I'm Baaaaack!

After a very long hiatus and a lot of life changes I am going to get back on the running blog streak.  Since my last post in September I have:

• Become single one month before my marathon
• Ran my first marathon in 4:43:12
• Ran my first 15k in 1:33:06 (very poorly organized...never sign up for a Hot Chocolate Race)
• Signed up for my second Distance Training Program with Potomac River Running
• Signed up for the National Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in March with a goal time of 2 hours
• Ran two 5ks one day after the next  PRing each time with 28:41 and 28:10 (I know I can do better because neither day was an ideal running day for me)

Jessica, Abby, and I before the News Day 5k

I am sure there have been a lot of other changes in my life, but one thing for sure is that I am the happiest I have ever been.  My running has helped me stay focused and in a great place.  If you had asked me a few years ago why I run, my answer would not have been to stay happy and now when I want time to self-reflect...I run.

As I begin the new year, I think about my goals for running.  I have two goals that I am going to focus on for 2012: 1-Run at least 1,000 miles and 2-Run National Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in 2:00:00 or under.  The first goal seems like a HUGE goal, but when broken down it is just a little under 20 miles a week on average.  This first week, I ran 21.7 miles without pushing myself at all.  I have to say I think I'm off to a good start.  My second goal is one that I will really have to work at.  I am not a fast runner and I enjoy just running at whatever pace I feel like for the day, which ranges between 9:30-10:30 on average.  In order to run 13.1 miles in under 2 hours, I will have to run each mile in 9:09 mins or faster.  I know I can do it, but I will just have to focus on my goal during each run.  The race is on March 17 so I have just a little more than 2 months to push myself past my comfort zone.

In the mean time, I have already put together my race schedule for the next few months:

• Feb 12 - Love the Run Your With 5k
• Feb 18 - GW Classic 10k
• March 4 - Reston 10 miler
• March 17 - National 1/2 Marathon
• March 18 - Race for Haiti 5k (Maybe as a shake out run)
• April 1 - Cherry Blossom 10 miler
• April 22 - GW Parkway 10 miler

Be on the look out for more blogs as I reflect on my running MUCH more regularly than I have in the past few months :)