Last time I posted, I discussed a couple of my short term goals. Then it occurred to me that I often have these short term goals, but don't actually record them and make some sort of timeline for accomplishing them. I sort of say I'd like to achieve a particular goal at some point, then go on about my business and hope they happen over time and training. It's arbitrary. More so than I'd like it to be. Therefore, I decided to make a list of goals as well as a date or general time by which I intend to accomplish each one. This can be found on the "2011 Goals" tab. As you may have figured out, I'm a really big fan of spreadsheets. Occasionally I try to express my love of Microsoft Excel to someone, but typically all I get in response is blank stares or even looks of horror.
As I was writing them, I realized it's an ambitious set for one year. My hope, though, is that one builds upon the next. For example, the goals I mentioned on Wednesday. They sort of build upon one another. And once I can run a 5K in 24 minutes, it'll just be a matter of time before I can do 4 miles at that pace, then 5, then hopefully I can extend that to 13 miles to achieve my 2 hour half marathon goal. Others are simpler, like doing a pull up and completing the NYRR 9+1 program for entry into the 2012 New York City Marathon.
Yesterday I worked out with Jared again and we did a few circuits. Then, Jared told me to run a 5K and to record not only that time, but also my mile and how far I'd gone at the 20 minute mark. I was skeptical about this, as we'd already done quite a bit of working out. But I did it, and it turned out very well! After a quarter mile warmup, I ran a mile in around 7:25. Then I slowed my pace to 6.8 miles per hour, which is about an 8 minute and 48 second mile. Once I hit 20 minutes, I was at 2.68! In retrospect, that seems suspiciously high so I'll take it with a grain of salt. Regardless, though, making progress felt good. I finished the 5K in 25:48. Not the best, but definitely a good start.
In other unfortunate news, the Brooklyn half marathon sold out before I even knew it was open for registration! We're talking a couple of days, maybe. It's such a popular race that I'm starting to wonder when I'll get to run it again. Glad that I got to run it at least once though.
The only time I've used Excel when I wasn't being forced to for school was to make a spreadsheet for wedding purposes. Names, addresses, number of save the dates, number of invites, yes/no, etc. And I have to admit, it's working pretty awesomely. I hadn't thought of making one for work outs but that might be a good idea...
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