January 14, 2013.  Just a few days into the new year.  Hopefully your resolutions are still that, and not just memories at this point.   

Like many of you, the holiday season is a great time to reflect on the year that was, and just as important look at the future to see how your experiences (or lack thereof) can make you a better father, worker, husband, wife, human, or as it relates to this blog – runner.  Whether you are trying to live a healthier lifestyle, lost a bet, or getting bribed by some coworkers, this sport takes consistent dedication to be great. Pending on the seriousness of your running goals, this dedication will vary – but to be the best you can be and maximize your potential, it is essential to constantly assess your progress and make changes as needed.  Before that, a realistic, yet difficult goal should be established. One that you or your running group creates. One that gives you that extra motivation to run get up at 4:30 am….after working for 12 hours the day before….when it is 35 degrees outside (I live in CA – that’s cold out here!). 

Now that I have been grinding away for a few years and trying to get my body where it needs to be to compete at a very high level the question of my running future often gets asked, whether it be that voice inside of my head or from one of the many people in my support system: When is my next race? What am I training for?

As I’ve just recently gotten over a recurring knee injury after the Chicago race, I had some time to lay out my goals – both long and short term.  Both exciting and daunting. 

With that being said, my running efforts and programs will be to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials.  With those great folks (bastards) over at USATF lowering the standard another minute, I will be focusing on breaking 2:18 in the marathon or 1:05 for the ½ marathon.  Nate Jenkins, who has been coaching me since this past summer will continue to bestow his wisdom upon me, aka kick my ass on a weekly basis. 

The second “exciting” part of this post to let you know that Lindsay’s pregnant with quadruplets!  Kidding.  I am going to post my weekly training on this site complete with commentary about how the prior week went – WOO HOO! One of my frustrations when researching how to get better has been the lack of information out there in regards to specific competitive programs as it seems like everyone is trying to hide their little secret to what has made them great. Not this guy.

One of the paradoxes that I’ve found in the marathon is that while it takes an overly competitive, driven, motivated, and seemingly crazy person to train for this race– I have yet to be in a situation where I was competing against my fellow runners more than I was working with them during the actual race.  Very rarely should you have a kick after 26 miles (in fact Nate emailed me Chicago preparations and said my kick started at mile 20…wtf) and at the end of each of my races, there has been a point where I am satisfied with the job done…or more likely, I’m too woozy to care at that point. Either way, I want others to be able to look at what I’m doing to hopefully improve in their own running and not hoard all the information that I’ve been fortunate enough to gather over my 14 year career.

I’ll do my best to update the blog each Monday. If you have any questions or need clarification don’t hesitate to ask!

Looking forward to the next couple of years with you!