Running Giant: My Journey

Yesterday started my off season training to get ready for training for my next goal race in March ( Running From Yeti ). My three goals for the next couple of months are to be consistent, get stronger, and get my nutrition hammered out. Those are three goals that need to be better defined. Be Consistent: I will follow my scheduled workouts throughout the week. Or if not my scheduled workout something for at least 20 minutes. Sun: Recovery Mon: Strength Tues: 30 - 40 minute run Wed: Strength/Stationary Bike Thurs: Easy low effort run Fri: Mobility/Rest Day Sat: 60 - 90 minute run Get Stronger: Do 2 days of body weight strength training and 1 day of stationary bike for cardio. Get my Nutrition Hammered Out: Start meal prepping easy healthy means Saturdays after grocery shopping. Also limit eating out to once a week. I think each could use some further exploration on what accomplishing the goal looks like, making them SMART goals would be a good way to do that. What is important to me tod

I finished the race, what more could I ask for. It took longer than my projected 3.5 - 4 hours. I was the 12th from last person to finish. But I finished and that's the name of the game for that race. This race had more challenges in it for me than other races I remember. Some of the more notable challenges were some guy stepping on my ankle just after the race started. He was running backwards looking for someone and stepped on me. I'm a big guy and somehow he still didn't see me. Next challenge came at mile three. I took a corner at the top of a hill and got my footing wrong and about twisted my ankle by not landing on the road. That was a close call. Another challenge was little to no shade, which just translates to it being hot. I wasn't anticipating it being around 75° - 80° for the entire race in October. If it were a short run the weather would have been great, but for 13 miles, that just made it a little harder. Around mile seven is when I hit my first wall. I w

 It's the 5th, and I wanted to get some thoughts down as I prepare for tomorrow. I thought it was 2013 when I did my last half marathon, but it was May 2014. So, just over 10 years ago. As I prepare for this race, I have read past posts, especially the one from October 26th, 2013. It was my first half marathon, and I used it as a training run and just had fun with it. A lot of memories came back as I looked at the post. However, my goal for tomorrow's race is different and has been focused on finishing it. I will be walking the first half of the race at a pace that is good for me where I am now and then transition to a walk run for the last half. I suspect I will be finishing between 3.5 and 4 hours, but finishing is the goal no matter how long it takes. If you want to follow my progress tomorrow, my bib number is 2041, and you can get notifications at 5k, 10k, 15k, and 13.1 if you follow this link  Runner Tracking . Thanks for Reading. -Riley