure to sign up for two half marathons in early 2014. They are February 9th and March 2nd. Basically, I have some time to work on my speed and hopefully shed a few pounds but not enough time to drop my training altogether.
These upcoming races and the necessary training should also ensure that I am able to maintain my 2mile/day average goal. As of yesterday, I was only 1 mile behind for the year and I should be putting some miles in the bank by the end of the year. I did take a few weeks off in December as I made a transition with some medications as my doctor suggested, but now I'm back into a regular routine of 3-4 runs a week. I can post more about my running schedule later.
Perhaps in the next post I'll cover the tools I use to track my runs and the online resources I've used to running tips and pace calculators.
No comments:
Post a Comment