Spring is Here

Boy, I've really lost the will to post online these days.

I dropped out of Weight Watcher's online. I think the new Point Tracker sucks so I'm saving my money for other things like race entry fees & running shoes.

Back in March of last year I joined Online at the same time I started using the WW Message Boards. I didn't realized until a few days ago the Message Boards are no charge.

I'll go back to Let's Talk Running eventually because I like most of the posters there but, things had been getting a little stale for me. Auntjenny & Amitinyet are particular favorites; there's always been a fairly constant rotation of people in & out of that thread but, I like their two personalities the best.

I can pretty much do without all the other Boards on WW's. I've never liked GOAD & everywhere else there's just too much estrogen & whining. And that's just the guys.

RunningAhead is a very useful website. I use the training log & route maker all the time. The Message Boards there can be hit or miss. There's a certain clique of regular posters there that seem to pretty much dominate the conversation. They actually seem like nice people but, sometimes I've felt like a voice in the wilderness. Or maybe I'm just being cranky.

Runningwise things have been going great.

I'm catching up to the Pace Bunny. On my last Blog I was 47 miles behind him. After last night's run I'm only 20 miles behind. Not to jinx myself but, I should catch up to him by next week. I'll be on pace for 1000 miles this year by the end of March. I started out really slowly in January & have been picking off other runners in the group one by one. One guy named pREDator in particular was fun to pass. Maybe he's a perfectly nice guy but, his avatar with the red eyes is creepy.

I'm really working on building up my base. I want to get consistently over 30 miles a week. With nicer weather coming it should be easier. Once winter decided to kick in back in January it was hit or miss getting me out on the road. I'm definitely going to have a treadmill by next winter.

I haven't entered any races for '07 yet. The 4.3 mile run up Mt Wachusetts in May sounds interesting. There's a couple of trail races I'd like to do too. I'd like to pick out a half marathon or two to do as well. Definitely would like to do Applefest again in September.

If. If. If. If I enjoy the Mt Wachusetts race there's a series of mountain races run by Sportiva. I think there's 6 or 7 races up a variety of New England mountains & if you run all of them & are a member of USATF you earn the distinction of becoming a Mountain Goat. That sounds pretty cool. I'd like to do that but, first I have to see how the first race goal. I don't want to become too ambitious with my running & my family's summer schedule too soon.

So far in my 2nd running life I've run 2 out of the 4 races I've entered. I don't like wasting money on entry fees for races I don't run. I do want to race & I have to do a better job of making time for it. That means finding the balance with family life & my road racing desires. Always tricky.

I'd still like to run another marathon, maybe Baystate in October or even the MDI up in Maine in November. I'm more realistic with my goals than I was last year. I'd love to do the marathon again but, I'm 46 not 26. If I don't develop a good weekly base it's not going to happen. After every longish run I ask myself "Okay, that 10 miles felt good. Do you have another 16 in you?" So far, the answer's been "Not yet."

My weight is still not budging. I know I should go back to journaling. When I journaled, I lost weight. I'm hoping my increase in mileage will start to make a difference but, I know it's going to take more. My often discussed but, seldom done strength training would also add calorie burning muscle but, finding additional exercise time is always a challenge. It is a puzzlement.

I'll figure it out. In the meantime, the running's been really fun.