you can't stop progress

I ran my first 5k back in November of 2005, and a year later I ran my first half marathon.  Back when I first started running I was amazed at the number of races that were going on in Fresno.  There's a ton of local races ranging from 5k to half marathon.  We even have a race series where they keep track of the top finishers at all these local races.  I was really amazed at how big the running community was back then.

Now almost 8 years later it feels like it's just getting bigger and bigger.  Our small half marathon grew, and before I knew it we upgraded to having our local half marathon add a full marathon to the racing option in November.  In 2010 we would once again step up the distance and have the Fresno 50k, Marathon, and Half Marathon.  Unfortunately the 50k has been dropped, but I'm happy to say I ran the 50k both years it was offered.

In 2011 Fresno added another half marathon.  Our race that's held in November takes place in the North end of town.  The new event takes place in May in the downtown area of Fresno.

Now in 2012, there's another half marathon popping up.  Tomorrow morning will be the first running of the Wascally Wabbit Half Mawothon.  This race takes place at Woodward Park and will use the running trails that go throughout the park.

Now we have 2 half marathons in Fresno and one half/full marathon.  We also have all the awesome 5k, 6 mile, 10k, and 10 mile races. 

It's nice to see so many people getting into running and the local races filling up.

It's awesome to see things progressing the was they have.

Goals

I have many personal goals for the year 2012.  I want to finish four 100 mile races (3 down, one more to go) PR at many different distances (already hit a PR this year in 50k, 50 mile, and 100 mile... now I have to hit a 5k PR to make the year complete) and also finish this year with having ran 2000 miles or more.

The 2000 mile goal was a goal that I really wanted to hit last year, but I didn't keep very good records of my runs and I honestly have no idea how many miles I ran.  I think it was close to 2000 miles, but I'm not 100% sure.

This year I've been making sure to log every run.  To be on pace for a 2000 mile yearly total I need to be at 1500 miles by the end of September.  I'm happy to say that today is September 26th and I'm currently at 1512 miles.  I'm a few miles ahead of schedule.  I'm also happy that I still have 3 races lined up for this year.  I still have a marathon, a 50 miler, and a 125 mile race.  I need to run just under 500 more miles to hit a yearly total of 2000 miles.  In the next 3 months I'll run a total of 201 miles as long as I successfully complete my last 3 long races of this year.  That leaves me with just under 300 miles of training runs to accomplish in 3 months.  That's just 100 miles a month.  That is totally doable.

I've always felt to need to give myself yearly goals.  It's nice to see that I'm lined up to hit everyone of them this year.

I can honestly say the only one that has me nervous is hitting my 5k PR.  I need to run a sub 19 min time for a PR, and I'm pretty sure I can hit that time, but my ultimate goal is to run in under 18 mins.  For the next few weeks not only will I focus on my long runs, but I'll also be working on my speed work. 

It's going to take a lot of focus and training to hit my sub 18 goal, but I'm ready to put in the hard work to get it done.

2012 Headlands 100 video

Here is the video of me running the 2012 Headlands 100.  This was my 3rd year in a row running this event.  I ran this just 4 weeks after running the San Martin 100 miler.  I've never ran 100 mile events so close together before.  Running two 100 mile races so close together totally took a toll on my body, but I love doing these things.

Watch "Headlands 100 09 15 2012" on YouTube

Got my shoes ready!!!

I have my arsenal of shoes ready for the Headlands 100.  2 pair of New Balance 110 trail shoes (I'll run 25 miles in each of them) and a pair on the New Balance 1010 trail shoe (I'm running the last 50 miles in this one).