November the Oneth

Today is November the oneth and that has me thinking about goals. I have mentioned on this blog that I am training for a marathon, but I have not told you which one. Or have I? I am registered for the Mississippi River Marathon, which is scheduled for the first Saturday in February. It has been a few years since I ran an official 26.2 so I thought it was about time. 

Also on my list is the Mississippi Trail 50 50 miler. I have not officially registered so I hope I am not too late. I think they limit the field due to permits from the national forrest people or something like that. If I miss getting into that one, I will do something crazy on my own. I am in a crazy mood, and I have been thinking crazy thoughts for a long time now.

What do I need to do training-wise, and how is it going? My mileage is a little low, but I am beginning to develop some endurance. I have been ruunning hills pretty regularly of late, which is always a good thing. My strength training is also going well especially seeing that I just set a lifetime PR on the squat yesterday. Where am I short?

I am short in several areas. One area I am short in is swimming. Swimming? you exclaim. Yeah, I know that is not hightly important to running, but it is part of overall fitness. Not only that, but in the past, I have experienced arm fatigue while running a marathon. It's a long time to hold your forearms at a ninety degree angle. I am also a bit short on interval training although I have been doing a touch of that of late. The biggest shortfall in my training, however, concerns my weight. I am still too heavy and have been for a couple of years. If I drop fifeteen pounds, my VO2 max automatically goes up as does my endurance and speed. Furthermore, the stress running places on my body goes down. What's not to like about that?

In short, I just need to keep grinding, and I need to start pushing the plate back. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving Break when I hope to set a weekly mileage PR for 2022. I will have time to get in my truck everyday if I choose to. What does my truck have to do with it? I can drive to the kind of places I have been driving to lately on Fridays and do some long and fun runs. 

Life is good with goals. If you don't have any goals of your own, try to set some. There are health goals, fitness goals, intellectual goals, financial goals, and spiritual goals. By the grace of God, we can all be better, and we should be. In the words of David Goggins, "Get after it." Get out there and do something. Read that book that has been on your list. Start walking, begin going back to the gym. Do it now, don't wait for the new year.