The Day I Finally Broke Four Hours!

I am still pinching myself this morning because I am disbelief that I finally broke four hours in the marathon. 3:49:10! I had no idea that this race would result in a 16 minutes and 6 second PR! I had no idea what my time was until I was crossing that Finish Line! I did a lot of things different this time around which resulted in a much better race. I will share those things in my race recap. I have a little bit of soreness in my quads which is the least amount of pain that I have ever felt from a marathon. 

I followed everything in my race plan that I had for this marathon with the exception of one. I did not turn on my music because I didn't feel like fumbling around to find my iPhone and earphones. Thank you for all of the encouragement that you sent me and most of all for believing in me when I doubted myself! Full Race Recap to come...

FORUDAD

This past February I was really looking forward to running the Surf City Marathon. I felt that I had trained properly and that there was a good chance that I could pull off a sub four finish (3:59:59 was all I was hoping for.) Then the whole injury thing happened and all bets were off! The Surf City marathon folks were nice enough to allow me to defer my registration to 2013 and I finally registered today.

I guess I will be running a marathon in February, 2013 if everything falls into place. This marathon will be a little different because I will be running it in honor of my Dad who is battling cancer. Although he is still here with me, I want to dedicate this race to him and allow his courage and strength to carry me through those last 6 miles where I always seem to fall apart. I hate those last six miles and wish a marathon was only 20 miles! Don't you?

I usually put my first name on my race bib when personalization is an option but this race bib will be different. My bib will read "FORUDAD." My goal will once again be to break four hours, even if it's 3:59:59. If I succeed I will have accomplished something more meaningful than any other race I have ever ran before. This race is perfect for me since I have plenty of time to train and slowly build myself up to the proper mileage.

THIS ONE'S FOR YOU DAD! HANG IN THERE AND I WILL BE RUNNING MY HEART OUT FOR YOU! I KNOW THE PAIN OF A MARATHON IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT YOU FIGHT EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE!

Mid Year Check on My 2012 Goals

Most of us have Running Goals that we are constantly striving to meet but there are a few that stay on our running radars.  As for me, I haven't met any of my goals this year due to my injury. There are seven months remaining in 2012 so I am trying to remain positive/optimistic that at least one of my goals will be met. Me, positive? I know.  Positiveness is something that I have been lacking the last four months or so.  I am definitely trying to move away from that attitude and I am sure that it will fade away as my running improves.

The main goals that I want to remain focused on in 2012 are as follows, but in no particular order:

Goal One:  Run 1200 miles.  Right now I am at 239 and I should be at 500.  Not so good, right? I am hoping to put in at least 100 miles a month from this point forward so this year may be more like 950-1000.


Goal Two: The BIG ONE....Qualifying for Boston. This one is probably not going to happen this year since I have no marathons lined up to get me there! CIM is still weighing heavily on my mind but I am 90% sure that I won't attempt it this year. I have a few other marathons in mind but no solid decisions as of today. Boston is going to have to wait for me a little while longer.


Goal Three: Run a Sub-Four Marathon.  I think I need to accomplish this one before I accomplish Goal Two, right? I think there is a chance that this could happen later this year if I am feeling marathon ready. If not, it will definitely happen in 2013!


Goal Four: Run a Half Marathon in under 1:47. I feel most confident about this goal.  My half marathon PR is 1:47:43 so I am about 44 seconds away from accomplishing this goal. The only problem is that I need to work my way up to an 8:09 pace at this distance. Right now I am no where close.

Goal Five: STAY INJURY FREE! I blew this one big time! I think this injury has taught me: a) how to be a smarter runner b) to listen to my body and c) to take a few days off when things don't seem 100%. I get it now. Believe me, I do!!

How are your 2012 goals coming along? How do you hold yourself accountable to the running/fitness goals that you set for yourself?

One of the most important things for me is to set goals that are realistic and achievable. Blogging and logging all of my workouts are great ways of holding myself accountable for my goals. I log all of my workouts in Daily Mile, whether they are crappy or great. You can follow me HERE!  Checking my progress keeps me on track and puts me in check when I am falling behind or losing focus.

Sub Four or Bust!!

SUB FOUR OR BUST!

So my co-worker Shawna and I have come up with this crazy idea to run the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon on October 9, 2011 in under 4 hours! We chose the Long Beach Marathon because the course is flat, it's by the beach, and the price was affordable!  

We have both ran a marathon before, me one, and Shawna six! What this really translates into for both of us is 3:59:59!!  We will just be excited to have the number 3 instead of the number 4 in our tag time.  We have developed a 16-week training schedule and will start getting serious about it on June 19th (Father's Day)! This will be our first long Sunday run together. We are looking forward to meeting our goal, but if not.....there are lots of other opportunities for us to do it :) It's not like we are going to stop running anytime soon because we are addicted to running!