Aimlessly adrift

So what races should I do?  Damned if I know.  I haven't been motivated enough to come up with any sort of cogent plan for the next 3/6/12 months and it has definitely taken a toll on my motivation.  I need a goal in order to stay focused otherwise it is so easy to start shirking off the training.  I had planned to run the Hyannis marathon but I never signed up and never really committed.  Now that isn't going to happen.  I also thought about doing the Shamrock marathon in Virginia Beach in March, but since I just signed up for a 5K in Providence the day before that race you can see how committed I was to that one too.

I do have a vague plan for the year.  I would still like to run two marathons and definitely Bay State again.  Unfortunately the more time I spend dithering about the less likely that scenario becomes.  I would also like to focus more on half-marathons.  If I pour my training into them then I think it will ultimately help me in the long run (pun intended).  Now comes the task of actually locating and training for these half-marathons.  I will most likely do New Bedford again this year even though I hate that race with the passion of a burning sun (thanks for the fish sticks and permanent scar New Bedford!)  But I definitely need to find some more halfs, and they will most likely have to be local since I am poor as dirt.

So what do I have to do?  Two weeks in a row I have done ten-milers and they both felt good.  Now I need to start focusing on speed.  That part is currently sorely lacking.  First step, lose some weight.  Seriously.  That can only help.  Secondly, bring back the tempo runs and hills.  I never really stopped doing tempo runs, they just became a bit more informal as I stopped wearing my Garmin to take the focus off of the pace and put it more on mechanics.  Looks like I will need to start fretting over pace again.  Thirdly, once I get the ball rolling it will be time to start in on the speedwork.  This has always been the hardest to do because I don't have any good options for places to do speedwork.  I can run over to MIT but after only a few mile repeats I end up doing around a 7 mile run because it is almost a 4 mile round trip.  That's good for tempo but not speed.  Finally, I need to get more serious about core work.  Whenever I do it I end up feeling a lot stronger and it definitely helps but as I have said before, I'm a lazy bastard and need to keep the motivation up.

So there is my plan for the next ten months in a nut shell.  I shall now completely ignore everything I just wrote and go and get myself some lunch!

P.S. - Excellent job to all the Derry runners.  Especially Maria who now has me scared for our next race together!