First 10 miler of 2007

I'm back. Ok, just like every year I claimed that this would be "the big year" for running. And why not? Sure others have failed in the past but look what I got going for me - A) the year starts in the summer when the runnings good B) the winter isn't very cold C) I don't have to travel that much for work and can attempt to run while I'm doing personal travel and D) there just can't be too many things that disrupt my schedule while I'm down here.

My other problem is that I change my running all the time - I'm going to record every .1 mile; I'm never going to record my distance; I'm only running for fun; I need to break my PR; I'm going to be an ultra runner; I'm concentrating on 10 milers; I'm a trailrunner; I'm a mountainrunner - you get the point. But this year I have two goals and I think I can accomplish both:

1) Break 1500 miles for the year (that's a little less than 30 miles per week).
2) BQ at the Melbourne Marathon in October.

So how did the year start out? It was atrocious. The first two weeks I couldn't get it together. The first week I ran 13 miles and the second I ran 8. But I picked it up this week, Sunday night I ran a good paced 5 and Monday night ran a strong, comfortable, and confident 10. I was able to keep my speed down, which can be a problem for me since my most efficient stride is around 7:30 min/mile but found one at about 8:30 min/mile. I worked on my stance a bit, I've been leaning back a lot lately so I tried out a slight forward lean that sort of pulls me forward.

The main goal for the year is the BQ and I have a lot of work to do for that, especially road work, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to have some fun. I have trails, mountains, and beaches all around me and I plan on using them.

This week:
S - 5mi (done)
M - 10mi (done)
T - off (work)
W - 6mi
T - 4mi
F - 5mi
S - off (tour of Melbourne)

And either Wednesday or Thursday will be in the trails at Lysterfield park.