running behind

It takes a lot of effort for me to keep my running mileage up.

Some people just do it. (Thank you Nike) They go every day, rain or shine, sickness or health. But me? If I'm ill, or it is cold, or I'm just unmotivated...

Nada.

In the past what has helped me keep my miles up is to have a specific gaol - and program to follow to reach it. It has to list out my easy runs, tempo runs, hill workouts, long runs, etc etc. In one way it is kind of like making an appointment to go a certain distance. Once it is on my calendar then I'm set.

(And yes I am that geek that literally puts this stuff on her calendar.)

So I need to get my ass in gear. Fortunately it is starting to get warmer and daylight savings time is right around the corner. These things TOTALLY help since I enjoy running in the park on a sunny cool evening.

Let's figure this out logically then. Training for the marathon starts in July, so I need to be in peak shape by then. Let's make that goal to set a PR for a 10k - the NYRR Women's Mini 10k on June 12th will do just fine.

Sure I could train for more distance, but why burn myself out?

Right now my personal best for anything 10k or greater is a 9:57 mile. My all time record for any race is a 5 miler at 9:29 pace, so I can totally replicate that for another 1.2 miles.

How about we really put one on the line and make my goal a matter of public record. I intend to shatter my previous PR and run the mini 10k with an average 9:15 pace finishing in 57 minutes 21 seconds.

Yeah, I have no idea if that is reasonable or not. How many seconds per mile is realistic to shave off a race in three months?

Guess we'll find out...

Forgot to add - also setting a goal to lose 10 lbs to offset what I'll gain in marathon training. Not that the lost weight won't help with the speed!