Setting Goals

I ran in the Frostbite 5K last Saturday. Race time temperature was 36 and conditions were icy. People were pretty much sliding down the hill at the 2.5 mile mark. As I was tip-toeing between the patches of ice listening to people slide and watching arms flailing about, I couldn’t help but wonder why people actually ran these races. Then I smiled as I realized they are all running for the same reason I am – the challenge, the competition, and the sense of accomplishment to name a few. Oh – and let’s not forget the cheesy awards and door prizes. As I was collecting my second place prize, all I could think was who is the other crazy person out here at 9am on Saturday that keeps beating me? I haven’t collected that first place prize all winter!

Turns out I keep getting beat by someone I used to beat in high school – not good for my ego. I guess I’m a bit more competitive than I realized. It’s time to get serious. With one more race in the winter series and training started for the Triple Crown, I gotta step it up. It’s time to move from running whatever I feel like to following an actual training schedule. I figure if I put my goals in writing, I’ll be more apt to stick with it. Two years ago, I ran the mini blind, with no official training plan. I completed it in 2:44:00 – 12:30 splits. This year, I’m training. I have 2 goals:

-          My goal – 10:00 miles

-          And my reach goal – under 2 hours

I’ll let you know how it turns out. 101 days and 7 hours til race time.

Also, the group I run with introduced me to White Castle breakfast after the race last weekend. One word – YUK! I’m not sure which was worse, the food itself or watching the guys eat 4-6 sandwiches each.