Marathon Training is Quickly Approaching....

First of all, I would like to express my sympathy and deep sorrow for what the people of Newtown, CT went through yesterday. There are just not enough words to describe what a tragedy this is. I can't even imagine what it feels like to send a child to school, only to lose them in one of the places that was supposed to be safe for them. The entire town will be in my thoughts and prayers. 

I usually don't express political opinions in this blog, but it is pretty clear that action needs to be taken. Gun ownership needs to be more tightly regulated, and there needs to be a better system in place to help identify those who are mentally struggling before it's too late.  How many tragedies like this need to happen before the nation wakes up?

Time to get off my soapbox and get back to running. While last month was a wash, things are starting to change. 

It took a while, but it seems like I am finally getting back in the game, so to speak. Last week was the first time I ran over 30 miles since marathon training, and I will most likely accomplish the same thing this week. I realized that although I faced personal disappointment over the last couple of months, the year isn't over yet. 

I will be running my first 5K since March 2011, and to be honest, I am very nervous about it. I don't know the course, and the distance has become very foreign to me. While I expect to get a personal record by default, I know that I will still be disappointed in myself if I don't race to my full potential. I would love to average around a 7:45mm (or better) but we'll see what happens. 

On the bright side, I get this pretty mug. It's
nice not to get another shirt for a change!

I have also finalized my marathon training plan for R&R DC, which will include a few races either as marathon pace runs or tune-ups. I decided to use Pfitz's 12/55 week training plan. For those of you who don't know, this is a 12 week plan that peaks at 55 miles per week. I made slight modifications to the plan, mostly to change some of the long runs to Saturdays instead of Sundays, but otherwise it is very close to the original. I hope that I will be able to handle it. 

I hope to be able to write a positive race report tomorrow, but one will be written no matter what the outcome is. Even if I don't have the race I want, it will be a learning experience that will be worth analyzing. Thanks for reading!