Post 2008 / Pre 2009 Thoughts

Well just about rapping up 2008 and getting a head start into 2009. This year I completed 3 marathons and ran an estimated 1500 miles (I didn’t start tracking until June and ran just a hair under 890). I set PRs at every distance except the Half, (I didn’t run one officially) though I probably did during the Top Of Utah Marathon. I am 1 race away from reaching 10% of my goal of completing a marathon in every state. Also I am about in Ohio in my journey across the USA (see map below).

2009 is looking to be the most aggressive year yet as I am getting a lot better at tracking my mileage and other stats. Slowly over 2008 I have developed a massive spreadsheet that tracks and calculates just about everything you can think of regarding running and such.

My plan is to complete 6 marathons (six!) and run 1750 miles. That’s just about 5 miles a day. Next year I will also track my situps and pushups just for something else to do. My goal is 15,000 pushups and 20,000 situps. I have a few time goals this year as I want to lower my PR for the Half since it’s been about 2 years from my last official Half. I know I can give 1:30 a serious go. Dave has thrown out the challenge to break his 5K record in high school of 18:30. I believe that could be done if I have a good day. I am also going to try to break 3:30 in a full marathon. That will be ambitious as my first two marathons will be quite hilly (Tennessee and Alabama). I also have Alaska scheduled in June. My final 3 are still in the air but I have some early favorites. Going to throw my name in for New York but since it’s a lottery I am not guaranteed an entry. Based on the results of the draw will determine my 2^nd half of 2009 racing calendar. I’ll have to remember to get my name in for the 2010 Zoom Yah! Yah! Indoor marathon as it is limited to 40 runners but they said it’s a neat experience.

Other than the marathons and the yet to be determined half marathon I plan on running the Slippery Elm Run, Beer Bottle Open, St. Anthony’s 5K, and the usual World’s Fastest Ellerbrock. This is list is expected to grow of course.

Here’s the recap of my marathons and what’s to come as well as my up to date (until this evening) trek across the USA.

Scheduled

February 15th, 2009 – Birmingham, Alabama
March 29th, 2009 – Knoxville, Tennessee
June 20th, 2009 - Anchorage, Alaska

Completed
September 20th, 2008 (3:39:05) - Park City, Utah
June 14th, 2008 (3:50:22) - Williamson, West Virginia
February 17th, 2008 (3:54:54) - Jacksonville, Florida
November 3rd, 2007 (3:55:40) - Richmond, Virginia