Marathon By 40

I know it’s been a while since I last blogged. October was just a brutal month from both a work and a personal schedule standpoint. Blogging about running fell to the lowest (and thus ignored) priority. Thankfully running did not fall to the lowest, although it came close.

I’m in the middle of a week-long vacation from work. I spent the first part playing Mr. Mom while my wife was out of town. Now that she’s back, I’ll be focusing on completing a few projects around the house and getting back into a rhythm of running.

Some of those projects include some simple enhancements to the blog, and hopefully a post or two over the Thanksgiving break.

Another project will be to select my major running goals for 2009 and select training plans to get me there.

So, this is just to dust the cobwebs off the feed. If there isn’t more by the end of the week, please kick me.

Happy running!

Just a public note to my self that I need to start my next training program on Monday (9/8). It’s hard for me to be motivated unless I’m on a specific schedule.

Therefore, I need to determine what distance I’ll try next (leaning towards upping to 10k) and which race/event/date I will plan for. This weekend I need to find time to search race calendars on the web, review 10k training plans, and select a good match for each.

Until then, keep running.

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!