Planning for 2011

Well, last year was a pretty good year for me. I completed 2 full marathons. Who woulda thunk it!! And so begins a new year. And some new ambitions. We will see what 2011 will bring.

I have spent the past few weeks thinking about my various goals for 2011. I sat down and wrote most of them down today. It's going to be a great year. Here's what I have planned fitness wise for 2011:

First, I will run the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, AK on June 18, 2011. In conjunction with this, I will begin a 21 week plan as outlined in the book Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham. It is actually a 20 week plan, but I have expanded it to 21 weeks by doing week 19 twice due to an event I want to participate during the course of this training period that will fit better in the plan if I do this. The basic layout of the plan is running 3-4 days a week, cross training 2 days a week, and resting 1 day per week, sometimes 2. "Long runs" are every Saturday and vary from 5-20 miles, depending on the schedule. For cross training, I hope to begin doing some swimming, as I plan to participate in a triathlon in September. A couple of smaller races I intend to participate in during the first half of the year include The Frostbite Footrace on February 26th in Anchorage, and a half-marathon in Anchorage over Memorial Day weekend. My 21 week program begins on Monday, January 24th and will take me all the way to 3 weeks post-race. I will set a goal time for my marathon by week 11 of the training.

If anyone here uses Google Calendars and wishes to have access to my Marathon training schedule, send me a message and I'm happy to share that calendar with you. I have it set up as it's own calendar in my Google account and a click of a couple buttons will allow you access to see how long I'm scheduled to run or workout each day.

Second, I will put the studded bicycle tires back on my bike and begin riding to work daily. It's not very far, and I come home for lunch as well, but I am committed to biking to work 95% of the time, unless I am travelling out of town for work for any reason.

Third, I will begin a program to work myself up to being able to do 100 pushups in a row, non-stop. I have purchased an app on my iPod which will tell me how many to do each day and track my progress. I believe this is meant to be a 6 week program, with flexibility built in to allow you to slow down a little if you can't keep up with the schedule they give you. It entails doing pushups 3 days a week. My days will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will start on January 3.

Between now and January 24 when my training program begins, I will run 4 days per week for a minimum of 30 minutes whether on my dreadmill, outside, or laps around the rink during my sons' hockey games and practices.

Fourth, I will post an updated training program for the second half of the year prior to July 1, 2011. It will include my plans for running in the Kenai-Soldotna Unity Run in Mid-July 2011, and a triathalon in September in Homer, Alaska. I may identify some other races before that time to participate in as well.

Finally, I will run a minimum of 1 mile per day, EVERY DAY in 2011, in my Vibram Five Finger Shoes, or, as my kids call them, my toe shoes. While the specific shoes don't matter, I'm doing this one to become a member of the United States Running Streak Association, or USRSA. You can find details on this if you are interested at www.runeveryday.com.

Have a great 2011 everyone!!!!