Happy 2018!

I hope everyone had a good New Year’s Eve and first week of 2018.

Ours was low key. Ben fell ill and I got a bit of something as well, but I’m perfectly fine now and Ben is on the mend. Currently we’re dogsitting my friend’s two dogs while she and her family are on a warm vacation. She takes care of Bandit while Ben and I are traveling, so we’re very happy to return the favor. All three dogs are cuddly and snuggly, so this means that during the day they insist on sitting on top of me. It’s a little difficult to get any work done, but I feel very loved.

It’s been very cold in New York City, thanks to the bomb cyclone. We pretty much didn’t go out. Instead I cooked hearty food, ran on the treadmill, and watched movies and funny YouTube clips. Because of various health concerns that I have (asthma, bronchitis, etc), I’m cautious about running outside. If I’m worried about something, then I’ll play it safe and run on the treadmill. I had to do a long run of 10 miles on the treadmill. It was tough, especially the last 25% of it, but I got it done.

During our forced stay inside the house, I discovered a YouTube channel called Run 30. The guy, Karl, makes various running clips making fun of runners. The quality of the clips is variable, but I did like three clips where he critiqued running forms of actors’ running in movies.

Break Down Hollywood Running Form Part I

Break Down Hollywood Running Form Part II

Break Down Hollywood Running Form Part III

Running Goals

• Sub-22 5K
• Sub-1:40 HM

These are the next natural goals for me in terms of running. I’m not sure when I’ll get the sub-22 5K. Perhaps I’ll try for it in the spring, but more likely I’ll go for it in the fall. The sub-1:40 I’ll attempt this in the late spring. Right now the running is a lot of slow base miles. Because I’m in better shape than when I first started coaching, the mileage is longer, but it’s the same slow easy running with some strides. Once a week, I do a short workout, like a fartlek, or a short interval training, to keep up speed.

I didn’t say anything about a marathon, not because there’s another secret marathon in the works. I don’t feel the need to do more secret training. It was something I had to do last year and it paid off. I’m going back to work full time later this month. There have been a number of changes at work (all good), so hopefully this means that I will no longer be operating at a high level of stress in the short run. I am in line for a change of position, but it is not clear when this will happen. It could be later this year. It could be next year. When it happens, it does mean that there will be increased responsibility (and stress) and that role will pretty much dictate my life. I cannot train for a marathon while I am in the new position. Since I don’t know what will happen beyond six months from now, I’m not going to commit to anything major beyond early June.