Ya Gotta Have a Goal Part 2

So I’ve been doing this running thing since the Fall of 2008.  I’ve done 8 5Ks, a 10K, a Half Marathon relay, 8 Half Marathons, 1 Marathon relay (basically another half marathon since we each did 13.1 miles)...and one full Marathon.  Now before you go jumping to conclusions, I can tell you that NO, my other current goal is NOT anything longer than a full marathon.  And those of you who are my smartypants friends don’t go :poke: :poke: at me to consider it...it won’t work.  No, my goal is the Disney full marathon in January 2014.  

“Wait a minute”, you say, “you’ve already done a full marathon, how is that a goal?”   

I did my marathon in January of 2011.  I wasn’t in peak condition for it; My peak condition was Winter 2009/Spring 2010.  At that time, I had lost 45 pounds and was easily keeping a 15 minute per mile pace for the half marathons I was running and even got into the 14 minute mile range for my 5Ks.  For the marathon a year later, I had gained back about 20 of the pounds I had lost and finished in 6:59:09, a 15:59 pace...just barely making the pace cutoff (while trying to keep away from the sweepers...you can read about that in my race report if you’d like).  It was hard.  Probably the hardest thing I’ve ever undertaken and completed.

Me after my first half marathon-this was after losing 45 pounds

So why is it a goal again?  As I mentioned in my “Starting Over” post, I gained back almost all the weight I’d lost.  I’m basically starting from scratch again.  Almost worse than scratch since instead of regularly walking or even semi-regularly, I went almost all the way back to doing nothing after being swept at the Tower of Terror 10-miler.  Workouts and miles here and there...but no “real” training.  Plus I have that wonderful added bonus of all this extra weight back on again.

And so, this is going to be just like training for my first marathon...again.  I’ve already mapped out my training calendar through the rest of the year.  It is fairly straightforward through the end of August with no really long mileage until the marathon training portion starts so it’s more like a general exercise program until the end of summer...that way I can concentrate on the losing weight part, though I’ll still be doing miles at least 3 days per week the whole time.  As many of you know, trying to lose weight while training for a marathon can be difficult so I’m trying to get a head start on that part before the longer miles begin. 

I’d love to be at my goal weight before the time comes for the race, but that would mean losing about 80 pounds between now and then.  Just that part alone would be a HUGE accomplishment.  But with the long miles in the Fall and early Winter, I’ll be initially shooting for at least 60 pounds by race time.  The overall goal?  Finishing faster than my first marathon.  My more ambitious goal?  Finishing in 6:50:00 or less.  But as long as I finish without having to take a sweeper bus ride, I will consider my goal attained.  Again.

If you’re out there about to undertake your first full marathon journey, feel free to contact me...virtual training partners are always welcome.  Or if you’re just trying to lose a lot of weight like me...same thing.  Most of this for me is done on my own for various reasons which is really hard.  It’s so much easier to stick to a plan when there are others around that you don’t want to make excuses to.  If anyone out there wants to join up so we can all be accountable to each other (for losing weight or race training-virtual or otherwise), you can use the Contact Me page to get in touch.

What are some goals that you have?  

My goal?  This picture in 2014!