THE MISSION
I am training for a 10K in June and a marathon in November. I’m currently running twice a week. Eventually, I will ramp up the training routine until I’m running about 15-18 miles a week in June. From there I’ll launch into marathon training.
Stats for the week : Baseline 5K: 32:13. Baseline 10K: 1:11:00 (roughly). Best time since I last wrote: 30:44 (5K); 1:01:59 (10K). Best overall time: 26:57 (5K, June 7, 2009); 1:01:59 (10K, April 21, 2010). Miles within the last week: 9.3. Total miles for 2010: 86.2. Total miles since 2008: 382.8
It's been a while. Again.
But, unlike the last time I went a long period of time without posting, I actually have been running. Sort of.
The problem this time around is that we moved. Bought a house to be more specific. So, between closing escrow, painting, packing boxes, moving furniture, cleaning old apartments, setting up our new home, working my normal job and spending time with my family, there hasn't been a lot of extra time for writing.
In all honesty, there was about a two-week period where I didn't run, but given all the extra labor around the house, I didn't feel too bad about it.
But this last Sunday, I got back to it.
We moved back to the neighborhood I grew up in, and having not done any sort of running here since I was in high school, I came away from my first couple of runs amazed by three distinct things:
1) A persistent headwind that actually, without exaggeration, angles against whatever direction I happen to be running.
2) The number of attack dogs left unleashed in front yards on two separate routes I've tried so far. Seriously, how long are you supposed to wait when a dog is charging before either putting your foot out and hoping it knocks out some of the teeth on impact or running away with your arms flailing over your head? Do you wait until it decides your slow and therefore not worth the chase, or until the owner calls it off?
This is the stuff I think about out there. Because this is generally how it goes:
Homeowner: "Killer, get back here ... Hey, sorry about that man."
Me (huffing and wheezing): "My fault, I was just thrown off by the rabid, frothy teeth-bearing. Next time I won't rub my legs with steaks before going on a jog."
And to think I used to freak out about hoodlums. But I digress.
3) The fact that despite the two-week layoff (and probably due to items 1 and 2 directly counteracting each other) my overall times didn't fall off too bad.
That's good news, because goal No. 1 of this whole endeavor (the 10K) is looming less than a month away.
This week, I officially entered the Carson Valley Days 10K, which is scheduled for June 12 at 7:45 a.m.
My initial goal was to run it in 45 minutes, which I can honestly say is not going to happen at this point.
But, I am confident, at least, that I can finish the race. The new goal is to do it in under an hour. If I'm really being ambitious and the next month goes somewhat smoothly, I'll raise the bar to 55 minutes. We'll see.
That's really about all there is to say this week. There'll be plenty more to say in the coming weeks, I'm sure.
