Tuesday, January 26, 2010

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!

2 comments:

  1. are you SURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE you don't want me to coach you? I would kick your ass and make you work. slacker. You know I. coach. maria.

    jk. ;)
    You don't need a track for speed work. Just put on your big boy pants and do a few hard core fartleks on the road.

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  2. Do Applefest with me this October! The spread they put on at the end probably makes it calorie positive on balance, but what the hell. You get to ride to the race start in a school-bus!

    There's the Foxboro 10-miler next on the grand prix docket. That should also be some good half marathon practice.

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