My Running Challenge

In 2008 I ran a Half-Marathon the weekend we got engaged. In 2009, I ran three 5K races and was regularly running three to five miles at least three times a week. I was in good shape, and my Honeymoon photos are a testament to that! Now, not so much.

The last time I ran was a really rough 5K on Halloween with my friend L (she cooks!). My time was a full 2 minutes from my best race time, and 3 minutes from my best training run. I was losing it! After the wedding, I got lazy. There was no dress to fit into, no beaches that required bikinis, and no motivation to stay in shape. Now I am about 10 lbs from my wedding weight and out of shape, although my work slacks would like me to think it's more like 25 (they are tight!).

I cringe at New Year's resolutions about losing weight. These just send out of shape people into the gym to trot in the elliptical for 10 minutes with no resistance: not gonna cut it! I don't want my resolution to be to lose these pesky 10 lbs. It won't work, plus I'd have to stop making fun of the people at the gym that do this. Instead, my mission is to get back to running shape. More specifically, I have a mileage goal for 2010:

In 2010, I will run 200 miles.

It doesn't seem like a lot, but I want to start slow. This breaks down to under 5 miles each week, but when you consider holidays, vacations, work functions and Pittsburgh weather, it really ends up being 6 miles per week. I hope I hit 300 this year, but I'll be happy with 200 miles. Then we can dream about all the places I could have run to that are 200 or 300 miles away!

I'll keep a countdown (or up) here on the blog. Hope to not let you down!

Day 1: Ran 2 miles, 198 to go.