08-08

Coming off a month in which I nearly ruined my running career by having a non-running injury, I have to admit that I am very hesitant with setting up goals for the next four weeks. But here I go anyway.

August has already gotten off to a great start. I've already logged more than 13 miles, including yesterday's 10 miler. As you know this is THE month I've been waiting for -- the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach is coming up Aug. 31. Despite worries with possibly not going due to job concerns, I have a couple of backup plans in place in case I'm still lacking a salary at that point. A few months ago, my goal for this race was simple -- to set a PR and finish at 1:44 or better. That's still my goal, but I have some work to do over the next few weeks to get there.

In March when I ran the Shamrock Half, I relied on my conditioning from the marathon to carry me through. I realize now that what I did was wrong. Despite having decent overall mileage in the weeks leading up to the race, I had only one run at 10-plus miles. With the way August has already started for me, I'll have at least three runs of 10 or more miles before the race. While this certainly helps physically, it also helps mentally.

I'd be lying if I wasn't worried in March about my training. Perhaps the injury during that race is what I needed to give me a wakeup call. Despite how I felt for a couple of months, it's safe to say I learned a valuable lesson during that time.

So for August, my goals are simple: don't get hurt, get faster, lose weight, participate in Non-Running Nancy's 8 on the 8th (although I probably won't run it too hard), run 90 miles, get back on the bike if my tail bone allows it and run strong in the Rock 'n' Roll Half.


Workout since last post
Aug. 4: REST (Walk - 2.1)