Set a Goal

Goals must be measurable, achievable and time sensitive.  I think goals should also be written and shared with an accountability partner to assist you in reaching them.

Another cross country parent and I decided we'd run in the 3K parent race at the conclusion of our Home meet on September 10th, ONLY 4 weeks away!  Rebecca is a smoker and has not run before...but she has decided she wants to compete in that parent race.  4 weeks is not a lot of time to train...but we began with our goal of finishing the race in mind. 

First we decided that we'd meet during cross country practice 3 days a week.  We'd already been power walking on those days...so that wasn't hard to do.  We then decided that we'd each run at our own pace and distance until we established some initial time and distance baselines.  Then we added gradual incremental distances and minutes to our workout to assure we'd be able to run a 3K (1.8 miles) on September 10th.

August 4th I ran a 10:17 mile...OK-I am never going to win a race at that pace, but I was very pleased to post a 10:07 mile (on a flat course) in 100 degrees and a heat index of upper 90s.  I began running when I was 47 and my youngest was in the 2nd grade when she joined her cross country team (she is now an 8th grader so you do the math!).  I was a parent runner, keeping pace with the slower kids...Now 6 years later, I can't even see the kids in the slowest group...but still run/speed walk for exercise with my DH.  I decided to run a mile or two each practice and...viola!  Now I'm pumped and can't wait to get back our on the course to see if I can do it again.

One week later, August 11th,  I trimmed 43 seconds off that time and ran a 9:24 mile!  Rebecca ran her first mile ever at a blistering pace of 11:03.  Way to go Rebecca!  We're on our way. 

We plan on running 3 days a week and logging 3 miles by the week of September 5th. 
We'll keep you posted on our progress!  Join us?