Not one and done!

Certainly, finishing the SV Marathon gave me the noted 'Runner's High' and it was hard not to feel a sense of accomplishment (and also oncce again start questioning one's sanity for doing this!) But a combination of reflecting back on the season that was, and the newly acquired fitness (and not wanting to let it go!) made it a fairly easy choice for me!

I am happy to report though that I have been keeping up with running in the 'off-season'. I took 2 days off after SV and thanks to Coach Martina, we were back running on the Wednesday after the marathon!

Since then, I have been running 3 days a week for the most part (except for one down week when our son was born and another due to a bad bout of the flu) and trying to keep between 20 and 25 miles a week. Also, one of the added benefits of being where I am now is the proximity to Rancho San Antonio Park - man, that place is made for Hill Training. I have been running exclusively at Rancho for the past few months and most of my runs have been hill runs.

Winter running is not for the really warm-blooded :-) Some days it was so cold in the morning that there was a sheet of ice across the puddles in Rancho. The temperature more often than not was in the 30s and it was COLD. After one foolish run without gloves or a cap to cover the ears (as a result of which my hands were so cold that I could not drive for 15-20 minutes), I invested in a pair of gloves and a ski-type cap. The other annoying factor has been the constant rain the past month or so - sometimes I wonder if I have somehow been teleported to Seattle!

So, in January, after a couple of months of running, I realized that it is hard to keep running (especially in the winter) without a goal. So, I picked the Kaiser Permanente PAMA Kids Half Marathon in San Francisco (on Feb 3, 2008) as a target to see where I was in terms of fitness and time etc. (I have not run a half since San Francisco in July). And after being on the fence for ever, I figured with all the training, why not give Big Sur a shot? I am happy to report that I have also registered for the Big Sur Marathon on April 27, 2008 (the tough hilly course which makes up for it with the outstanding scenery!)

Goals for the Kaiser half:
1) Try and better previous half marathon time (I finished the SF first half in 2 hours and 15 minutes - 10:20 pace)
2) Try and finish under 2 hours.
3) Enjoy the run and have fun!

I am positive I can achieve 1) and 3). 2) is a stretch goal as I have not had much in terms of speed workouts/tracks in the off-season. My hope is that all the hill training has added strength and also will help with pace on a fairly flat course.