Running by the Seat of My Pants

I really don't like being told what to do.

Because of that I have never really followed a formal training program. I had a great 12 week half marathon program that simply was a program to finish. I loosely followed the program last fall and winter in preparation for Disney 2006. It served it's purpose. I finished.

Since last January I have consistantly included some sort of long run most weekends as a part of my training. Sometimes on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday - whenever I could fit it in and was in the mood. These runs were productive and allowed me to make last minute descisions about races. Depending on what was on the weekend schedule - There wasn't really any local race I wasn't confident I could run in.

My first half marathon this season was an eleven minute improvement over my previous PR, and I bettered that by four minutes, two races later. Without any improvement since the middle of December, I have been less than pleased with my times. I don't want to continue to be average.

I started this year with some goals in mind, but nothing solid. Small goals. like keeping a training log. The goal that weighed heavy on my mind was Sarasota in under two hours. With 31 days to go, I still have a lot of work ahead of me.

After seeing Marathon Chris' goal to run 1,000 miles in 2007 I was thinking that sounded like a good idea. Then I thought I could runn 100 miles a month - 1,200 miles this year. I was 22 miles short of my 11th hour goal. Partly becuase I missed a long run this weekend in exchange for a 5k PR and partly because I simply slept in too many days.

February brings a new month - a better thought out plan, a new chance to hit 100 miles and a chance to get Sarasota done in under 2!