Saturday, January 2, 2010

2010: New Year, New Goals, New Name

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  As I said in my last post, I decided to shake things up a bit as I'm wont to do.  For those of you who don't read my blog through Facebook, you'll already see the changes.  For those of you on Facebook, I've changed the title to "Running Geek"  and the subtitle is "I run to level up!"  I can't take credit for it all.  The idea came to me from a comment made by my awesome wife.  I've cleared out 2009's race results to make way for 2010's.  Not to worry though, I've left up my personal records so that everyone can revel in my past badassed-ness.

As for my 2010 goals, this is the part where if you're my wife, you should stop reading, so that you don't have to yell at me later for being a dumbass.  Okay, are we alone now?  Whew.  Here we go.

1.  Drop my weight down to 155 lbs and keep it there throughout the year.  I know that I've been there before, but I've backslid into 165 lbs.  I need to be lighter if I'm I'm going to achieve the rest of my goals for the year.
2.  Run a 21:11 5k.  6:50/mile avg.
3.  Run a 43:23 10k.  7:00/mile avg.
4.  Run a 1:43:00 half-marathon.  7:51/mile avg.
5.  Run a 3:30 marathon.  8:00/mile avg.

Now I know you're looking over these numbers, and just like all curious little kiddies, you're wondering two things.  First, how are you gonna do this Monkeyboy?  This year, my plan is to achieve more balance with my training.  Last year, I trained and trained till I over-trained and ended up hurting myself.  This year, I'm taking rest and recovery more seriously.  At least one day is a rest day;  no weights, no running.  My current plan is 3 days of running.  1 day of speed work, 1 easy day, and 1 long run.  The other 3 days are weight days with some light/easy running or cross-cardio-training.  While I prefer heading to the Y, my lovely wife got me a kettleball for Christmas, so I'll have an easier time working out at home.  I'll also be throwing in some yoga and stretching everyday to keep those pesky injuries at bay.  After a holiday spent eating like a little piggy, I've got to get my diet back in line.  That means sacrificing my inner Pilsbury dough boy, and going back to a high protein/low sugar diet.  The biggest changes will be to add more raw fruits and veggies per day and to stop eating after 9:30 PM.  Expect to see more posts each week also.  My training tends to change pretty often, so this way I can keep you, my fans updated to all the changes.  Also the blogging will keep me honest, and I'll just have to be accountable to all of y'all.  So don't let me slide!

Second, you're probably wondering why I'm not going for my Boston Qualifier this year.  Elementary, my dear Watson, I'm not going for my BQ this year, because I'm running way too much.  That's a real head-scratcher, huh?  To qualify for Boston, I need to run a 3:20:00 marathon.  Unless I can find a way to sneak in another marathon, I'm only running 2 marathons, and they just don't lend themselves well to chasing a BQ.  They're gonna be HARD!!!  Throw in that I'm planning on doing a 30+ mile ultamarathon in October and the ridiculous challenge of running one of my marathons through Percy Warner Park in November, that leaves me having to score my 3:30:00 marathon at the Country Music Marathon early this year.  That just doesn't leave me a ton of time to properly train for the time I would need to score a BQ.  So I'm running to reach my PR and build my endurance for next year when I go into high gear chasing that 3:20:00.

Well enough whining.  I'm looking forward to this year and to chasing my goals.  I hope that y'all will stick around to see how I do, and if you need any help, just give a holler.  I'm always ready to lend any advice or a different perspective on things.  Run hard and have fun kids!

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