And just like that the 3rd quarter of 2010 is gone! I find it hard to believe that 2010 is 3/4 finished. I can't say that I am too sad to see the end of the quarter, it contained some of the hottest and most humid temperatures of the year. Fourth quarter might contain some of my favorite running days of the entire year, it brings with it cool fall days and many of my favorite races. However, before we can look forward to a new quarter we must look back at the one that just passed.
My running goals for 2010 are to:
1. Run 10 half marathons during the year 2010.
2. Record new personal records (PRs) in each distance.
3. Run 1,000 miles in 2010
Goal 1. Run 10 half marathons during the year 2010.
Half marathons were not a huge focus for me in the third quarter, it just isn't a good time of the year for that because it is too hot in Texas. The best place to catch a summer half marathon is north of here.....WAY north of here! In fact, there were only two half marathons on my calendar for the entire summer: the Hottest Half on August 15 and Heels and Hills and Him on September 26. If you have been following along, you know that the Hottest Half totally lived up to its name. About half way in I decided that it might be a good day to go for a PW (personal worst) and I decided to try to have some fun. I took pictures, visited with friends, and enjoyed some walk breaks. I don't think that anyone would blame me, it was 85 degrees at 7:00 am and the humidity was at least 80%. Ugh. Heels and Hills and Him was completed last weekend. I used this as a chance to refocus my intensity and get back on track with sub 2 hour races. That brings my total to 8 half marathons in 2010...only 2 to go! We added an extra half marathon to the calendar--the Tyler Rose Half is on 10/10/10 and seemed like a good opportunity for a short weekend get away (if you can call Tyler a "get away"). After that there is the DRC Half in November and White Rock in December, two of my favorite races and a great way to wrap up my goal--with an extra half to spare (You guessed it, I was always the kid who turned in the "extra credit" assignments).
Goal 2. Record new personal records (PRs) in each distance.
Personal Records (PRs) are not something that I focused too much on during this quarter. Facts are facts, it is just too hot to try to break any records during the summer months. I always try to better my time from a race that I have run the previous year, but I am also realistic about the chances of PRs. The biggest PR came on July 3 at the Liberty By the Lake 5K. I don't race many 5Ks and I knew that this was my best shot for a PR, short of signing up for an extra race down the road. I also had a "secret" goal of placing in my age group. The mission was accomplished and I took home a 2nd place trophy. I still can't believe that happened! I started the year with a 10K PR, but I had been hoping for a "do over" since I had improved since January and thought that I could do it better. The Tour des Fleurs 10K was held almost two weeks ago and made me question how I "officially" track PRs. I finished the race in 55:47, what I thought was 2 seconds behind my PR from January. I noticed later that the January 10K was gun timed and my official time was 55:59, although I had 55:45 on my watch. I think that I will leave this with an * knowing that the conditions were much harder in September (you guessed it, hot and humid!). I consider this goal complete as I am happy with the progress that I made this year and do not know if it is realistic to hope for more. At this point I would like to match the PR times set throughout the year.
Goal 3. Run 1,000 miles in 2010.
This goal might have been my biggest focus during this quarter and I really feel that it helped me get through the miserable summer months. I had a huge milestone during this quarter and it was a direct result of this goal. I have been running for over two years now and had never had a 100 mile month. August was the perfect opportunity as the calendar provided me with a fifth Sunday and Tuesday--days that I typically run. I have to admit, this got me going on some of those gross mornings when it was so humid and I was so tired. I was quite exhausted as I finished up mile 100, but I was also hugely satisfied. I am not sure why I picked the hottest month of the year for my highest mileage month, that is just how it works out sometimes. The totals are: July 90.07, August 100.38, September 76.98 for a quarterly total of 267.43 and a yearly total of 777.01. That leaves me with 222.99 miles to run in the remaining quarter of 2010 (an average of 74.33 each month). It is my plan to blow past this goal and not be scrambling for extra miles in December.
So there you have it. The numbers have had their quarterly crunching and I feel refocused and ready to finish up 2010's goals. I can't wait to get started on the fourth quarter, perhaps the best one of the year! I am already thinking of new goals for 2011....
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