It's January 31 and I'm sitting at 68 miles run through last night. If I was on pace, I'd be at 81 miles, or 83.7 by the end of the day today. Add in my walking miles and I'm well over - 92 total miles.
It's not too bad so far, but I'll admit that the treadmill is a bit boring. Did 6 miles the other day while in Hershey - no TV, so that was a drag. I finished Better Call Saul season 1 on Netflix and have moved on to Narcos for my running entertainment. Can't wait until March / April when it stays lighter later and warms up for some consistent outside running. Snow rolling in today through overnight...
Happy with my progress so far - in my last post, I indicated that I'd be happy coming out of Feb at 120 miles, and I'm more than half way to that total and running further in each session. Health permitting, I should be able to exceed that 120 mile target fairly easily.
On we go!
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Magnitude sinking in...
The magnitude of this goal is slowly revealing itself... 2.7 miles per day is required to hit 1000 miles in a year. Here I am, on Jan 19, and I'm sitting on 35 miles (1.8 miles per day on average). I'm not even averaging 2 miles per day even though I've been running 4 mile clips pretty consistently, and each day that I don't hit 2.7 miles is beginning to weigh on me...
Of course, my hope is to tread water during the winter months where treadmill running is the norm - and where running more than 5 or 6 miles is mind-numbing at best (nothing against Better Call Saul, but I can't binge while on the treadmill even though it's proving to be pretty darn good). Then, as the weather improves, I'll stretch out for some longer runs, perhaps train for some half- or full-marathons, and make up for some of the low mileage during the winter months.
It's going to be tough, no doubt. I need 83 1/3 miles per month, so if I can come out of Jan and Feb at 120 total miles - 46 2/3 short of the monthly target - I should be able to make up those missing miles with 3 months of 100 miles. It's going to take dedication and consistency... but I knew that heading into this. Here's my running log to date:
Of course, my hope is to tread water during the winter months where treadmill running is the norm - and where running more than 5 or 6 miles is mind-numbing at best (nothing against Better Call Saul, but I can't binge while on the treadmill even though it's proving to be pretty darn good). Then, as the weather improves, I'll stretch out for some longer runs, perhaps train for some half- or full-marathons, and make up for some of the low mileage during the winter months.
It's going to be tough, no doubt. I need 83 1/3 miles per month, so if I can come out of Jan and Feb at 120 total miles - 46 2/3 short of the monthly target - I should be able to make up those missing miles with 3 months of 100 miles. It's going to take dedication and consistency... but I knew that heading into this. Here's my running log to date:
- Jan 1 - 3 miles
- Jan 3 - 3 miles (6 total)
- Jan 6 - 3 miles (9 total)
- Jan 9 - 4 miles (13 total)
- Jan 11 - 4 miles (17 total)
- Jan 12 - 3 miles (20 total)
- Jan 14 - 4 miles (24 total)
- Jan 15 - 4 miles (28 total)
- Jan 16 - 4 miles (32 total)
- Jan 18 - 3 outdoor miles (35 total)
If I really need to bend the rules (my rules, after all), I can do what a co-worker is doing and count any mileage where I'm propelling myself - walks, dog-walks, family hikes, etc. If I include those items, I could already add another 10 miles to my total (for a total of 2.4 miles per day on average). I hope to not have to go that route as it defeats part of the purpose of the goal - not to belittle walking, but I'm hoping to achieve several side-goals as a result of this effort, including weight loss, running pace improvement, new racing distances, etc. and I don't think walking will impact those as effectively as running will...
More to come!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
My 2017 goal overview
My goal for 2017 - running 1,000 miles - is largely inspired by a man named Danny Chew. You can easily google him, but here's a quick summary... Danny, a Pittsburgh native, set a lifetime goal of cycling 1 million miles outdoors. For those that know anything about Pittsburgh, he's not able to take advantage of all 12 months of the year to achieve that goal due to the harsh snowy winters. He's kept meticulous records of his mileage, which you can also find via Google.
I first stumbled upon his name because of The Dirty Dozen bike race, a Thanksgiving weekend tradition in Pittsburgh for 30+ years that involves climbing 13 of the city's steepest hills while riding more than 50 miles. You can also Google the race to find some crazy YouTube footage of people falling over on the steepest climbs!
Unfortunately, Danny had an accident while riding in late 2016 and is currently partially paralyzed. He is still planning on completing his lifetime goal although a hand-cycle may now be required. His website reports that he surpassed 600K in 2006 and 700K in 2012, so I suspect he's currently somewhere around 760K (based on 100K every 6 years).
While reading more about him following the accident, he had a mantra that was similar to my goal of last year, which was to run every road in East Greenwich, RI starting and ending at my house (read about it here). His saying is something along the lines of "why would you ride the same road again if there's a road that you haven't ridden yet." I can't say that I will follow that mantra as I strive to achieve my goal, but I have some ideas about extending my coverage area in Rhode Island...
I have finished 2 indoor runs on the treadmill - 3 miles on Jan 1 and another 3 miles today (Jan 3). I will need to average just under 3 miles per day, but I obviously won't be running every day - my hope is that I can use this year-long goal as a springboard to multiple half marathons and perhaps a full marathon. The most I've run in a year is about 500 miles (last year, with 350 miles being directly involved in my EG accomplishment), so this is indeed a stretch for me - I have no doubt I'm physically capable of doing it, but can I remain motivated for the duration? Time will tell...
I first stumbled upon his name because of The Dirty Dozen bike race, a Thanksgiving weekend tradition in Pittsburgh for 30+ years that involves climbing 13 of the city's steepest hills while riding more than 50 miles. You can also Google the race to find some crazy YouTube footage of people falling over on the steepest climbs!
Unfortunately, Danny had an accident while riding in late 2016 and is currently partially paralyzed. He is still planning on completing his lifetime goal although a hand-cycle may now be required. His website reports that he surpassed 600K in 2006 and 700K in 2012, so I suspect he's currently somewhere around 760K (based on 100K every 6 years).
While reading more about him following the accident, he had a mantra that was similar to my goal of last year, which was to run every road in East Greenwich, RI starting and ending at my house (read about it here). His saying is something along the lines of "why would you ride the same road again if there's a road that you haven't ridden yet." I can't say that I will follow that mantra as I strive to achieve my goal, but I have some ideas about extending my coverage area in Rhode Island...
I have finished 2 indoor runs on the treadmill - 3 miles on Jan 1 and another 3 miles today (Jan 3). I will need to average just under 3 miles per day, but I obviously won't be running every day - my hope is that I can use this year-long goal as a springboard to multiple half marathons and perhaps a full marathon. The most I've run in a year is about 500 miles (last year, with 350 miles being directly involved in my EG accomplishment), so this is indeed a stretch for me - I have no doubt I'm physically capable of doing it, but can I remain motivated for the duration? Time will tell...
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