As I am writing this, I note that it is January 1st: Time to make my annual New Year’s Resolution. I had actually already decided in October that I would start up ab crunch exercises and hopefully reduce the size of my pot belly (though I have made that promise before). One important thing to consider when making your resolution is not whether you will break it, but whether it will break you.
In 2001, I told many of you that my end of the year goals were to run 50 races and 1500 miles (final totals - 54 races, 1550 miles). However, in November, I reaggravated my plantar fasciitis injury and actually forced myself to take the last week of 2001 off completely to give it half a chance to heal. This is not to say that you shouldn’t set goals for yourself in running, but instead, that you should be realistic.
I read an interesting article last year about someone wanting to run a marathon with no mileage basis (see Warren Nichols for how that feels). This person had read that you can safely run 1 a mile easy (that’s 1 mile per WEEK), and then increase your mileage by 10 percent every week until you can run that total distance. So, they set down on paper what that would entail: Week 1 - 1.0 miles, Week 2 - 1.1 miles...Week 13 - 3.2. It seems like pretty slow going, but if you work it all the way out, at the end of the year, you theoretically should be able to run 130.4 miles (that’s ~30 kilometers, 7 days a week!).
As doctors often say, everything is best when done in moderation. If your goal is to run more miles in the year, work your way up slowly. If you want to improve your race pace, throw in some speed training, but listen to your body and work your way up. If you take it easy, the faster speeds will feel normal rather than gut-wrenching.
It reminds me of the summer that my father made me swim 30 laps and do 30 sit-ups every day. I was conscientious with the swimming, but I really didn’t like the sit-ups. I decided to get them all over with at once, and did 360 sit-ups at the end of the first two weeks. The result? I couldn’t stand up straight for THREE weeks.
My AREC resolution? To help everyone reach their goals, and to do it with a minimum of pain and without injury.