3 hours 40 minutes

That's what my marathon time would have to be in order to qualify for Boston. So, I'm only looking at shaving about 1 hour off my current time. While its fun to fantasize about qualifying for Boston, its not something I'm really set on. If it ever does happen, that would be great, but if not, there are lots of other fun marathons all over the world that don't require a fast time.
So, I've been slacking pretty badly with this new blog. However, I have not been slacking with my runs. This past December was much better than December 2006. I was able to run on a fairly regular basis, and I definitely worked out on a regular basis. I'm into spinning now, so I'm going to try and keep going once a week. January has arrived, though, and last week I got the last bike (i.e. the worst bike that is pretty much broken next to the 300 lb man that may have go into cardiac arrest at any minute.) I forgot that January is "resolution month" for most of the world, and all those people that stopped going to the gym suddenly crawl out of the cracks and invade group fitness classes.
Last Saturday was the official start of the Flying Pig training group. I was really excited to get an e-mail from Erik (training buddy from the fall marathon group) asking if Lindsay and I would be running with the Spot again. We both said yes, but I never got a response from Erik, and I didn't see him last week. I was really excited though, because Lindsay and Holly, friends from the last training group, were both there. We had a timed five mile run to help divide the group into two more manageable parts.
Okay, a brief rant about the group size: last year, the training group had a cap, and once that number was reached, no one else could sign up. This year, though, it looks like someone is getting greedy, because there seemed to be over 200 people that showed up last Saturday, and it was ridiculously crowded. Also, I don't know how safe you can really be with a group that size. I think that if it would have been my first training group, I would have quit after seeing how many people were there. Its mean to think it, but I can't deny that I hope some people will drop out. I just think the giant group is unmanageable.
Anywho, the cut off for the timed run was 47:00 minutes. If you were under that time, you would be in one group (the "faster" group.) Over that time, and you're in the slower group. As I've said before, I'm not fast. Ten minute miles are my friend. Somehow, though, while training for the Thanksgiving 10k, I really got speed into my brain. I don't know if its that, the spinning classes, or a combination, but somehow I have trimmed about 30 seconds off my mile time. I doubt my marathon pace is going to be 9:30, but I think it will be faster than my 11 minute miles last year. The down side to my new found speed - my buddies in the group fall behind me and I find myself running alone. This is kind of defeating the purpose of running with the group. I need to adjust my mentality back to "marathon" and hopefully I will be able to run this Saturday without going all out (like I did last Saturday and again this past Wednesday when we ran another 5 miler.)
Tomorrow we meet at lunken for 6-8 miles. I used to love Lunken because of its flatness, and the positive connotation I had with it being the first place I ever ran five miles without stopping to walk. The more I run there, though, the more I hate it. Its just boring, and I've come to learn that flat run does not always equal enjoyable run. We'll see how it goes.
I got a Garmin Forerunner for my birthday. It tracks speed, distance, heart rate, and calories burned, which I think is pretty sweet. You can then upload your workout info online. I think there is a way to link it, so I will try that next time and see if I can connect it to my blog.
Well, I think that's all for now. I will try to be more diligent about my blogging in the future, and I'm sure I will have more to write about now that Flying Pig training has officially begun.

Snow

My first post. Such high expectations to live up to (my own, of course.) This blog is mostly to record my running adventures, but I can't promise I won't digress now and then.

One year and forty pounds ago, I started running. Well, it wasn't quite that simple. Through high school, college, and beyond, I had gained weight and become less and less active then I once was. In high school I had done a few 5ks and never forgot the feeling of accomplishment I had after finishing. Last year I had reached a point of deep unhappiness with various aspects of my life: myself and my job. I decided to start changing what I had most control over - myself. I was so out of shape, I could barely run for two minutes without having to walk. So that's how I started, run two, walk two, run two, walk two. Until finally I built up enough endurance to run for 30 minutes. Cincinnati has an annual Thanksgiving Day 10k race, and I thought "why not?" I discovered a training group at the local running store and jumped in with both feet.

I was able to finish that 10k last year in 62 minutes. I was so nervous and terrified of not finishing, but when I did, I knew that I couldn't stop there. I discovered an eclectic, eccentric group of people who never made me feel out of place or awkward, even thought I wasn't fast. It was the first time in my life when I was able to participate in a sport with a group of people and really, truly enjoy myself. So, after that 10k I joined for the full year of training groups in 2007. I completed the Flying Pig Half Marathon, and then, despite an injury that initially set me back, I completed both the Chicago and Columbus Marathons. (Chicago 2007 survivors - we deserved more than a finisher's medal.)

Over this past year, the weight slowly came off, and I gained confidence and knowledge. Last month, one year later, I ran the Thanksgiving Day 10k again. This time, I finished in 56:55. It's still not really "fast," but I'm really proud of that time. This year, I wasn't afraid of not finishing. I was proud of myself for starting.

So, here I am in December, the most difficult running month of the year for me. There are no training groups, and its dark and cold. Not conducive to getting the mileage in. I've been doing pretty well so far, though. When I can't run, I go to spinning class at my gym. I'm also taking this time to try and get some more strength training in. (Especially upper body, since I have to wear a strapless dress in my friend's wedding in June.) Today was a spinning day, because it snowed, sleeted, and is now raining. It's supposed to snow again tomorrow, and I had a long run planned. I hope to at least get a few miles in using my yax trax. They are like magic - fitting over your running shoes and providing amazingly good traction on snow and ice. That's the goal for tomorrow.

Goals for next year? I plan on running the full Flying Pig Marathon in May. I'm going to enter the lottery for the New York City Marathon, but if I don't get in, I'll do Columbus or some other close marathon. My Columbus Marathon time this year was 4:53. I'd like to get down to 4:45 (which I know is entirely possible) and then maybe 4:30 in 2009. Every time I started training for something this year, I said "it seems impossible to run that far. I just can't imagine it." But every time, I made it, often surpassing my own expectations. So, we'll see what's in store for 2008. I think its going to be a great year.