2008's numbers, plus a glance at 2009's goals

I made it well known that when this year started that I didn't really have specific goals with anything since I started '08 injured. So with that being said, I don't want to analyze my year too much -- I just want to put the numbers out there and let them be. I may sneak in a run tomorrow, but it will be minimal with my dog if I do. Can't you tell I'm just ready to get this year over with?

I've also added my 2009 goals based on my post from a couple of weeks ago using the "10 percent" rule. What actually happens will depend a lot of how the first quarter of the year goes. If all goes well with my planned 10 miler, my running miles may be closer to 2007 totals where I fell less than 50 miles shy of 1,000 miles. For now, it's best to just take things a month at a time and see what happens. I do know that cross training is now very important to my routine, so it'll continue no matter what.

Total running miles - 640.2
Best running month - August, 107.4
Worst running month - April, 22.6
Average per month - 53.35
2009 goal ('08 plus 10 percent) - 704

Walking miles (Garmin only) - 290.6

Biking miles - 232.3 (March-December)
Best month - October, 49.1
Worst month - August, 8.2
Average per month (9 months) - 25.8
2009 goal (9-month average times 12 plus 10 percent) - 340

"Other" miles (mostly elliptical) - 37.8 (October-December)
December total - 24.3
Average per month (3 months) - 12.6
2009 goal (3-month average times 12 plus 10 percent) - 166

2008 combined miles - 1,200.9
Average miles per month - 100.075
Best combined miles month - August, 148.4
Worst combined miles month - January, 63.1

2009 still on my mind

The other day I discussed my non-race goals. But you didn't possibly think that I wouldn't have my mind on races did you? Now that I've been running and working out for almost four months without a race in mind, it is time to turn some focus onto races for 2009. After such an up and mostly down year this year with running, I'm ready for some changes next year.

If you have looked closely at my blog this week, you'll notice a new counter -- it's there for a reason. I've said many times on here that I would not run the Shamrock Half Marathon again next year. After two years of doing that race, I wanted to do something different in the spring. While I still have the duathlon on my mind, I still want to do a "big" running race early in the year. So that's why I've decided to run the Charlottesville Ten Miler in April. While it's still a long distance, it's not a half marathon -- I'm still determined to stay away from half marathons until the second half of the year.

This will be just my second 10 miler. The first was in 2006 when I did the Virginia Ten Miler in Lynchburg -- the race that got me hooked on longer distances (and one that I'm thinking about doing again). As of right now, I'm not setting specific goals -- I just know that this is what I want to do for the spring.

After that, I'm still planning to do the Rock 'n' Roll Half in Virginia Beach on Labor Day weekend again. And then I still am not making any plans beyond that. I will not budge on that thinking. It helps keep me focused on things one race at a time, no matter how cliche that sounds.


In between my two big planned events, I'll likely run a few shorter races -- more than this year -- to keep me content. Too much of this year was spent being disappointed, so I'm determined to kind of go with the flow next year and see what happens. I would love new PRs, but I'm not going to stress myself out about it.

2009 on my mind

As I near the end of my fifth year of running, I realized recently that many of my goals throughout the year are race-based. While there are races that I want to do next year, I would like to take a different route with my goals. It's nice to be able to do this too -- last year at this time I was hurt and had to approach 2008 with no goals in mind. This year I'm healthy and feeling good, so I'm looking at Jan. 1 a lot differently than usual. I'm approaching 2009 with as much optimism as I did when 2004 came along when I decided to get off my butt.

So, my goals for 2009 aren't simple, at least when it comes to trying to explain them. When it comes to overall mileage, I am going to take a "10 percent approach." What that means is I want to do 10 percent more miles of everything next year compared to this year. Yes, that might sound simple, but when it comes to things like biking and the elliptical machine (the main "other" thing in my workouts), I didn't do each of those in all 12 months.

My approach is to take the average of the months I did do something and then apply it to the calendar. For example, I've been using the elliptical machine only since October. If the year ended right now, I would be at 25.7 miles for those three months, an average of 8.6 miles for those three months. With that number I would take 8.6 times 12 and add 10 percent to get my goal for mileage for next year -- right now that would be 113.5 miles. (That'll increase a little bit with a couple of weeks remaining.) I'll do the same approach for the bike, which I started doing in March. I'll likely not focus on increasing walking miles, but I plan to still keep track of them the best I can.

As far as racing is concerned, I have not signed up for anything yet. I would very much like to do the Rock 'n' Roll Half again and then another long-distance race in the fall. I've hinted at wanting to do another marathon, but I'm not ready to make that commitment again just yet. We'll see how the summer goes first to see if 2009 will be the year. When it comes to racing, I want to do more than I've done this year -- six (one 5k, a four-miler, an 8k, a 10k and two halfs). That's a big drop from doing 10 in both 2006 and 2007. I want to find my speed again in a 5k and set a PR next year in that distance. I think my main focus will be setting a PR in a half marathon, but that's a goal that a little far off right now. For races, I think many of my goals have to be a wait and see approach, and I am perfectly OK with that right now.

Lastly, I want to get my weight back to 180 ... and stay at or below that number. I'm not really that far off it right now -- I just have to focus and do it. It won't take long, but it does take a certain dedication with what I put into my mouth. (But let me enjoy the holidays just a little bit over the next couple of weeks!)

Happy holidays everybody!

9 miles

It's funny how hard it seems to post during December. I feel like I'm slacking, but I've noticed that most other regular bloggers seem to fade off as well during this month. I guess it's just something that happens during all the holidays, extra darkness and fattening holiday parties.

Anyway, I managed to get on a boat and make it to the gym today -- Richmond is having a crazy rain day today. It's one of those rains in which you shouldn't be out unless you had to be out. Since I didn't work today, I guess I thought I had to be out. I managed to do 3 miles on the treadmill, 3 short miles on the bike and 3 more miles on the new elliptical. All in all it felt great.

I'm having a pretty good month so far with 26.9 miles on the bike, 12.2 on the elliptical and 8.2 running. I'm well on my way for having December being like I want with running actually being the lowest of my miles. I'm also well on my way to shattering my goal for the month, which was to simply do more overall miles than what I did in November. It's tough with a baby, but I'm able to manage my time well to get in a few workouts every week.

Easing into fall

There's part of me that feels like this was a disappointing week, yet there's another part of me that feels completely satisfied. In the end, I think it's what I realized this week with getting in better overall shape that has me happy.

It's been an interesting week with my mileage. All told I have 32 miles -- 10.6 running, 10.5 biking, 8.6 walking and 2.3 on the elliptical machine. I missed a run this week to get into the teens, but I did do a little more biking -- all this weekend. Adding it all up, it's more than last week and that's really all I was seeking. My desire to run still isn't very strong, but as I've mentioned this week my desire to stay in shape and get in better shape is growing.

I don't have any specific injuries, but I've had a lot of dull, aching pains this week in my feet and my knees. It's nothing major and it's nothing I haven't trained through before. Perhaps its the changing of the seasons and the cooler weather, or perhaps it's because I need the break from pavement. I'm not going to push it right now, but I'm not going to completely stop either. Getting in 10 miles or so a week right now is sufficient for me, as long as I'm doing other stuff.

This coming week, my goal is to increase my overall mileage from this week -- it's nice to be able to take a different approach to fitness with the ability to ease off the running. You may have noticed that I took my 8k counter down. It's not that I don't plan on doing it, but for personal reasons I can't commit to it until that week. I don't need it sitting there if I end up not running it. There's also a 5k next weekend that I'm considering, but I probably won't make that decision until the night before. It sure is nice to be able to do that.

Lastly, I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Vicki, who also ran the Rock 'n' Roll Half in August. Yesterday she completely the Baltimore Marathon in just under 5 hours -- congrats to her and all the other finishers out there!

30 seconds

Same time, same place ... only this time I ran a mile 30 seconds faster than two months ago.

Injuries are interesting. With my tail bone injury, I wasn't put to a complete stop, but I had to cut back for a couple of weeks and I had to really slow down. So when the first of this month rolled around, I was a bit worried about doing my "mile test" -- a simple thing that I decided to do at the beginning of each month this summer. My first test was June 2, when I ran a mile at close to all-out effort in 7:55. It's worth noting that my overall run that day was 3.2 miles. The next test was July 1, with an improvement of 7 seconds to hit 7:48. My overall mileage that day was 3.7 miles.

This month's test was delayed a bit to get my long run in this weekend, and my timing was off a bit with my runs last week. So I decided to wait until today to do it. When I started I had this feeling that I started too fast. But instead of slowing down, I felt like I kept the same pace for the entire mile. When my watch hit the mile mark, I was shocked and very happy that it read 7:25. I felt even better that I maintained the same pace and that I didn't want to throw up at the end. My overall mileage today was 5 miles.

To have the feeling that I could've kept going is one of the goals of doing this mile test. It's not a 100 percent race-pace effort -- it's a push-yourself-almost-to-the-max effort. To improve 30 seconds in two months with an injury in between is a success for me. I think a couple of months ago I would have loved to have shaved off a minute, but I'll take what happened today.

I avoided any other speed work today because I'll be doing some sort of tempo run Friday to have a decent time in Friday's 8 on the 8th, which will turn into my long run for the week. For those interested in doing something related to 08-08-08, I suggest that you take part in this event. Of course you don't have to run 8 on the 8th -- it can just be sometime over the weekend. You can run it as fast or as slow as you'd like. My goal is to just make it part of a 10 or 11 mile run, with a tempo of 3-4 miles thrown in.


Workouts since last post
Aug. 5: Walk - 1; Run - 4.2
Aug. 6: Walk - 1; Run - 5 (7:25 mile)

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)

A post about other posts ... and my first training workout

So ... welcome to the first post of my training for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon that'll take place Aug. 31. Yesterday was supposed to be the first day of training, but instead it actually turned into a rest day for various reasons. Anyway, let me go through some things that'll likely be different in my posting for the next few months.

First off, the end of each blog post will highlight my workouts for each day since the previous post. I hope this will help hold me accountable for my training efforts. It's also something I've never really done. I often have discussed specific workouts and never really mentioned what I did in between posts.

Generally, my workouts will consist of four running days a week -- two "easy" runs, one consisting of some kind of speed work and the long run on Saturday or Sunday. I'll then have two cross training days that'll consist of biking and/or lifting weights. Then I'll have one day in which I do absolutely nothing.

As I mentioned before, I'll have weekly posts detailing lifestyle changes. This will generally consist of foods that I'm giving up that week through the end of August, or may have already given up since June 1. Since I plan to discuss my weight and plans to lose a little bit in the next few months, discussing my diet is more important to me now than it was a year ago when marathon training.

So that leads me to today... "test" day. As part of my workout today, I did a mile test to see how fast I could run a mile at probably about 80 percent effort. The idea behind this test is do to the exact same thing at the beginning of July and August to check on my progress for a close to all-out mile. The run will take place in the same spot each time to assure that hills don't factor into my time. (Generally, my other speed workouts will take place in my slightly hilly neighborhood.)

Today's goal was to shoot for about an 8-minute mile, with the thinking that I can and should improve 30 seconds or so each month. So after about a mile warm-up to the park this took place in, I notched a 7:55 mile. Considering that I've really laid off my miles and any kind of speed in the past couple of months, I feel great about beating 8 minutes.

When I returned home, I gave myself another test by doing the plank. I got into doing this as an ab workout a few months ago, but didn't stick with it. My plan for training this summer is to do ab workouts by using my Bosu ball, the plank and my home gym. My goal is to do a plank max once a week -- seeing how long I can just hold it. Today my max was only 49 seconds -- probably half the time of what I was doing back in March. It'll be very interesting to track my progress with this.

Whew! Am I done? Almost. My plans for the rest of this week are: Tuesday - cross train; Wednesday - 4 "easy" miles; Thursday - 3 miles doing intervals; Friday - cross train or rest; Saturday - long run of 5-6 miles; Sunday - head to the Outer Banks.


Workouts since last post
June 1: Rest
June 2: Walk - 0.4; Run - 3.2 total (1 in 7:55); Plank - 1:25 total (49 max)

Halfway to 10

These past four weeks have been all about getting back out there and feeling comfortable on my feet. I've hit the milestones of 3 and 4 miles, which seemed to come fairly easy. Earlier this week, it seemed 5 miles was a giant task I wasn't ready for, but sure enough, today I got in 5 miles.

Overall, things felt great. I felt like I could have put in another mile or so with the effort I was putting into it. Feeling like I could've done more is always a great feeling to have. Since I feel like I'm just building a base and not in official training mode yet, it's best not to push it yet.

Today marks 15 weeks to go to the half marathon. Getting another week in the teens is a good place to be right now. In two weeks, on June 1, I'll flip that switch in my mind into training mode and get focused on getting stronger, faster and lighter on the scale. Thirteen weeks is a good countdown to 13.1 miles. For now, all I ask for this coming week is another week like the past two -- consistent and pain-free.

Consistency

I think most runners agree that it's tough to be consistent. Whether it's things on the job, stuff at home, the weather or even your mood, getting consistent is tough. Well, since the marathon six months ago, I have been doing a great job of being consistent with my inconsistency. In the past two weeks, though, things have turned around.

On my run today, I realized how up and down things have seemed since the marathon milestone. It's like I got caught up in being pleased with finishing the marathon that things stopped mattering so much. Now that it seems like I'm on the right track, I'm ready to plot out things between now and the end of August. My plan for the second half of this month is to just stay consistent -- hit my weekly miles in the teens, ride my bike a few times and lift weights a couple of times of week. Come June 1, I'll be ready to get into details of what I want my long runs and weekly miles to be. I'll be ready to discuss my weight and my goals for the end of August. I'm prepared to make June, July and August be the best running months of my life, and I'm just laying the ground work this month.

Speaking of consistency, things are going well this week. Monday was a weight lifting day; Tuesday was a 1.1-mile walk and 4.2-mile run; Wednesday was a good 2-mile walk and 4.6 miles on the bike; and today was just shy of a mile walk and a 4.1-mile run. Tomorrow I hope to bike and/or lift weights; Saturday will be house-work day; and Sunday I hope to run another 4 miles or so.

Good runs keep on coming

How hard is it for you to have two good runs in a row? How about three? What about four? It seems that the biggest problem with running is that good runs don't happen often enough. After nearly every run my wife asks me, "Did you have a good run?" It's usually hard to answer that question. If it's a normal day in which I don't care about pace, it's tough to have a bad run, but it's tough to say yes. If I have a tempo run, "good" can turn to awful if I'm a few seconds off the pace I seek. If I'm running more than 10 miles, "good" may be determined by the weather or if I had to take a bathroom break during the run.

But in the past week, with the focus of my runs being to get through them without any pain, I've had excellent runs. I haven't focused on pace, but my trusty Garmin tells me I'm in about a 9-minute mile pace. It's so great to be at that pace for a comfortable run. It makes me eager to do some sort of interval training very soon. With no planned races yet, I have nothing to worry about. Being able to run worry-free is an added bonus I don't think I've ever had.

So back to this consistency with good runs. Today I put in 4.2 miles (as well as a mile walking) and things continued to go well. My upper body was sore from lifting weights yesterday, so things actually felt weird at first. It had been a while since I lifted enough to be this sore, but it's a great feeling to have. It's almost like I can feel things changing even though my scale doesn't want to change.

Also with today's run, my May miles passed my April total. That's almost hard to believe, but it's great to put all that behind me now.

Feeling like a teen

This weekend I got a chance to run the Bedford "loop," plus an extra half mile, to get my total for the week to 13 miles. It's the first time in almost two months that I've hit teens for the week, so I feel great about that.

This week I want to remain consistent and get in the teens again. Things are feeling great and all I want to do is build off the best week I've had in some time.

That's really all I have to say right now surprisingly. When things are going well with running, it's best to just stay focused ...

4 more miles

I guess it takes the lowest of lows to really appreciate running. I'm not sure what happened today, but halfway through my run I actually liked what I was doing. It's been a while since I felt that way. When I wasn't hurt for that short time this winter, everything felt so ... I don't know ... blah. I was going through the motions.

As you've read, I've struggled to really get into running this year. Even when I have, it's been tough to be positive. Something clicked today, though, and I ran a great 4 miles. That would be two 4-mile runs two days in a row. Excluding the 8k/half marathon weekend, I haven't hit distances like that in consecutive days since March 1 and 2 (5.8 and 8) and March 5 and 6 (3.9 and 4.5) -- a full two months ago.

More important than the distance, though, it how great everything feels, both physically and mentally. I feel I've gotten over that mental hump of being worried about hurting myself. It's also giving me a chance to think about other things going on in my life. Physically, it feels great to not be hurt and to not have my lungs give out on me. It's nice that some of my conditioning has stuck with me. There's still a lot of work to do, but if you would've told me a month ago that I'd be feeling like this today, I would've told you that you're crazy.

4.1 wonderful miles

A few months ago, when I was getting over my right foot bothering me, I sort of felt like I was forcing myself to run and get ready for the Shamrock Half Marathon. It was the middle of winter and I was lacking some motivation. Now that I'm getting over my other foot, though, my runs are feeling more worthwhile. Each run feels like it means something for a change. I don't know if it's because I need the time to sort of clear my mind or if it's the warm weather, but I'm feeling good right now when it comes to running.

Today was like a lot of other days in which I started with my dog and then didn't know if I'd feel like doing anything after our walk/jog. Well, I went out and did 4.1 miles total (1 with my dog) this morning, and feel so much better because of it. Passing my "long" distance from last week feels like a big accomplishment right now, especially since it's Wednesday. It'll take all these little steps to make this a successful summer.

It's time to move on

One of my goals in the road to recovery was hitting double digits for a week. I didn't really have a set week in mind -- I just knew it would be soon. After my run yesterday, I added up my miles for the week and realized I was only a half mile from hitting double digits this week.

So, even though I wasn't planning on running today, I went out this morning and ran a mile with my dog bringing my total this week to 10.5. I had planned to just do a half mile, but somewhere along the way I lost my wife in our small neighborhood, so Duke and I kept going a little longer.

Now that the double digits goal is crossed off my list, it's time to focus on some smaller goals to get me ready for half marathon training. Next week I hope to hit the teens and then steadily increase my miles week by week until I get to 20. Along the way I'll add speed work and refocus on long runs. If all goes as planned, I want to run in the James River Scramble again this year and improve on last year's time. Click here to read that race report. To this day I still call it the toughest thing I've ever done.

I'm so happy that things seem to be turning around for me now that the weather is so nice. The second half of March and all of April were just forgettable in terms of working out and 8-plus inches of rain. Now the time has come to stop talking about it and move on.

Breaking out of this cycle

Marathon. Sick. Right heel injury. Half-marathon. Left foot injury. 10k. Sick.

This has been the cycle of the past six months and it's time to stop. It seems by gearing up for the marathon last year, but body just went right along with it and never caved in to any illnesses or any major injuries. I think since November, though, I've probably pushed things along too much, and now my head is just clogged full of snot telling me to stop. Sure, I rested, but was it enough? At some point this winter, I think I got tired of running, but just kept going because it's what I've done for five years.

Now that it seems I'm back to square one again, it's time to really take a look at what's going. Simply put, I need a break from running and thinking about PRs and races. Fortunately, time is on my side since the next big race isn't until the last day of August. Once I get over this horrible cold or whatever it is, I'd like to focus on getting in good walks and jogs with my wife and dog and log some good miles on my bike at least for the next month. I want and need to lift weights a couple of times a week. I want to lose 10 pounds and keep it off. If I don't write it down, it doesn't happen, so here's to this blog holding me accountable...

No marathon, no problem

It's hard to believe, but the first quarter of this year is almost over. If you've followed along, you know that it's been an interesting few months. I'm ending it much like it began by taking a little break. Sandwiched in between foot issues, though, have been some exciting times of building my mileage back up and having another half marathon under 1:50.

I feel like with April right around the corner, there are some new beginnings waiting for me. I'll soon be buying a bike to get more serious about cross training and to give my legs a bit of a break from pounding; the weather will hopefully get warm and stay warm so I can get in a normal routine every morning and evening; I'll soon get a new pair of shoes that will hopefully make my feet feel better; and I don't have to think about training for 26.2 miles.

This certainly makes me look forward to being a homeowner again. I'll have some time to do some yard work; I'll be able to open up the windows and get some painting done; I'll be able to take a vacation in June and not care too much if I miss my long run; and maybe I'll sleep in occasionally on Saturday and Sunday (if my dog lets me).

While I am focused on the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in August, I'm looking forward to a much different spring and summer than last year. Yes, I'll still be running a lot and doing races, but I won't have those extremely long runs that just ruin a weekend day. Last year it seemed like whenever I got to about 14 or more miles in the morning, the rest of my day was worthless.

Running has helped me become a more goal-oriented person, but it seems lately so many of my goals have focused around running. I should have a goal to get my dining room painted by the end of April. Maybe I will … as long as that PR in a 5k is somewhere close by. :-)

March: A new racing year begins

This past weekend's Shamrock Half Marathon was truly the end of a great year. (See below or click here in case you missed the race report.) Last year's race -- held on March 17 -- was the beginning of something great for me. I ran a long-distance race without getting hurt, so I did what I said I would do -- sign up for the Richmond Marathon. Thus began this blog and eight months of being focused on the end result -- finishing 26.2 miles. Before that journey even ended, I signed up for the 2008 Shamrock Half. So since November, I've spent four months -- some of it injured -- focused on that race. So on March 16, everything seemed like it came full circle. In a way, it feels like my running year began March 17, 2007, and ended on March 16, 2008. Now I'm back to a new year.

Just as I did a year ago, I wanted to get through the Shamrock before determining what I would do the rest of the year. It's a good race to do -- it keeps me off my ass in the winter and keeps me moving even when I'd rather curl up by a fire. It helps build a good base without feeling exhausted afterward. And that's one reason why I've come to like half marathons, especially after having the experience of a marathon. It's half the soreness, half the distance for long runs and half as much stress leading up to it.

As I've already declared, I'm not running a marathon this year. After my right foot hurt in December and early January, and with my left foot bothering me during the recent race, adding 10 to 15 miles a week on to what is comfortable to me isn't something I want to do again this year. There's part of me that wants to bounce right back and tackle another half marathon - like Charlottesville at the end of April. Another part of me was ready to continue training and run a spring marathon. Unfortunately, I need to rest my foot, so it's best if I stick to my plan of two "big" races a year.

After spending the weekend at Virginia Beach, I realized that it would be a ton of fun to take part in a "big" event there when there are actually a lot of people around and when it's warm enough to get in the ocean. It's close enough to be "local" -- all I need is two hours to get there along with patience to get through the tunnel on Interstate 64, and less than a tank of gas. And for two years now, all I've been hearing is how great this race and race weekend is .... so, I signed up for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon, which will be held Aug. 31. The "Rock and Roll" name has built a good reputation in recent years, and I've never heard anything negative about the one in Virginia Beach.

The timing of it is great. It's really before the peak of what's known as "race season," so if I want to do a "big" race in the fall -- like the return of the Richmond Half Marathon -- there's plenty of recovery time built in without losing any endurance. There are also a ton of shorter races around Richmond during the summer that'll help in speed training.

As for what'll happen between now and the end of August, I'm really setting my sights on making this year the best ever again. In June I'll be entering a new age bracket in races as I hit 30, so there's no better time than now to step it up. In less than three weeks, I have the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k, which has become one of the largest road races in the U.S. This year more than 31,000 people have registered -- in its first race nine years ago, only 2,000 people participated. My goal for that is to have fun and to raise money for the VCU Massey Cancer Center (click here to donate). Right now my focus is to not be injured, so how fast I am that day will depend on how the recovery goes in the next week or so. This spring and summer, though, I really want to set PRs in the shorter distances. I haven't done a 5k since August, but I've got a decent streak going on. My last three 5ks dating back to November 2006 have been a PR: 23:49, 23:03 and 22:42. While setting a PR is my overall goal, I would love to break 22 minutes.

As far as 10ks go, actually running that distance would be good experience. My PR is 48:32 in December 2006 on a hilly course, and I've only done three 10ks ever with one being a cross-country style race. My goal for now is to break the 48-minute mark in a 10k. As for the half-marathon, I have the 1:44.23 still looking straight at me. I won't get into it too much, but 1,000 miles at the end of the fiscal year (July '07 through June '08) and/or the end of the calendar year would be an added bonus, but not a priority.

I hope to continue mixing up the distances -- I think doing multiple distances for races helps in the big picture. There's also a track series in the summer that I hope to participate in a few times. On top of all this is the one thing I've always struggled with: cross training. With a home gym that hasn't gotten much use and the cheapness of bikes at Target, there really isn't much excuse for me I guess. I need to add more cross training, especially right now when I'm in post-race mode with a sore foot.

Of course, all of these goals depend on staying injury free, something that hasn't gone so well this year. By focusing on a half marathon, I'm not too worried about "life getting in the way," and I don't think anything could be as bad as moving cities like last year.

I'm ready for what this year will bring me, and I look forward to having you along for the ride.

Fantastic February

What's in a month? For me, the second month of the year this year was all about getting back on track ... and then some. When January ended, I was really doubting myself and how I could get ready for next month's race. Twenty-nine days later, I say: Bring it on.

I finished the month with 86.5 miles, about 9 miles more than February 2007, brining my yearly total to 128.8 miles. If all goes as planned this weekend, I will pass the 100-mile mark in a 31-day span. Not a bad way to kick off March. Now that I've gotten away from my lousy January, I realize now how important it was for my body to get some rest and recover from last year. I'm ending this month feeling the best I've felt in a long time.

0.1 more than last week

With visions of yesterday's hill still fresh in my head, I woke up ready for a long run today. I thought maybe I'd be sore from the race and I might cut back a little bit, but I was feeling good, so I went out and hit 7.1 miles today. I added the extra tenth so I could pass last week's total to continue my streak of increasing my mileage every week this year. With a week of 20.5 miles, I'm 6.4 miles shy of hitting 100 miles for the year.

I'm feeling really good with being consistent with slowly creeping my miles up. Next week's goal again will be to run more than I did this week, with hopes of getting closer to 25 miles. I'd like to get to 25 or so in the next few of weeks to allow myself to get some rest the week of my race. Like I've been saying all along, I want to peak on race week.