In this week of the Boston Marathon, I may have mentioned once or twice about a goal for this year to qualify for the Great Race for 2008. One or two have mentioned in comments about following the Holy Grail as I set about this task, and I thought I would share some thoughts I had at the beginning of the year, and my progress to date.
As you can see from my two sets of Personal Bests showing on the Blog Page, my times as a Master do not equate much to my personal bests from younger days - they are far from even being close. There are a number of reasons for this, and I'm not making excuses here, one reason was injuries, but teh biggest reason of all was a lack of motivation and an overall lack of confidence in my own capabilities. I lost interest in running around 2002, and the comeback trail was peppered with good intentions, which fizzled out after one disappointing run after another. By the end of 2004 I was ready to hang up my runners for good.
A very good friend of mine changed my attitude to running, reminding me that I was not getting any younger and that my times were unimportant - I should be running for pleasure, and not expecting to be setting new records. Last year I did just that, and my enthusiasm was rekindled. Having been re-fired as to running, I decided that 2006 would be a good year. I would train properly, and set myself targets that were attainable, whilst still challenging. At Xmas last I weighed 198 lbs, and that was my first Goal - To reduce the weight to 170 lbs by the summer.
I then looked at challenges on the road. Here in Ireland there are only 4 Marathons in the year, and I decided I would take a crack at the Grand Slam, run all 4, but not simply run them, set a target of 16 hours for the 4 races. The first of these, Connemara, has been completed, 4:20:48, so already 21 minutes down on my average time, but that is the toughest of the group. Next up is Belfast in 10 days time, and I'm hoping to run this in around 4 hours. The last two are Longford in August and then Dublin, the Primary Marathon on this island, in October.
Tough enough when you have been inactive for a while, but I then added in the Prague Marathon on May 13th, as a vacation run as well, so not being easy on myself. Obviously Prague will not be run flat out at all, just simply enjoyed as a long training run and a chance to relax in a beautiful city,
I also set targets at shorter distances, all achievable with work, but faster than I have run for a very long time.
5K 21:00
5M/8K 34:00
10K 43:00
10M 75:00
So when I reviewed all these goals, I then realised that for the 2008 Boston race I get another 5 minutes to Qualify, 3:35 for me as I hit 50 in March 2008, and I can set that qualifying time any time after September 25th. So, rethinking things, and tying this in with my Goals for the year, I set myself a further target, 3:35 in the Dublin Marathon on October 30th.
There you are, my goals written down for all to see and judge me by as I run this year. Hope you can stay along for the journey, I'll update as to where things are going, and how they have been progressing so far this year soon. For now, I'm training through to the Belfast Marathon and the last couple of days have seen me in the gym for a 4 miler and a 5K at lunchtimes. A longish run on Sunday and next week relaxing and getting mentally up for the challenge of the streets of Belfast.
There's a pic of me finishing in Connemara at the top of this - Do you think it was a little wet? It was tough, but One down, Three to go for my Grand Slam.
10 comments:
Great goals, I wish you the best of luck. I appreciate the comments you made about your comeback. For the last couple years I have run most of my races with the attitude that I always need to run them as fast as I can. But lately I have been asking myself, why. Why can't I just run (and race) for the joy of running and not be shackled by the stopwatch. For me the answer seems to be just go with how I feel. At my last race, a 10K, I guess I was feeling pretty good, as I set a new best time, but I didn't necessarily feeled compelled to do so. I have decided to make it a point to enjoy my running journey and not be intimidated by the clock.
Your story sounds familiar--my 10+ years off were due to a lack of motivation and confidence as well. The last time I really trained hard was 1990, with some sporadic training up to 1994, then giving up completely until 2004.
I've also found myself having to revise my expectations. I figure I'll have a set of PRs for each 10-year age group I race in. And I can race for place in my age group without really worrying about time. Everyone slows down after 40, so I'll just try to do my best against those who have also started slowing down.
Your motivation to run the four Irish marathons this year is impressive. I look forward to your reports of the races. What sorts of training are you doing? Are you incorporating speed work? If so, would you mind sharing your strategy? :)
Excellent goals. I like the strategy of setting an aggregate time goal for four marathons. That's a great way to shake up your racing objectives, and it takes the pressure away from each individual event.
You're right on that the most important thing by far is to run simply for the joy of running. You inspire me.
Sounds like you've got your goals straight...goodluck in achieving them. As has been mentioned, the most important thing mentioned in your post is the fact that you want to enjoy running....because honestly once that happens, magically those goals start to come to fruition!
Five marathons in one year? Pretty ambitious. Congratulations on the Connemara race. I was in Connemara once, about 10 years ago. My husband and I stayed in a little town called Roundstone and had a wonderful time driving around The West. We started out from Dublin. Maybe someday I'll be able to return and run in the Dublin Marathon. Thanks for visiting my blog and good luck with your training.
Wow...you're really inspiring me. I can attest to the fact that Connemara was HARD! Cold....raining...hills...against the devlish wind! I count the mold on my shoes as a souvenir :)
Thanks everyone, this blogging is fun.
Jodi - I'll post an outline of my training next week as I taper for Belfast. Hope I can help enthuse others as well.
SS - Inspiring you, that sounds cool - I like it :)
Dori - I love Roundstone. I discovered it about 20 years ago, when it really was only a small fishing village, but it still retains a great charm, and I love it. Don't forget to check out the Connemara Marathon site, maybe another trip for you and yours?
Sara - You make sure to come back next year ;)
The heck with the Connemara... did somebody mention something in October??? I do beleive that I will be in desperate need of something new to plan for (as well as a spare week or two) in October of 2007..... :-)
Very nice site! Patent leather air jordan kicks Xanax zanax on line Vioxx merck bextra Honda minivan carpet Cobra headset Voiture d&aposoccasion renault Extra+large+area+rugs Business plan strategy software marketing 1991 oldsmobile regency 98 touring sedan Next day 30m phentermine dentist On line prescription vardenafil hcl College of financial planning denver co Lipoma and liposuction z4 bmw Used volvo parts2c seattle Digital print specialists Fem dom stories pictures.html
Post a Comment