Sub 5?

So on Monday I officially ended my running streak at 105 straight days. My plan was to run 100, which I did, but afterwards I was unsure of where I wanted to take it, so I kept on going a few more days. However, for the past two weeks I have been very sluggish on my runs and decided it was time to take an easy week with a few days off and re-calibrate my goals for the year.

So with just some light running a few days this week, I have given much thought to where I want to take my running next. This has caused me to take a real good hard look at my goals for 2010 and I have decided to modify a few.

The first, finishing in the top 5 overall in the Fresno Runner of the Year series in the masters division. When I was younger I never placed an emphasis on winning a bunch of races and collecting all the accolades and trinkets that go with such endeavors, my focus was on running fast. At the beginning of the year I was afraid to mention any times that I would want to shoot for, but after running 11:41 for two miles two weeks ago, I know I can go much faster. So instead of placing in the top 5 in the Fresno series, I am going to focus on getting in shape to hit the track in May. I do not want to hit the Masters Champs in July slogging through a 5000 and 10000 trying to survive, I want to compete! Soooo, here it goes, in the mile I want to run sub 5 minutes this summer, sub 17:00 for the 5000 and sub 35:00 for the 10000.

Now I know those are not blazing times, but after 8-9 years of not being on the racing scene and having ran more over the past 3 months than I have over the past 3 years, these are some pretty hefty times to shoot for! Impossible? No. Difficult and demanding? Yes. Doable? Absolutely. Can I do it? This is the goal!

Second, now until Masters Championships I want to average 65-70 miles per week. My original goal was 3000 miles for the year and it still is, but now as I approach conquering that goal, I have a deliberate plan of attack that is based on racing results rather than mileage results. I honestly believe, if you want to seriously race, you need to run some serious miles. If you look at the fastest guys in distance running, they are putting in 100-140 miles per week. As a 43 year old, with a career and family, my 100 mile week days are over for the most part, but I can still run 70 if I am disciplined. Now it is simply a matter of do I want it bad enough? We shall see.

Now time to refocus the training and get busy learning to run fast again.

Until the next time, keep running and stay healthy!
SP