Philadelphia Half Marathon Week 11 Recap + Goals

Half Marathon week is here! Wahooooo!!!

My training so far: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10

This past week marked getting back into running (after being sidelined by the injury) and adjusting to the new dark hours (at 5pm!).

I've been trying to not run two days in a row lately. Although I really love running back to back, it might not be the best for my injury right now.

M- 1750m swim (1 mile!!)
T- 3.6m run
W- 1100m swim
R- 3m run (inside while it snowed!)
F- rest (slept through yoga... again)
S- IronTurkey 15K race!
S- rest
totals: 16 run miles, 1.6 swim miles


Last week went pretty well! I'm feeling great after the IronTurkey and pain-free (so far). I'm getting pumped about the race this weekend and can't wait to head to Philly.

Something I've been thinking pretty hard about are my goals for this race. When I first started training, I was hoping to focus a lot on speed training and had a lofty goal: sub 2:00. Then, injury, illness and work struck, resulting in a full week and a half off of running to heal. Now I'm thinking about what's realistic to expect and strive for this weekend.

My A+ goal: sub 2:00. While I think it's pretty unlikely, might as well shoot for the moon :) This is a pace of 9:07 min/mi.

A goal: Beat my PR from the National Half. This is a goal I think is possible and will be thrilled to meet. This means an average pace of at least 9:39 min/mi.

B goal: Beat my time from the Detroit Half. I feel confident that, barring disaster, I could nail this goal. I'll need an average pace of at least 10:45 min/mi.

C goal: Cross the finish line!

No matter what happens on Sunday, I know I'll finish happy, strong and proud. I'm excited to run with my friend Kourtney, visit the city of brotherly love and run a rockin' race!

A 50 mile Goal

(nope, not running an ultra marathon... yet :) )

Yesterday I logged onto DailyMile and clicked on the "training" tab of my account.

Looking back over the past few months, my mileage totals were increasingly high as I approached and conquered the marathon.

But after that, a combination of injury, Iceland, and getting my wisdom teeth out crushed my momentum for June. And July wasn't much better. I found myself feeling crappy, drinking too much beer and just generally out of whack.

Hoping to give myself some motivation, I signed up for the St. Louis half marathon, but quickly had to cancel those plans in favor of a microbiology conference scheduled the same day.

So my new goal is this: 50 miles for the month of August. It's going to be hot, it's going to be hard, but I'm so glad to be back in the game.

Last night I kicked off this new goal with my longest run since the marathon (over two months ago!!): 4 miles. And it felt awesome :)

How do you set new goals for yourself?

2011 Goals

After recapping 2010 in photos, we rang in the New Year in Florida with Sam's family and plenty of champagne.

Now that 2011 has arrived, I've been thinking a lot about my goals for 2011. I'm not really a fan of the term 'resolution' because to me it means that I failed at something in the last year that needs redemption. Rather, I prefer to frame my goals in a healthier way that allows me to appreciate working toward the goal and removes the guilt that I wasn't 'good enough' last year.

That being said, here are my goals for 2011. I can break them down into three categories: fitness, financial and general.

Fitness

In 2010 I totally changed my life around by picking up running and losing 30lbs in the process. I absolutely love running and after completing my first half marathon, I'm ready to tackle a full marathon! The Bayshore Marathon is a small race of about 2,000 with great views and a fun course. It's over Memorial Day Weekend and I can't wait! More information about my training plan coming soon :)

Financial

Grad school brought my first real income, and more expenses living as an adult than I could imagine! This year my goal is to pay down my credit card debt (now around $990) and start making payments on my student loans (now around $26,000). This will take a lot of work and saving on my part, but I'm excited to make this commitment! To help with my budgeting, I hope to use Mint.com a bit more than I have been. Any other tips out there for saving and making payments?

General

I have 2 general goals for this year:

The first is to reduce the amount of clutter and possessions I have. After moving out of Earlham and my mom's house, I have acquired a TON of stuff! I certainly don't need this much and I hope to sort through it and donate/freecycle/give away as appropriate.

My second goal is to drink less. In August of 2010 I turned 21 and since then I have had so much fun drinking my way through Ann Arbor and especially trying all kinds of beer.

While I do love beer and drinking with friends I've noticed two things: 1) I have a very low tolerance and 2) it's wicked expensive! These two things combined have made for wild nights and mornings in which I feel crappy and my wallet feels crappier. Also after reading Emily's post on why she quit drinking I realize how much my drinking will affect my marathon training, especially if my long runs are on weekends!

All of this said, I'm so excited for what 2011 will bring.

What are your goals for 2011?