February 18, 2007

Getting out of the Slump

I've been in a slump the past two weeks with my running. I've been sleeping in, and the snow and ice we got this week didn't help. For whatever reason, I feel like I'm coming out of it, and I made it out both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday I ran eight miles through the neighborhoods. They don't do a very good job plowing the roads around here let alone shoveling the sidewalks, so I need to stay off the main roads as much as possible. Sunday I planned on twelve or thirteen miles, but called it quits after seven. I was more tired than I expected, and my legs especially my left calf, were pretty tight. I stretched out well and hopefully will feel better tomorrow.

February 08, 2007

Goals

J and I had a discussion Monday night about exactly what my running goals are. Her concern is that I'm aimlessly running, without any purpose. Also, since I've known her, I've pretty much been steadily running more and more. She doesn't always see me increasing my mileage as a positive.

In the near future, my goals are identifiable: break 17:30 in the 5k and 37:00 in the 10k and then break 3 hours at Richmond in the fall. Further out, it's harder to identify goals because new goals depend on breaking old ones. My ultimate running goal, however unrealistic it may be, is to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon.

Reaching my goals will take hard work and dedication. In addition to running, though, I have other commitments--family, work, etc. How do I reconcile my goals with those commitments? Why am I having such a hard time accepting that those other commitments could prevent me from reaching a goal?

February 01, 2007

Used to It

I wanted to go back to sleep when the alarm went off this morning, but after I was up and moving around for a few minutes I was awake enough to get out the door. I guess my body is used to getting up again. It was about 30 degrees this morning, a little warmer than the low 20s of the past few days. I ran 10 miles, including eight laps at the middle school track. I added on the miles there rather than looping past the house, since I was pretty tired and I was worried about the temptation to just stop at home. For being tired, it was a solid run. I average just over 8 minutes a mile.

Wednesday I was pretty tired too, and in an effort to help with my motivation, I put on my headphones. Unfortunately, the music only lasted a mile since the batteries died. At that point, though, I was feeling better and ended up with six miles. Tuesday was another ten mile day.