Year in Review

According to my Runner's World running log, I ran 412.8 miles during the last 4 months of 2007. I began running in May but unfortunately didn't begin tracking miles until September. November and December were my most productive months - I ran 118 miles both months. Cumulatively I ran for 69:19:47, which is 2 days 21 hours. It sure felt like more than that. I realized yesterday that I ran just about every single mile on concrete - which is no bueno for the knees (which have been somewhat sore).

I ran three races throughout the course of 2007. One 5K, one relay (3.79 miles), and the half marathon. Lord willing, this will be the fewest races I'll run in a year.

I ended up reaching my goal weight of 200 pounds. I now have a revised goal weight of 185 (sounds ridiculous and unreachable to me), which I plan to discuss more when I post our 2008 goals and resolutions (if we ever get around to it).

Here are a few non-running events that took place:
1) Allie had her first birthday.
2) Paige and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
3) I completed my 3rd year in the "real world" as a DCTA employee.
4) We traveled to NYC and San Francisco.
5) Paige and I both turned 27

That's all I can think of at the moment. With Paige's assistance I'll add more later.

New Year Resolutions

I've never really sat down and thought long and hard about making New Year Resolutions. I've never used this as a time to plan out my next year or set goals and developing a plan to reach those goals. Perhaps this year should be different. It may be a good idea to sit down with Paige and Allie and decide what short term goals we'd like to accomplish in 2008 an what we can do this year to move toward our long term goals. It may also be a good idea to evaluate our long term goals to see if we're on the same page as a family. I think Paige and I will easily agree on the long term goals, but the implementation is where we'll probably do some head-butting. Through my education and training in Public Administration I've really learned to value and "sweat" the implementation side of things. Its not enough to set a goal, you have to work out how you will reach that goal, and details are the key. I'm not generally a detailed oriented person, but I know that goals must be measureable and you must have a semi-specific plan as to how those goals will be accomplished. Otherwise, you end up with great goals, such as making more money, or becoming a better Christian without any idea as to how those goals will be accomplished on a periodic basis. In many cases, setting intermediate goals provides wonderful benefits. You're able to see your progress and with each intermediate goal that is accomplished, you're motivated to reach the next goal.

Paige forwarded me an email from our church, Prestoncrest, regarding an outreach campaign they are starting to help people read the Bible in 2008. Each day you get an email with verses from the Bible. If you read the emails every day, you will have read throught the Bible in one year. Its steps like this that help us achieve our goals. With each goal, you have to determine what you'll do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to further the achievement of that goal. Our annual goals aren't accomplished on December 31, they are accomplished bit by bit throughout the year. We have to make conscious efforts and base our daily decisions on those goals. Otherwise, they will be forgotten after the first week - which is generally the case with most Americans who make annual resolutions.

As Paige and I sit down and work through our plans for 2008, I'm sure we'll decide on many of the same goals or resolutions as most of the people I know (except the marathon thing). Where I hope we differ from most people will be the details we work on together that will help us accomplish those goals. It will undoubtedly be a challenge to follow the plan, and it may have to be amended here and there (afterall, plans aren't set in stone), but anything worth achieving is never easy.

The Half

Today I ran my first Half Marathon. While it's only half the distance I plan to race in 2008, I definitely feel this is a major accomplishment. It's the culmination of almost eight months of work. The vast majority of my training runs were completed at around 9:30 or 10:00 min/mile pace. I managed to average under 9:00 min/mile pace for the Half. More importantly, managed to accomplish my goal of finishing under 2 hours (1:58:39 official chip time). I wore my Garmin during the race and found that I actually ended up running 13.31 miles due to all the weaving through traffic.

I didn't cross the start line until about 5 minutes after the official start. I wanted to be at the back of the pack in order to stay out of the crowd. This approach accomplished very little. There were so many walkers in front of me that I still ended up running all over the place trying to avoid people and maintain a decent pace. I haven't done the math, but I ran the second half of the race much faster than the first. This is primarily due to the fact that I ran slowly b/c of the crowds and because I felt really good after mile 7. Mile 13 ended up being my fastest mile - exactly 8:00.

I can't say how important Paige's support has been. She's been incredibly understanding and hasn't complained (much) about the great deal of time I've spent running over the past 8 months. Not to mention the money I've had to spend on shoes and clothes. Paige's parents have also been at my last two races and their support has made the events that much more fun. I'm hoping these types of events will continue as a regular part of Varner life.

According to my Garmin, here are my split times:

Mile 1 - 9:26

Mile 2 - 9:46

Mile 3 - 9:17

Mile 4 - 9:25

Mile 5 - 9:15

Mile 6 - 9:12

Mile 7 - 9:05

Mile 8 - 8:46

Mile 9 - 8:37

Mile 10 - 8:26

Mile 11 - 8:26

Mile 12 - 8:23

Mile 13 - 8:00

I plan to take tomorrow off and begin full marathon training on Tuesday. It should be an interesting year.

Last Long Run

This evening I ran my last long run prior to the Half marathon next weekend. I ran 10 miles and felt pretty good. After not taking an ice bath after the 14-miler last week, I didn't make that mistake again. I'm hoping I can recoup quickly so there's no soreness during my shorter runs next week. I had some weird pain in my right leg during the first half mile of the run today. I definitely hope that isn't an ongoing injury b/c it didn't feel too good.

I haven't been too excited about running lately. I've been tired and don't think I'm getting enough sleep. I will definitely rest a lot this week and hit the hay early each night. Anticipation of the Half should get me back into the groove.

Rainy 14

I was bound and determined to get my long run in this week. I was scheduled to run 14 miles on Saturday, but Paige and I ended up staying with her folks in Arlington all day. We got home Sunday afternoon and it was rainy and cold. I decided to wait until that evening to run in the hopes that the rain would subside. Unfortunately, it did not. Around 6:00 PM I decided to give it a shot. Afterall, it was only sprinkling. Sprinlking turned into rain and I was drenched after the first 7.5 miles (which is when I made my pit stop at the house). I was cold and wet, so I changed clothes. I could tell Paige was a little "peeved" b/c she thought I was being stubborn for running in the cold, rainy weather. Through the last 2 miles I was wet, cold, and achy - and I'm not afraid to admit I was a little chafed as well. While the run was hard, I felt great mentally afterward. I'm undoubtedly ready for the White Rock Half next month.

Bearded Turkey Trot

The morning of Thanksgiving day I, along with 30,000 other folks, participated in the 40th Annual Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot. The 8 mile course wound through the southern end of downtown Dallas. The race began and ended at Dallas City Hall - which can be seen in the background of the picture I've included. Paige, Allie, and Paige's mom were nice enough to brave the cold weather and meet me at the end of the race. I thought the run went pretty well. My official finish time was 1:19:19 (9:55 per mile). Very acceptable given the fact that it included a quick visit to the Dallas Museum bathroom (the portapotty lines at the beginning of the race were ridiculous). I had intended to run the race with some friends from church, but the massive crowd prevented us from finding one another. I've dedicated the race to my beard.

Lucky 13

The cool thing about training for a long distance race for the first time is that each week I get to run further than I ever have in my life. This Saturday I ran 13.1 miles. I ran the additional .1 because that's the exact distance of a half marathon - which I'll run officially on December 9th. I thought the run went well. I ran the majority of miles around 9:50 per mile, which is nothing to brag about. There are three major areas that I feel that I'll need to improve upon if I'm going to be a good runner. These are my weight, my speed (which will undoubtedly be impacted by weightloss) and my mental toughness. While I'm glad to have pinpointed these deficiencies, I also struggle with being patient and giving myself time to develop in these key areas. I guess we'll see how it goes.