By now you probably know that I am planning on running the Austin Marathon. It is being held in downtown Austin on February 17th, 2008. You probably also know that I’m not much of a runner. Sure, I can run. I even do run on a fairly regular basis. What I am not is a very good runner. I’m kind of fast (not very) over short distances, but really, really slow over long distances. Plus the farthest I have ever run is just over 7 miles quite a bit short of the 26 miles and 385 yards that defines a marathon. Oh, and that seven mile run? I got hurt and couldn’t run for several months after.
At this point you should be thinking something along the line of “What the heck is he doing running then?” or is “Is he stupid”. I’d answer “I don’t know” and “Maybe” respectively. But really I’ve wanted to run a marathon for some time. Then Mat, a friend at work, said he was going to run and asked if I would be interested. Sure, why not? The marathon was more than six months away and I knew I needed about 5 months or so for training. It sounded like fun and I guess I just needed a little push to do what I had already wanted to do. And as an added bonus it would give me an excuse to play with some gadgets and keep track of a lot of data. Yes, I am a nerd. No I’m not embarrassed by it. So expect to see graphs, charts, maps, and spreadsheets during this whole process.
My real goals here are fairly simple, but not at all easy to achieve:
- To complete the 2008 Austin Marathon
- Under 4 hours is my hope
- To enter the marathon uninjured and well prepared
- Increase my overall fitness
To meet the three goals above I have been working on a plan in each of the following areas. Expect more on each area later.
- Follow a training plan closely
- Stretch daily
- Eat right
- Run purposefully
- Improve focus and resolve
I will be creating a page (see the top of the website) with links to the data and nerdy stuff I mentioned earlier, plus more running info. Trust me, lots of data in the works!
Tags: ATT Austin Marathon, Austin, Marathon, Running
I really don’t know much about it, but my cousin’s husband has a nike/ipod thingy that tracks all sorts of data for his runs. You might find it helpful.
Like, I said, I don’t know much about it, otherwise I would give you more information than “it exists”. Perhaps a google search is in your near future. :o)
hence the buddist meditation book,
it is mind over matter
( good shoes cant hurt )