it appears that 2008 was the year that i officially returned to the running world. i have made some return attempts over the years, but i have never taken it this far. in my other return attempts, i never went far enough to return to the realm of enjoyable running. i can now testify that i have officially shaped my body to the point that running is once again enjoyable.
the return journey started via reconnecting with some high school friends on facebook. as i read about my former classmates running marathons, something got rekindled in me. i started the journey with a shoe purchase, and three days before my 37th birthday i laced up those shoes and participated in a walk-run session. i can still recall how difficult that session on september 21st was. my eldest son jumped on his bike to come observe his 265 pound father lumbering around one of our neighborhood blocks. i was committed to reshaping my body into that of a runner, even if the sight of me running was unpleasant.
during the 101 days of 2008 which followed september 21st, some serious reshaping transpired. i went from struggling through the completion of a mile at 9:30 pace, to participating in a 10k race event at 7:27 pace. after not participating in a race event since 1991, i had the joy of participating in three race events in 2008: a 5k (22:48), a mile (6:02), and a 10k (46:15). i participated in a long run of 12 miles and two 11 mile trail runs. i had one 40 mile training week and logged 325 miles of running for the year.
my end of the year analysis has me pleased with how 2008 went. i have shed 35 pounds since september 21st, and i am officially comfortable with once again referring to myself as a runner.
i started 2009 with an 11 mile trail run at busiek state forest. i am officially in love with trail running. i don’t recall doing much real trail running back in my former running years. i love the attention it demands, and the more complete muscle challenge that a real trail offers. i anticipate logging plenty of trail running miles in 2009.
i hope to see a few things in 2009. i hope to shed many more pounds to assist me in getting back to a weight that is more compatible with the kind of distance running that i prefer, i.e., flying. i hope to successfully participate in at least two marathons: “the flying pig” and “the twin cities marathon”. i hope to successfully participate in a 50k trail race: “the psycho psummer 50k” (or the “afton trail run 50k”). i hope to get myself to a place that i could run a boston qualifying marathon pace (possibly doing this at the “twin cities marathon”). i hope to be able to sub-5 in the mile again. i hope to be well on my way to the conditioning necessary for successfully participating in the “rocky raccoon 100” in february 2010. and of very high importance: i hope to stay injury free and i hope to be more in love with running at the end of 2009 than i am now.
2 comments:
impressive start to the new year. I'll be finding a trail to run around here soon...thanks to the power of suggestion. ;-)
thanks chris - it is a blast - the first couple real trail runners i did i was shocked at how challenging it was. it is very similar to running stairs - you really have to get your knees up (that is if you want to avoid a face plant :) ).
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