Planning, planning...

I'm ahead of schedule with thinking of my 2012 running resolutions.  Don't worry - to balance it out, I am behind on my Christmas shopping.

I'm trying to work out what goals are both optimistic and realistic.  And like most folks, I like round numbers.

I'll start with my goals for the two shorter distances, which can be unified with one word - break.

For the 5K I want to break 30.  That's coming off of a PR of 31:03.

For the 10K I want to break 60.  That's coming off of a PR of 1:07:26.

Both of these goals are stretches, but might not be as much as they appear on their face.  The 5K might be slightly harder.  My PR there came from a race that I ran with my cousin, where she was urging me along the whole way.  On the other hand, that PR also came with mile splits of 9:30, 10, 10:30.   I'd like to see what happens when I give myself an easy mile warmup before the actual race, and then aim to speed up from the first mile.    I think that with my current distance training I will be able to break 30 in the 5K.

The 10K PR I have is from a race where I did some large amounts of walking.  And included a  lot of hills, a hot day, and some urgency with bathroom issues.  I've had some mental problems handling the 10K distance, but I think I am past that with my current training as well as my success with the 6.66 mile run at Halloween.  Breaking 60 is more difficult with the 10K of course because of the race duration.  But I feel right now that I am used to 6 mile runs being a normal mid-week run.  With that I feel more confident racing them.

So - part 1 of my goals.  Look forward to part 2+!  I have a lot of thinking going on!

Today I am thankful for...my Dad.  Yeah, saved one of the best for last.

My dad is awesome because:

* He always makes me laugh.  I definitely inherited his sense of humor.

* He understands the work I do.  When I talk tech (or as tech as I get from my job), he understands it and asks questions that help me understand more!

* He takes pride in my accomplishments. He especially encourages my running and has seen me race twice.  He actually might even spectate my marathon.  Since my big goal there is...no, that's something I'll share later, let's just say it's a long time...he might get bored, but he'll be there anyway!

* He's my dad.  And that's enough.