Back and Ready to Go

While I was gone last week I exercised more than I have in the past couple of weeks, and I remembered how much I love it. I went for walks, ran (once), played racquetball (for three hours), and watched basketball and baseball. Sports have always been a part of my life and it's about time I put them back in.

I went to the library today on my last day off before the new job starts tomorrow and checked out two books on running. I skimmed through them both quickly and realized that it really is just about getting out there and running. Almost everything I read in the book about the benefits of running I already knew. All of those benefits (weight loss, feeling better, more energy, eating better, etc.) are things that I want so it's time to go get those benefits.

I looked up some new half-marathons since this summer's training just didn't work out. There are three great options on Saturday, December 6th that are within driving distance of my place in DC. December 6th is about 4 1/2 months away. My typical training plan is about 12 weeks or 3 months. That gives me a month and a half to get back into the groove of things slowly. I'm getting back into it gradually this time so I don't have the excuse of injury anymore.

One part of the book that I really liked was the part about setting goals. It talked about setting goals for each year then setting short term (2-3 months) goals and then setting intermediary goals to lead up to reaching that short term goal. I like that idea.

So here are my goals to lead up to the half marathon on December 6th. These may have to adjust based on my progress, but these are the goals for right now. I'll cross them off on my sidebar as I hit each of them.

Long Term: Half Marathon on December 6th, 2008.

Short Term 1: Run 6 miles (10K) by October 18th, 2008.

• Intermediate Goal 1: Run 3x3 (3 miles 3 times a week) by August 15th.
• Intermediate Goal 2: Run 4x3 by September 15th.
• Intermediate Goal 3: Run 5 miles by October 11th.

Short Term 2: Run 13.1 miles (half) by December 6th, 2008.

• Intermediate Goal 1: Run 5x3 by November 1st.
• Intermediate Goal 2: Run 10 miles by November 22nd.