The Clock is Counting Down
Last Monday I took my weekly glimpse at the Georgia Marathon webpage. On the front page is a countdown clock, which as of Monday night read 18 days, 06 hrs, 07 m, and 19 s until the 2007 ING Georgia Marathon and Half Marathon.
My heart started racing with adrenaline as I watched the clock tick away. I have been training for this puppy since December 1. Actually, my training began last June when I decided to get my fat self back into running shape. Since June 1 I have accumulated 840 miles.
The mileage breaks down into two segments—June 1 to November 30 and December 1 to March 6. From June 1 until November 30 I logged 400 miles, which calculates to 57 miles a month or 14.25 miles a week. From December 1 to March 6 I logged the remaining 440 miles, which calculates to 147 miles a month or 49 miles a week. The last three months I have obviously picked up the mileage as well as my pace.
As you can tell, training for a marathon is intense. And, as many of you know, I enjoy the intensity. I take pleasure in the discipline associated with such an effort. Sure, the training is time consuming. And, it can get in the way of many of your plans if you do not plan ahead for bad (or cold) weather, travel, out-of-town company and so on. But the results of such training are innumerable.
If the Lord is willing I want cross the finish line with a PR (Personal Record). Since I do not know the course layout yet, I am not willing to state publicly my goal time. If the course is hilly, I may not run as fast as I expect. If it is like my training courses around town, I should do quite well. The weather and in addition to how I feel the morning of the big run will affect my time.
Vonda and I will be headed to the other side town for lunch on Tuesday. Our purpose for going to that part of the city was to purchase a new pair of running shoes. This is my third pair to purchase since June. A good pair of running shoes should last somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 miles, depending on the kind of mileage you put on them. I want to break in my new shoes over the next two weeks so I can wear them in the marathon. Also, with purchasing a new pair of shoes, I will be motivated to continue my training habits when I return from Atlanta.
As for training for the remainder of the year I have a few other goals:
My heart started racing with adrenaline as I watched the clock tick away. I have been training for this puppy since December 1. Actually, my training began last June when I decided to get my fat self back into running shape. Since June 1 I have accumulated 840 miles.
The mileage breaks down into two segments—June 1 to November 30 and December 1 to March 6. From June 1 until November 30 I logged 400 miles, which calculates to 57 miles a month or 14.25 miles a week. From December 1 to March 6 I logged the remaining 440 miles, which calculates to 147 miles a month or 49 miles a week. The last three months I have obviously picked up the mileage as well as my pace.
As you can tell, training for a marathon is intense. And, as many of you know, I enjoy the intensity. I take pleasure in the discipline associated with such an effort. Sure, the training is time consuming. And, it can get in the way of many of your plans if you do not plan ahead for bad (or cold) weather, travel, out-of-town company and so on. But the results of such training are innumerable.
If the Lord is willing I want cross the finish line with a PR (Personal Record). Since I do not know the course layout yet, I am not willing to state publicly my goal time. If the course is hilly, I may not run as fast as I expect. If it is like my training courses around town, I should do quite well. The weather and in addition to how I feel the morning of the big run will affect my time.
Vonda and I will be headed to the other side town for lunch on Tuesday. Our purpose for going to that part of the city was to purchase a new pair of running shoes. This is my third pair to purchase since June. A good pair of running shoes should last somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 miles, depending on the kind of mileage you put on them. I want to break in my new shoes over the next two weeks so I can wear them in the marathon. Also, with purchasing a new pair of shoes, I will be motivated to continue my training habits when I return from Atlanta.
As for training for the remainder of the year I have a few other goals:
- I want to log 1000 miles in 2007. Since I have accumulated 350 in the last ten weeks, I think that is an attainable goal. With nine months remaining in the year I can average approximately 72 miles a month or 18 miles a week to reach that goal.
- I want to run two additional marathons during 2007. If the Lord is willing, I want to run the Nashville Marathon four weeks after I complete the Georgia Marathon on April 28. That all depends on how well my legs and knees recuperate from Georgia. My third marathon may be in November at the Chickamauga Battlefield in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
- I want to hit my target weight of what I weighed when I graduated from high school by June. I am getting closer and closer each week. That may be my biggest goal for the year. If I can reach that goal, I think I will be in good physical shape.
There are other goals I will not bore you with. I would be curious to hear what kind of fitness goals you have for the year. If you do not have any, take some time now to think about what you can do the next 90 days to get your body in better shape. I am convinced of this, the better we take care of ourselves and our bodies the more productive we can be for the Lord.
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