What A Difference A Year Makes

So, here's a summary of the progress I've made in running from the beginning of 2010 to today:
Weight:
Beginning:  218
End:  198

1 Mile:
Beginning:  9:30ish
End:  6:58

Army Physical Fitness Test 2 mile Run:
Beginning:  no test
End:  13:58

5K:
Beginning:  27:00 (and some change)
End:  22:00 (and some change)

10K:
Beginning:  1:00ish
End:  47:19 (ran that yesterday)

Half-Marathon:
Beginning:  2:13:28 (ran on 2/14/10)
End:  1:48:02 (ran on 11/13/10)

Average Training Run:
Beginning:  3 miles
End:  6-7 miles

Weekly Long Run:
Beginning:  6-7 miles
End:  16 miles

2011 Goals:
1 mile:  6:00
Army Physical Fitness Test 2mi Run:  13:30
5K:  sub-21:00
10K:  sub-45:00
Half-Marathon:  1:40
Marathon:  Complete (goal is sub-4:00 for first one)

Happy New Year

I've been looking back on all the changes 2010 brought us, and I'm thankful for them, though some brought struggle and difficult farewells.  My wife and I have both parted ways with our old careers, and I'm grateful that I'm able to serve our great nation again, and she's able to be the Mom to our daughter they both want.  It was very hard for us to say goodbye to Texas, we established a home and family there, and made friends that we know will be our friends forever.  Leaving such a life is never easy.  I look forward to the new adventures we have begun, and will continue to embark upon as we enter 2011. 

I'm back. Back in the Saddle Again

I decided to take this week a bit easy with running, as I had my record Army Physical Fitness Test for my course this Thursday.  That said, I did not run between last weekend's long run of 13.1 miles and Thursday morning.  That morning was extremely cold, and we did the first two events of the test (a 2 minute set of push-ups and a two minute set of sit-ups) indoors.  After a paltry 47 push-ups (rhythm thrown off by the grader's requests to "lock out " my arms when I clearly was) I rocked out 79 sit-ups.  I nearly got the maximum score in that event.  After the first two events, we get a ten minute break prior to the run.  By that time, the sun was starting to come up, but it was still only about 20-25 degrees outside.  I opted to go ahead and go with shorts, long-sleeves, and just a beanie and gloves in order to keep the weight down.  In retrospect, I am glad I did, despite temperature.  I've always felt that I run much better in colder weather, being quite warm-natured, and I actually was sweating quite a bit at the end.  There are about 120 people in my class, so the start line was a bit crowded, as we did the run on one of the streets of Fort Lee.  I positioned myself toward the back of the pack, because I really wasn't expecting to kill the run.  They started off, and I settled into a nice stride, thinking I was pulling about an 8-minute pace.  My breath control was good that morning, and I began to pass several of my classmates.  About half a mile in, I'm finding myself easing closer and closer to the front of the pack, and my stride is lengthening out, and the lungs feel good.  As I get to the one mile turnaround point, I hear the time keeper, "7 minutes!"   I hit the turnaround at 7:04, so I had no doubt at this point I'd finish in probably 15 minutes or slightly less.  BUT, the last mile is slightly downhill.  I decided to try to pick up the pace, as my breath control is still good.  I pass a few more classmates that were pushing toward the front.  I hit 1.5 miles in just about 10 minutes, feeling good.  The last .25, I get passed as some who reserved their energy throughout decide to sprint out the last portion.  I'm OK with that, I like to maintain a steady pace.  Once I'm within about 100m of the finish, I hear the timekeeper "13:45!"  I stretch just a bit, and cross at 13:58, over a full minute faster than my goal.  I haven't run the two-mile portion of the PT test that fast since I was in college, so I'm very pleased with that pace.  I may just have to sign up for a holiday 5K just to see if I can PR that distance. 

After taking Friday off to stretch out from Thursday's "speedwork," I ventured out for my weekly long run on Saturday morning.  Another cold Virginia morning, it was about 35 degrees when I laced up to go hit the road.  Given that I didn't log very many miles this week, I kept my expectations kind of low for how long I was going to go.  That all stopped when I finally got going, because I realized quickly my legs and lungs felt GREAT.  I hovered around an 8:00 to 8:15 mile pace through the first 5K, and said, "you know what, let's see if we can add a couple of miles to the plan today."  Last week I logged 13, I put 15 miles in my crosshairs for this week.  By the time I crossed the 10K point, I ate a gel, drank some water, and was feeling strong.  I think I laced my shoes a bit tight that morning, because the top of my right foot was hurting, but just enough to be a nuisance.  I hit 7 miles in less than an hour, a personal best.  I hit 10 miles in about 1:23, another personal best.  At 11 miles, I threw my last gel packet down, and stretched out the stride.  After crossing the half-marathon point at just 30 seconds slower than my personal best (which came at the Richmond McDonald's Half-Marathon), I knew this 15 miler was in the bag.  All I had was one more killer hill to traverse.  I plugged in a favorite power song on the iPhone, and began my ascent.  The legs were burning, the lungs were screaming, but I kept going.  After that hill was behind me, I finished off my water, caught my breath, and eased in for the last mile.  I finished in 2:04:49, a full five minutes faster than I told myself I'd be happy with.  This was the farthest I'd ever ran, and just another step toward my goal of 26.2 miles in March.  I'm a little sore today, but I feel great, I feel strong, and I feel more determined and able to meet my goal of a sub-4:00 marathon by the time my training is done.

Goings on and such

Once again, I'm being quite delinquent in regularly posting to my blog, but my commitment to improve on that has not ceased.  Regardless, things are still moving along at a furied pace in our lives, as the dust from our move to Virginia has finally settled, and I am getting ready to start my course tomorrow.  I'm doing all I can to get brushed up on the new Army doctrine I have to become proficient in, and let me tell you:  IT'S NOT FUN.  That shit is just SO DAMN BORING.  OK, it's not really boring, it's just very cumbersome and difficult to pore through, especially when you're as ADHD as I am (hey, look a squirrel!).  So, for the next six months my life is going to be consumed by Field Manuals, Training Circulars, Army Regulations, etc, etc, etc.  I've also registered to take another MBA course starting in January.  Good times.

On top of my military and civilian education, my commitment to running has grown stronger.  Having recently completed the McDonald's (ironic sponsor, I know) Half Marathon in Richmond with a personal best of 1:48:02, I have a newfound strength and confidence in my running abilities.  I registered for the SunTrust National Marathon in Washington, DC, and will spend the next few months preparing for it.  I'm extremely excited to be able to run my first marathon, especially through a city rich in history and scenery as Washington, DC.  My training is just kicking off, and yesterday I ran my final run of the week, 13.1 miles, bringing me to a 32 mile week.  That is the most in one week I've ran since I started.  So far, I'm feeling good about where things are going.  I'm in the best shape of my life, I'm back to the weight I was when I was a senior in college, and I'm finally back in my career of choice.  Life is good my friends, life is good.  Best wishes to all as the holiday season really gets going, stay sane, keep the stress down, and stop and enjoy the scenery sometimes.  That's my life philosophy, that's my running philosophy, and it works (and it's not copyrighted).