Sunday, March 01, 2009

2009 Running Goals

It's already March, but I think it's better late than never to make an official 2009 Goals blog posting. It also gives me a reason to actually post to my blog! After a fun time at the Milwaukee Marathon, I got a bit lazy in November, and even lazier in December. Luckily I bounced back a little in January, but this winter had really zapped my motivation, so I was still slacking on my training. As February started, being that it's a short month and still in the dead of winter, I decided to run every day of the month. In the nearly 13 years I've been running, I have never done a "running streak" before. I think I have only run about 5-6 days in a row, so this would definitely be a challenge. The rules were that I needed to run at least 2 miles each day and that if I ever felt any pain other than sore muscles that I would stop the streak, knowing that it's just plain dumb to get injured doing this when I have other, bigger goals this year!

I am happy to report that I was able to complete my 28-day February running streak and impressed with how my body held up. Yay!


It involved a lot of treadmill running (I have turned into a winter wimp), but also a fun week of trail running in Arizona. I liked that I dismissed any excuse I've had in the past and just RAN. After all, 2 miles -- 20 minutes -- is not that much of a commitment. I am so glad I did it!

Now it's time to resume a normal training schedule and incorporate more formal, quality workouts. I have the March Madness Half Marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. While I don't expect a PR, I now feel prepared for it. This month I'd like to just run consistently (not that hard now that I ran every day last month!), lose 5 lbs, and try for a new 8k PR at the Shamrock Shuffle at the end of the month. It will be crowded and I unfortunately don't have a seeded number in the first wave this year, but I am in "Corral D" of the second wave, so hopefully I will be able to maintain my goal pace. We'll see!

Here is what the rest of the year looks like so far:

May 25 - Elgin Valley Fox Trot 10 Mile
I just love this race. This will be the 7th time I've run it. It's too early to tell if I will be able to PR here. By then I will have started a new training schedule so this may just be more for training and fun purposes.

June 12-13 - Madison to Chicago Relay
It was such a fun race last year, I am sure this year will be as fun! Hopefully without massive downpours and tornado warnings. ;-) Last year I ran 10-11 mpm average. I am hoping this year to run 9-10 mpm.

July 9 - Bastille Day 5k
Maybe a 5k PR? This race is sponsored by my company -- I organize a corporate team. Hopefully the weather will be better than it was last year and that the course is marked properly (2007 was .2mi short and it would have been a PR for me).

August 23-28 - TransRockies Run
This is the BIG ONE of this year...it's the BIG ONE of my 13 years of running! It is a 6-day stage race -- running in the mountains anywhere from 12-25 miles each day, from Buena Vista, CO, to Beaver Creek, CO, for a total of 113 miles(!!!). Brian and I will be running this together as Team New Leaf Ultra. We start training in May. I am excited and a little terrified at the same time... :-) After running marathons almost every year for the last 12 years, now is as good of a time as any to up the ante a bit!

October 11 - Chicago Marathon
I should be recovered from TransRockies to run well at Chicago. Running Chicago is always a party (well, maybe not Heathathon 2007...), I figured, why not? After all the TransRockies training, maybe I'll PR!

There may be other races I decide to do, but that's all for now. Aside from that, I'll continue having a blast crewing Brian at his races this year, I just love the trail ultra scene. :-)

Here's to a fun 2009!

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