Looking Ahead

I had a rather long post written here, on which I'd been working for a while. I write a great deal about running - and that will only increase, to be honest - but very little about what, specifically, I do. Moreover, I don't have any clearly stated goals. What is it I want to achieve? Boston? Western States? A number? A distance? A pace? I had a written an awful lot, in an attempt to address all of that, but instead I will just say this: No. None of that, specifically.

I simply want to be better; and that's it, really. I think specifics are best left to those with real talent, who target one or two races a year, for which they must be completely and totally optimized.

But for the rest of us, I don't think fitness is truly that picky. When you're well and truly fit, you'll probably be  faster across a pretty wide spectrum of distances. I ran a half marathon PR as a training run (meaning I had to stop for traffic, carry a bottle, etc.) for a 50 mile race in which I placed 3rd. There is little similarity in system stress between the two, and I could talk a great deal about that, but I won't.

I won't because there is as yet not much to say. I'm not nearly as fit as I'd like - nor will I ever be - but I'm pleased with my trajectory. So pleased, that I'd like to keep it for another 20 years or so. That, I suppose, is the only real goal I have: I want to be faster at 45 than 25. Faster at what distance? I don't know. Something between 5K and 100 miles, which really narrows it down.

The plan, then, is do hard but sustainable work for the foreseeable future, and see what happens. That, unfortunately, does not a terribly exciting post make. You have to wait 20 years for the payoff, after all.

But I am racing twice in July, so do look forward to the thrilling accounts of those bipedal excursions. My goals: Do the best I can that day. I'd really prefer if "my best" wins me a $100 gift card to the local/organic grocer, but we'll see. The plan: As always, run like hell. Racing is all that is lucid and true about the human experience, and it deserves nothing but everything your legs have that day. Two weeks, and I wake up.