Sunday, July 31, 2011

Day 4 (7/30): 2.5 miles / 32 minutes

This morning’s run began at 6:20 a.m. and was surrounded by a thick fog. I had decided that it was time to increase my distance and not focus on the amount of time it took me to finish. The most troubling part of this run would be that I would have to pass my house after a mile and a two-tenths of a mile shortcut at the end. This would take some determination.

After my first mile, determination wouldn’t really be an issue. After checking the time I see that it’s taken me 16 minutes to run it. That certainly hasn’t earned me the right to stop, so I have no trouble staying on course.

What really threw me off though was the crazy fog. I’m someone that normally likes to see where I’m going. I prefer to see the finish line so I can stay focused on it. Today this was not an option. I was forced to focus on the short distance ahead of me. Talk about poetic. Mother nature has a way of reminding me that I need to first work on accomplishing the small goals before worrying about the big ones. So, instead of thinking about when I might be ready for 26.2 miles, I’ll be working solely on training for a 5k. This goal seems far more attainable at this point and I feel that if I’m able to run 2.5 within my first week, I should have no issues with 3.1.

I had been contemplating when I might be ready for a 5k and had originally been leaning towards September. The problem with that is that a marathon will take me forever to train for if I’m not even serious enough to commit to the 5k as soon as I’m able to do it. No one says I need to finish first… I just need to finish. So, I decided to run two and a half miles today and see how I feel before making my decision.

At the end of my run I’m feeling pretty good and realize that if I’m ready for two and a half miles now, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to finish a 5k by the end of August. Two and a half miles took me 32 minutes and I’m pretty happy with that. It’s official - I will set my sights on the North Olmsted Kiwanis 5k in August. I’ll need to check out last year’s finishing times to verify that I’m not likely to finish last (don’t get me wrong, I have no intention of finishing first, but I’m fairly certain it would break my heart to be the last one across the finish line). Of course, this also means I have no choice but to run on vacation… I guess that’s one way to keep me from drinking too much :)

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