Schedules, hassles, adding to the mix

Unlike last year when I had been completely STOPPED in running for a couple of months, schedules and hassles have blocked my focus this year thus forcing me to push back my plans for a Half Marathon until next year. One of these years, I am going to do one. We have recently quit being foster parents and that has freed up much of our schedule. I’ve been making improvements in my running, both in distance as well as speed. What I am planning to do is put all my work into being focused for a Half Marathon in 2010. I was searching for one to attempt this Fall, but, am not sure if I can fit it in. Not to mention that I haven’t been training sufficiently enough to do more than just finish one. I have this head problem with being the last guy across the finish line. I don’t mind being like 7th or 10th from the last, but, last, can’t do it. If I was ever last for any race, it’s been rare.

Even though this is only the middle of August, I am just not sure how the rest of my “racing season” will be. I don’t race in the winter. This is probably something that I should consider, I don’t exactly like the idea of being an ice cube with sneakers.

This past week in running

During this past week in my running, I’ve ran a total distance of 7 1/2 miles and then 4.6 miles yesterday (Sunday). While it may not seem like much, both speed and distance is improving. Several years ago, I was running between 6 and 8 miles for my long runs. The last few years, my daily mileage fell to 2 to 3 miles for daily runs and up to 4 for my long runs. I don’t have a reason why this happened, but, up until now, I’ve been running very low mileage. Yesterday’s mileage was the most I’ve ran for a long run in a while and it was GREAT! I loved every mile of it. Yes, some of you would say “your sick Tim”. while, maybe, but, it’s a good kind of sickness, “Running Addiction”. This past week and Sunday have been the best running I’ve done is a long while and it’s been great. My goals for a half marathon are still pretty much still “on my to do list”. My current problem is fitting one in based upon my current work schedule. I won’t do a half on only 4 hours sleep. So finding one that fits my schedule is the challenge. Not to mention that I need 13 weeks to prepare. So, for this year, time is starting to run out.

Got Sun? Gotta Run!

What a great day it was for a run and so I did! 64 degrees with a cool semi-hard wind, but, with a sense of warmness in the air. I know, cool but warm you say, well, kind of.
First, I worked out for 10 minutes with some weights and some stretching exercises followed by running for 33 minutes. It was a run/walk thing, but it was good. I did one sprint which was quite a surprise in how it went. I think I sprinted farther than I ever did today. During my run I started to get concerned with the time vs distance philosophy. If I’m concerned about doing a certain distance in a specific amount of time, I’m not so sure running according to time will work. Well, anyway back to today’s run. The only thing bad about today’s run was the wind. I’m not to big on wind. I can’t stand wind burn. I kind of think I’d rather run when it’s raining (light) then if it’s windy. I’m discovering that my running form is also improving. Hmmm, guess the weight loss may be having something to do with that? As of today, I lost 12.5 pounds.
I’m also wondering if this is the year for me to pursue my next race level – The Half Marathon??? Time will tell.