Marathon By 40

I tell runners to divide a race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart. - Mike Fanelli

My original motivation for running was fitness. I’m much heavier than I should be and was discouraged about getting winded more quickly than my kids. I wanted to loose weight and get fit. I’ve lost over 20 pounds since Christmas 2007, and I can probably run father now than I ever have before (sad state, but true). But, I’ve seen other benefits that I wasn’t anticipating.

Since my college days, it’s been very hard for me to wake up before the sunrise. Come to think of it, its often hard to get out of bed after sun-up as well. I’ve always been most mentally and physically active at night. I’ve wanted to become a morning person, but it hasn’t ever come naturally for me.

The 3-times weekly goal of keeping my running schedule is now motivating me to get up early (anywhere from 5:30am to 6am, depending on family schedule for the day), get out of bed, get my shoes on, and go. As soon as I am actually up out of bed, the rest comes relatively easily. Only once in over 100 workouts have I retreated back into bed after leaving the house before finishing my morning time or distance goal.

Being up that early, running through my neighborhood before the sun comes up has been a refreshing way to start the day. It’s rewarding to see the duck pond in the stillness of the dawn and to hear the roosters crowing from the little farm a few streets away. The mood and sense of the streets around my home are calm and comforting as they transition from darkness to the warm shades of the early morning. This morning I could hear the local high school drumline warm up with rudiments and paradiddles. It wasn’t just another welcome sign that football season is here. It was nostalgic to think back to when I was practicing beside my friends before school.

All of these external events have been in the neighborhood since well before we moved in. But I wasn’t able to experience any of it from the comfort of my own bed. Because I am out in the neighborhood instead of curled up under the covers I’m able to see, hear, smell, and touch all these things. Besides the larger goals of fitness or accomplishment of completing each small step on the way to a marathon, I’m able to enjoy more fully the area where I live.

If I keep this up, I might even turn into a real morning person.

How about you? What pleasure or benefits have you found while running that you weren’t expecting to find?

I tried a new music source for this morning’s run. Normally I listen to Robert Ullrey’s podcast series for the Couch to 5k program. Robert did a great job mixing music along with his own voice-overs reminding runners when to switch between the walking and running intervals. He would even chime in with encouragement when you only have a minute left on the day’s workout. Robert, thanks for the help as I worked my way from the couch to the ability to run a full 5k!

This week I was looking for something fresh to keep me alert as I prepare for my first event. I had heard of Podrunner before, and this was a perfect chance to give it try. DJ Steve Boyett has prepared several programs both for general workouts (the Podrunner series) and for interval training (Podrunner Intervals). For intervals he’s mixed “First Day to 5k” (follows same schedule as Couch to 5k), “Gateway to 8k” and “Freeway to 10k.” He provides a little chatter at the start of each track, but the cues for switching pace while running sound like the Tokyo Subway chimes. The cues are subtle without reminders of the duration for each, so make sure you know what your intervals are before you start if you’re interested in tracking only actual workout time (no warm-up or cool-down) on Nike+.

Overall, the quality of the music was great. It seemed like the music was sampled at high quality. And it was nice to hear something new while I ran. If you’re interested in new tunes for running, check it out.

Only two more workouts before the race. I hope to progress this week and peak on Monday.

Until then, let’s go run!

I’m registered and have sights on my first major milestone: to run a 5k race. I’ll be joining friends from work and college on September 1st to run in the Labor Day 15k & 5k Run at White Rock Lake.

As I mentioned earlier, I have run a 5k once before just over two weeks ago in a workout, but never before in an organized event. I’ve only run twice since then, taking a break over vacation and missing a day last week due to rain.

This week I’ll be running the Couch to 5k week 6 intervals to work my way up to running the full distance again.

I’ve got to make sure I get all three workouts in this week if I want to have a chance to beat my practice time.

Are you in Dallas or close by? Have you been thinking about running in a local event? Come on out! You can register this week online, at Run On! or even on-site race day. I hope to see you there.

Until then, let’s go run!

So, I decided it would be a great over-arching goal to run a marathon by the time I’m 40. What would be the best way to break that up into smaller goals?

Considering I haven’t run in any organized race before, I’m starting with smaller events and will work my way up to the ultimate goal:

• 5k & 10k race at age 38
• Half-Marathon at age 39
• Marathon at age 40

Spreading these events out over the next 2 and half years provides measured steps to take me from couch potato to marathon runner. Each year I have a goal that’s an achievable step.

Earlier this month, I completed the “Couch to 5k” from Cool Running using Robert Ullrey’s Podcast series to coach me through it. I had tried this program a few times in the past, but never had the determination to make it all the way through. Once I decided this was a step towards the larger goal of a marathon by age 40, and that time wasn’t slowing down, I was motivated enough to press all the way through running 3 times a week over the program’s nine week span. At the end, I ran my first complete 5k workout in 37′46″. So, I’m not the fastest man in the world, but it was probably the first time in my life that I had gone that far in a single run.

It felt great! I was able to look back and see how the incremental training over the previous nine weeks had taken me from getting winded on a short run around the soccer field to being able to run over three miles. It was a small taste of what I can accomplish if I use a measured plan and stick to it.

So, I’m ready for my first event, which I’ll write more about in the next post.

Until then, let’s go run!

It was just over three months ago that I got frustrated with my old workout routine (or lack thereof). I had been jogging in fits and spurts for the past two years. I would go for about a month running 3 times a week, and then get sick, bored, or just plain lazy and stop for days or weeks. I knew I needed to get off my rear and start exercising, but that ambiguous goal wasn’t enough to get me out of bed at 5:30 in the morning when I would rather hit the snooze button.

I tried smaller goals (like to goal meter posted at the top right of this page) and I attained a few of them. I would complete one goal, take a well deserved break, and be be left flat-footed without direction on what to try next. Those small goals were certainly attainable, but they weren’t tightly coupled to keep me going from one to the next.

TV shows like 24 and LOST are masters at holding an audience, making them anticipate the next show. The writers do this by extending the story arcs between episodes. The plot rises through the hour and reaches the climax just before the hour’s end. The conflict isn’t resolved, however, until the next episode. That’s why many of my friends and I have similar stories about watching these series on DVD. We’ll watch the first episode, and we’re left squirming for what next, so we start watching the proceeding installment. The chain continues, and before we know it, we’ve spent 3 hours watching the entire DVD.

I needed that same anticipation of “what’s next” for my fitness routine. I needed to fit what I was doing on a daily basis into a picture that was more clear and easier to measure than just “be healthier.”

So, I decided to choose an audacious goal to pursue. How about run a marathon? That’s kind of the pinnacle achievement in running for the common man. Why not?

It’s been drilled into my head in my corporate career that worthwhile goals and objectives need to be “S.M.A.R.T.” It’s not just HR fluff; I’ve found it a useful nemonic for making progress at work.

• S: Specific
• M: Measurable
• A: Attainable
• R: Realistic
• T: Timely

So, how does my ambition to run a marathon stack up?

Specific - “I want to get in shape” was my original goal. With great zeal I started jogging. But as I explained above, it wasn’t specific enough to keep me focused. “I want to run a marathon” is much more specific. The question “how will I know when I have completed this” can be easily and clearly answered.

Measurable - I (and my family and friends) can easily measure if I run (and complete) a race or not. It will be easy to tell when I have accomplished this goal.

Attainable -  Is “running a marathon” something that a guy like me can do? Sure it is! My brother-in-law (a two-time marathon runner himself) turned me on to the book “First Marathons: Personal Encounters With the 26.2-Mile Monster”. It’s a compilation of stories from folks of all ages and sizes who took on the challenge. If they can do it, I should be able to as well.

Realistic - So, it is attainable, but is it realistic that I can do it? Am I motivated? I certainly am. I have the desire, ability, physical potential and financial capability to make this happen. It’s a realistic possibility that with the logistical (and emotional) support of my family, I can make this happen.

Timely - Timely is an awkward word to make the acronym work. The idea expresses that there’s a timeframe involved. Have I decided when I was going to get this done. “Someday, maybe” isn’t going to get me out of bed an hour early in the morning. But if I have a deadline “by the time I turn 40″, then I have something to be accountable for on a date in the future.

With that framework in mind, I have a big-picture to focus on an pull me through all the little steps I’ll take to get there.

An what are those little steps? I’ll explain in my next post.

Until then, let’s go run!

My name is Mark. I’m starting this blog a month before I turn 38 years old. I have a personal goal to run a marathon by the time I’m 40. Considering I couldn’t run a mile without walking about a year ago, this is going to be a considerable challenge.

I’m blogging here to keep track of my progress and to allow my friends an easy way to keep me accountable and encourage me to stay on track.

Let’s run!