2010 Running recap

Ok, so I haven't posted here in awhile.

Since about June something, if the record can be trusted.  Just before the big 10k up in Kingwood.

Well, that run didn't go so well.  I missed my target time by more than 10 minutes.  I don't think the mile markers were placed very well.  I couldn't maintain pace and overheated on more than one occasion.  It was an awful run.  Awful.

After that I opted to run a few more timed runs, but then I took off the watch and ran without a clock.  It was very liberating to do that.  I ran a lot without a clock, just free as the wind.

Then September rolled around and my lovely wife enrolled in school.

Then October came and scheduling became a challenge.  I offered to my lovely wife that I'd shut down running for a month to get our schedules back in sync.

Then, in November, it was a little bit tough to get the engine to rev back up again.  The Turkey Trot came on thanksgiving day.  I ran the 10k variety in just over 1:15.  Not a spectacular time.  Not really even a good time, by my own standards.  Nearly 20 minutes behind my time last year and 5 minutes off my time from the Kingwood 10k.

That's when I decided to switch from the marathon to the half marathon at the end of January--officially.

So, then came December and I logged exactly zero miles for THAT month.

Nonetheless, for the full 2010 year I logged almost 20 more miles than the year before--213.
Not a spectacular tally.  I know people who run that much in a month.  And most "runners" I know run that much in 3 months, if they don't do so in 2.

For me, that's a high water mark.  A mark I'm almost certain to top in 2011.

On the 3rd I logged my first 5k.  No time, but the distance was there.  I think I'm going to shoot for at least a 5k each month of the year along with at least a 10k.  Neither of those goals should be particularly hard to accomplish, considering my typical run is at least 3 miles.  I can work in a 6 mile run at least once a month.  The question is not whether or not I CAN do it, the question is whether or not I WILL do it.  There's a discipline thing in there where it doesn't look terribly hard to set aside a couple of hours each month to run two measly runs during the month.  But, the fact of the matter is that I don't like running that much, and I don't like running only slightly less than I don't like the extra weight that I carry around when I don't run.  So, choosing the lesser of two dislikes is the challenge, because I like to not run a whole lot.

The greater challenge will be to once again try and work in a single half marathon each month of the year.  In 2010 I managed to squeeze out 2 half marathons.  For 2011, I think I'll shoot for a modest improvement of merely 3 half marathons for the year (but I'm still going to have an eye toward 12).

Cheers to you, and happy new year.