Its the Title Fight, and in this Corner....

Today is September 25th.  And what, pray tell, does that have to do with anything?  Well, as it turns out, today marks the exact 20 week mark until the Trinidad to Clam Beach Run, of course!

Having said that, its time to keep score for the main event.  Its motivation -vs- Laziness.  That's right, Laziness has a proper name, and he is my nemesis.   Starting score:

Motivation = 0, Laziness = 0

Now, my last post was centered on the topic of the run, and essentially talks about me needing a little motivation.  And to revisit that subject for a moment, sadly my motivation in this arena has taken a bit of a hit, since I will be without my running partners. Mom and Dad (who so excitedly ran with me last year) apparently think going to Hawaii for two weeks is more important than spending half the day running in winter rain and fog.  I really can't understand what made them make such a decision.  After all, they could be here, with their son, running in weather that looks something like this:

That doesn't look so bad you say?  I'm willing to bet when the temps get to be in the low 50's, its raining and windy on the beach, this little rain storm feels more like this:

OK, yeah, perhaps that's an exaggeration.  Perhaps not.  Last year it was sunny when we started only started to rain after I had crossed the finish line. But I digress, slightly.  Getting back to the point, the folks, instead of chancing a slightly rainy run will be overlooking Napili Bay on Maui, which looks like this:

No contest, right?  OK fine, I can go with their decision to make these travel plans without checking in with me first.  After all, Napili Bay really is more appealing, in every possible way.  So I lost my running buddies. And the score changes for the first time.

Motivation = 0, Laziness = 1

So, what am I to do without my running buddies?  Well, first is to lay out a well formed plan.  Anyone who knows me should know my planning process.  First, there is research.  For example, should one look up the following on Google: 10K training schedule, in 0.13 seconds you receive over six million hits.  Fortunately, the WWW is smart enough to filter out the more useful ones and place them near the top of the list. 

And so I poured over various links, looking for a schedule that fit my needs.  Oh, whats that?  You want to know what my particular needs are in this endeavor? Well, they are two particular things:

1. I want to finish faster than I did last year. Last year my official chip time was 1:05:29.  That's 5.75 miles in just a little over an hour.  I ran into one of the Starbucks gals on race day, who later asked me what my time was.  When I told her, she asked me if I had walked some of it.  Ouch.  So don't fault me if I want to avoid that particular line of questioning this time around.  I want to be faster, and I want to be able to brag about it a little. 
2. I want to be able to walk at the end of a week of training.  Lets face it, running is a high impact sport.  And the ankle joints are pretty small compared to the amount of weight they have to bear.  And as I have made mention of before, my ankles suck.  And it doesn't take much to leave me sore and unhappy.  So I don't want to kill myself while I get ready for this process.

So with these two ideas in mind, I came across a plan I thought would suit my needs, with a little tweaking.  Its meant to be a 10 week schedule, and I get three rest days a week (Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday).  Over the course of the 10 week regimen, I'll be running longer distances and longer times, preparing for the big run come February 4th.  This is a pretty standard training schedule, and shouldn't really seem all too amazing in description.  The tweaking comes from the fact I'm going to throw in hill sprints to compliment my routine.  Building up the quads is a must if one intends to finish a race with a faster time. 

So, here comes the geek part.  I then took my plan, created an Excel spreadsheet, and mapped out my running schedule for the next four and a half months.  Yep, I'm a nerd.  But at least I know myself well enough to know if I don't have a plan laid out before me, I'll easily get distracted and probably fall by the wayside. 

So the plan is laid out, and I'm ready to begin.



Score:

Motivation = 1, Laziness = 1

As I'm finishing this post, I'm ready to start things up in the morning when I return home from work.  Let the games begin.  Laziness, I'm coming for you.