Running on New Year’s Day

I did 2.6 miles in 36 minutes and my time is improving everyday. What more can I ask?

When I went to bed before midnight last night, I was not sure if I would run in the morning before or after the sun came up. Turns out, I forgot to turn off the alarm on my Blackberry. I rolled on out of bed at 0540, stretched my back, and hit the road. After my run, I walked for about 5 minutes and stretched for about 10 minutes.

I discovered Log Your Run last night and mapped out a nice 2.6 mile course for today. The only reason for 2.6 was because I mapped yesterday’s 35 minute run and knew how far I went. Anyway, it’s a neat tool. I’m sure there are more sites out there that do the same thing, but this one was quick and to-the-point.

I had no startling revelations on today’s run. I just ran. My form was better, my pace was better, my breathing better… I actually had a better idea what was happening to me from a physiological standpoint–and psychological for that matter…

However, I did realize that 26.2 miles is a lot further than I thought–As for this morning, I don’t particularly care to imagine running nine more 2.6 mile runs. I’ll get there.

Happy New Year.

Two Tips for Goal Accountability

I’m no stranger to setting goals.

This book is a must read!!!

I really began to discover goal-setting around 1992 when my employer gave me a set of Tony Robbins tapes. From there, I started reading books like How to Win Friends and Influence People, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, The Magic of Thinking Big, The Power of Positive Thinking, 7 Habits, etc.

There’s a little more to it than that, but flooding my mind with these types of books substantially changed my thought patterns and my outlook on life. Goal-setting began to make even more sense as I began listening to tapes and reading books from people like Brian Tracy and Jack Canfield.

These authors and speakers are excellent coaches to say the least. I followed their goal-setting guidelines, making endless lists of where I wanted to be, what I looked like, how my house was decorated, who were my friends, etc. I narrowed down my list to a few items that I wanted to accomplish right now then I’d go at it. To this day, I still make lists.

I gotta say, writing down your goals is the most important and powerful means of attaining any desired outcome.

I can honestly look back and see that I’ve always achieved the things I wrote down. And, as I think about some of my endless lists, I remember writing down a goal about 10 years ago that said something to the affect of Run a marathon by age 40. I’ll be 40 in February. I find this fascinating because I totally forgot about writing down that goal until today, when I did something else that would cause me to be a little bit more accountable.

What I did was tell someone else about my goal. Of course I had already told my wife and children I intend to run a marathon; I had also told my mother and one of my co-workers. But, today I told the boss’ wife (and she’ll undoubtedly tell the boss).

I don’t know what compelled me to tell her, but doing so made the necessity of achieving my goal even more critical.

I mean, to me, nothing would be more embarrassing than to have the May 31, 2009 Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon in San Diego come and go, and for the boss or his wife come in and say, “Hey! I thought you were gonna run a marathon…”

The quality of the person you tell goes a long way toward goal accountability and achievement. So, make sure you tell someone who, in your life, will really stick it to you if you slack off–a family member is not as likely to do so.

So, here’s my two tips for goal accountability:

1. Write it down
2. Tell someone important
   

Back on Track

Today began week 2.

I’m still dealing with this stupid head-cold, but it felt awesome to get out for an early morning run. I’m in a pre-training phase right now, as I have not done any serious running for probably 6 months. So today was a 35 minute run/walk–I did about 2 1/2 miles mostly running, and I noticed my form is already improving. It’s a little embarrassing to post such low mileage considering a light run for most runners probably exceeds 5 miles, but I’ll be there soon enough.

One of the things that absolutely impresses me about the human body is that the more you work it, the more efficient it becomes. I mean, a mere week ago, I didn’t go very far in the allotted 30 minutes and it was about 50% running and 50% walking. And today my 35 minutes was about 85% running and 15% brisk walking.

I don’t have a method to measure precisely, but I have a pretty good idea what i did. I’m not overly concerned about it in this pre-training stage because in a matter of two weeks, or after 7 more run/walks, it will be strictly running. I’ll maintain 20 to 40 minute runs for a month before I hit the 16 week marathon training schedule. Even that will be relatively simple for the first couple of weeks–my long run then will be 4 and 5 miles respectively for weeks 1 and 2.

No matter, I’m enjoying my runs despite some tremendous pressures I’m facing in my personal life. My wife is having a major surgery next Monday and we will be moving in a month or so. Then there’s kids,  work, and the little surprises that make every day interesting. But, these are just part of life, and running certainly is a good way to stay focused while dealing with any given situation. In the end, for me anyway, it’s about finishing the marathon–finishing what I started–and proving I can do it.