I have a race on the calendar!
It was super fun to spectate the 2023 Grand Lake Half Marathon and 5K this past weekend, and I'm excited to get back into training myself. There's nothing quite like a good road race atmosphere - the excitement, the pain, the satisfaction... it's a great time!
This upcoming race will be a venue and a distance that I have never experienced before - a 10 mile race in Versailles, KY. I've always enjoyed the 10 mile distance in training, and it seems like it would be super cool to race! So I have a 25-week training plan laid out and today is day 1 (off).
The overall plan is to ease back into good fitness with a realistic amount of time commitment and a fairly wide variety of what I would have formerly considered "cross-training". Currently I work out only about twice a week - a run and a few rounds on the heavy bag.
I will be doing 6 days a week from the start, with 3 days running and 3 days on other activities. By the end of the plan, it will still be 6 days a week but with 4 days running (higher mileage than now, obviously) and also a higher volume of everything else. I'm pretty psyched about the plan and think it's a good one. It's all about the execution now.
"Get a program and go slowly by slowly" - Eliud Kipchoge (5x Berlin Champ)
I'm trying to take the long view. I will never match my best performances from college off of 4 runs a week. At the same time, I probably don't have time for more with the way I currently operate the rest of my life. On top of that, my body is far-removed from being accustomed to daily mileage. If I can ease my mind, body, and routines back into rhythm, I think I can look ahead to one day matching and then exceeding my collegiate fitness. Or at least close enough for it to be really fun again.
If I really nail this training plan, it will give me a solid level of all-around baseline fitness to pick up more boxing and more roadwork over the late spring and summer. I could get back up to 6 days a week running over the summer, and then try to maintain that when fall 2024 arrives. Then I could try to go for a fast Grand Lake Half, or find another 10 miler in the fall. I can dilly dally around the 10 mile distance for a few years and use that time to slowly build back my fitness and see how low I can get that PR. Then, when the time is right, God-willing, I can pick up the mileage and get into marathon and ultra training again. The most compelling items on my bucket list right now are as follows, in order of current interest:
1. 10 mile racing
2. 1/2 marathon racing
3. 50 miles under 12 hours
4. BQ
5. 100 miles under 24 hours
6. PRs in the 400,800,1600,3200,5000
One story that has stuck with me was from my brother's old basketball coach - Coach Januzzi. He qualified for Boston Marathon with a simple and brutally effective training plan: 10 miles a day, every day.
I don't think I've run 10 miles since my 50 miler two Marches ago! That one must have really done a number on me.
My first test will be a 10 mile Time Trial at the end of Week 6 of training. That will give me a realistic picture of where I'm at and where I can go before the Lucky Leprechaun arrives. I need 6 solid weeks of training between now and then.
It's time to come back - but not in such a way that the Psalms or my actual work become a lower priority. Rather, I think fitness can be a positive and salutary pursuit for me.
Lord, have mercy.
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