A Passion for Running

So what am I going to do with what I’ve learned this past couple months? That’s a good question and one I spent my entire Christmas vacation thinking about. To help set some goals I first need to do a quick recap of what I’ve learned:

1-I overtrained for the Victoria Marathon and need to figure out how to not let that happen again.
2-I have some injuries that need to heal and that I want to prevent from happening again.
3-I have not taken a break from marathon training in a long time (related to #1).

2005 Goals:
1-Starting in the spring, re-commit to bike commuting but don’t be mental about it: For example, on 20 mile bike commute days take it easy with the running! 2004 was a good experiment but I am pretty sure that on days when I biked to work any runs I did should have been very light ones. In 2005 I will watch this one carefully and may not run at all on bike commute days.

2-Focus on short and middle distance training: As I have said, it is time to take a break from the marathon. The marathon can wait for me and I can wait for it. For the next year, I will work on improving my fitness and speed as they relate to distances between 5k/3miles and 21k/13miles. The reduced mileage is going to give my body the break it deserves from the many miles of training I’ve done in the past plus it will rejuvenate me so I am stronger in the future. What’s also really nice about this goal is that with his injury, Aaron will need to build up to longer distances plus he’s said he also wants to get faster at the shorter distances. In other words, I will have a partner. Wahoo!

3-Continue getting in the gym two to three times per week: In 2005, I want to get stronger in the core and build better lower body strength – especially in muscles below the knee and in my feet. I like Jon suffer from shin-splints and I need to strengthen my recovering ankle. While I know a decrease in mileage as described in #2 will help, I am positive I need to strengthen my lower body as well and know I need to do more than run to make that happen.

4-Do some barefoot walking and running: Yup, I am definitely going to do it. I have flat feet and am reading more and more that barefoot running may be what I need to strengthen and better coordinate my foot and leg muscles AND correct my poor running form (I know I have an inefficient form because I’ve seen myself on video).

5-Take heart rate monitoring to the next level: I was really happy with Gretchen in 2004. I felt having her along added an entirely new dimension to my training. Having instant and ongoing feedback that connected heart rate with speed and distance and to perceived effort was invaluable. Although I did not get the result I was after in Victoria, I believe Gretchen helped me achieve many smaller victories along the way. Having said that, there is one way I could have used Gretchen but did not. I could have used her to help me evaluate my fitness when NOT running. You see, Gretchen has many tools that help you evaluate your level of fitness AND whether something may be going wrong. Specifically, she can be used to help see signs of overtraining. Starting with my next training program, I am going to have Gretchen give me a fitness test every week so I can see how I am doing and alert me to signs of overtraining.

6-Do some spinning on the bike: Aaron and his fiance now have bike trainers in their home and he’s invited me to spin with him once a week while watching DVDs on his computer. Sounds like a lot of fun to me! In addition, I still want to give my gym’s spin class a go – Christmas vacation got in the way last time.

7-Continue fostering my passion for running: I love running and the minute things get to be too much “work”, I will back off and remember why I run. Along with this goal, I am going to see what I can do to include my family in my running. How about running around the park with the kids? Sounds like a whole lotta fun plus I get to show my kids by example what fun running and exercise can be.

Well that is about it. Well, almost. I have one more informal wishy washy goal – to give swimming a try. My skin crawls just saying that and I know you have to want to do something to make it happen. That’s why it’s not a formal goal…yet. My plan is to try swimming once every two weeks. If I can teach myself to like it at least a little, I’ll re-evaluate and increase my time in the pool.

What do you think of my goals. Have I missed anything?

Now I gotta go read some blogs!