Welp, Lots of Stuff Going, but Little Running...

Just as the title would have you believe, I've been busy busy busy... just not busy running.  We had a "Once in a decade or two" cold snap, and work in between.  We did have a super nice day on the 19th that I was able to sneak a run in on.

And here's our first map.  Can't say I love it, but it'll do for now.  I'm exploring some options, but I thought I'd go with a standard template.   As an added bonus, I'm going to try to formally name my runs now!  Because... why not - not much else to consider at this point in time.

I'm waaaaaaaaaaay behind anything remotely close to what I want to be at as far as mileage.  Like, why even bother mileage at this point.  I had hoped to get some lunch running in, but life has been crazy enough .  Sick kids, my house is falling apart, etc...  I do have new shoes though, so I have that going for me... which is nice...

I cleaned Allen Fieldhouse on the 14th, and as head coordinator, I did a LOT of running.  As such (and even though I think I did more than this), I'm going to give myself a 2 mile bonus.  If anything, it will make me feel better about my complete lack of significant mileage.  It is my hope that one of these morning/evenings, I'll get to the gym and boost my total up... to AT LEAST DOUBLE DIGITS before the month is out!  Actually, my new goal is 25 miles.  I have no idea if I'll make it, but it won't be from lack of effort, I promise...

Okay, Ellie is calling.  Need to get goin'.

Dar-run

Running Total:
January:  8.20
2012:  8.20

Oh My - it Begins!

The weather this year has not been as nice as 2 years ago. It seems like in 2012, it didn't dip below freezing all winter.  This year, however, I'm not sure it's been over 0 degrees!  Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but definitely wind chills have hovered or been well below 0.  I have a beard, but I'm still not man enough to brave those temperatures.  That, and my asthma has been more or less out of control in the last few months.  Cold + Asthma = no bueno...

That said, I finally got a run in - indoors.  I hope to hit the gym at least 2 more times this week for some indoor running.  I like to sneak over to the gym on my lunch break and cram in as much as I can.  That usually only works out to about 25 minutes, but beggars can't be choosers.  I can get a shower and lunch close by.  The hour flies by quickly.  Hopefully, I can start getting out of bed and hitting the gym before work to increase my runs - upwards of 45 minutes, and maybe get some lifting in too.

That said, I ran 2.5 miles.  It took around 22-23 minutes to do.  I wasn't pushing it.  I'm coming off of a broken toe, followed by a broken rib, and I've been pretty light on exercise.  My legs are sore from just that much running, so I know it's going to take some time to get back into it.  For right now, if I can get 3 runs during the week, and a longer run on the weekends, I'll feel like a success.  

My treadmill runs usually start out slow - like 9:45 mile times, and every half mile, I usually tick up around 0.2 mph.  I usually alternate pushing the incline up a percent or 2 for .25 miles, and then resetting it to 0 before I tick up the speed.  By the end today, I was running at 7:30 pace.  I realize the mileage/acceleration doesn't add up, but I needed to get the run over with, so I pushed it at the end.  Not too shabby...

I have a feeling that there will be many treadmill runs to report this time around, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  By the time my runs start stretching to 5-6+ miles, you better believe I'll be hitting the road.  There are limits to my sanity, and 30+ minutes on a treadmill makes me feel like a hamster.

So, that's it today.  Nothing too exciting, but Ellie is pulling on my arm... it's hard to type.

D

(Oh yeah, back with the running total for the year...)

Running Total:
January:  2.50
2014:       2.50

That's excite! Very nice! So marathon...

The blog is up and running.  I'm sure I'll have more changes to make as we go along, but it's started.  So yeah, this is very similar to a few years back when Erin and I ran the "Grandma's Marathon" in Duluth, MN.  I was sitting there a few days before New Year's Eve - thinking about what I wanted to do... physically, in the next year.  I knew I wanted to lose some weight, and I knew I needed something fun to train for to keep motivated.

Welp, here we are again!  I had initially set out to complete a half-ironman triathlon this year, but the timing is just not going to be there.  That, and other excuses:

1. We're having a baby in late May/early June..ish.  My triathlon was set to happen in late June.  
2. The marathon is in late October - there should be some time to hopefully sneak in a long run or 7 and not default on Dad duties.
3. Tri training takes a LOT more time... and money.  Mostly time though.  With a marathon, I'm training for the least expensive portion of the 3.  It might be the one that shares the least "cross benefit", but it's easy to pick up and go.
4. That.... that is about it.  I need some new shoes, I guess.  This is a good excuse to get them.

Signup doesn't start until March, so I can't post that I'm 100% committed yet, but just know that I'm about 99.8% at this point.  I learned a lot about running long distances from the last training session.  There's no longer going to be a mental barrier to "taking on" a long run.  I know I'm capable of surviving a 26.2 mile "run", and much shorter distances than that, too.  I've seen what "training times" are like, and how that translates into racing.  I also know that, while I'm behind where I was 2 years or so ago, I have more time to get ready.  I had been on a great track of weight loss and exercise over the past 4 months, but 2 broken appendages and a ton of "overtime work" later, I'm getting back to where I started.  If I can stay healthy, I'll be back at it.

I'm going to hopefully lay out a training plan soon.  I'm hopeful that by the time my "4 month countdown" hits, I'll be in the position to do a more "intermediate style" preparation regimen.  I'm also going to track mileage (and hopefully map out) my runs again.  That stuff is fun to me, and it helps keep me motivated.  It would be nice to be close to the mileage I was at by the marathon time last year, and build from there.  There were, of  course some long runs thrown in there that I won't have this time (by June), but I missed a lot of last year (early) due to injury.  That might even things out.  Additionally, I expect a lot of treadmill time this go-around.  Cold weather sucks, and if an asthmatic like me can avoid it, I have to.  

So, now that I've vomited on my keyboard/screen, expect a "goals" post, a "training plan" post, and hopefully a "first run" post in the coming days.

Did I mention the most important part!?! reading...reading...reading...NOPE!  My sister Meredith and my friends Andrew and Tremaine are going to play too!  I think Meredith has a companion blog to this one set up - Read it here!.

Okay...stay tuned, yo.  Happy New Year!

Darren, err...Dar-run

P.S. - Enjoy the glorious background photo!