Future goals

So I was gonna post a like to this site, and you'd click on it and be directed to an awesome site for the next running event I'm planning on entering. But instead "canberratimesfunrun.com" is code for the "Canberra Times Outdoor Art Show that we're gonna tell you about four times in a row."

Anyways, hopefully when I rock up to the start line in September I am greeted by water stations and a starting gun, not running through a group of disgruntled artists and their paintings I've just knocked over.

The Canberra Fun Run is 10km, which is a darn sight shorter than a half-marathon. I know I am capable of running the distance, so this time around it's all about the time. I have two benchmarks with which to measure myself by, and my aim is to hit somewhere in the middle.

First of all is my dad, who wasn't much of a runner, but I can still learn a bit from his determination/stubbornness. When he was a young lad, he had a goal to finish the Canberra Fun Run within an hour. I don't know much about how he trained for the run, but on his first two attempts at the (annual) Fun Run, his time was outside the hour. In his third year, he managed to run a 59:58, and promptly vowed to never run in the event again. I hope that I have the same strength of will to set my mind on a target, and to persist until I achieve it.

The second benchmark is a guy from my church. He's the dad of one of my best friends, and has been running for a solid chunk of his life. I talked to him a few days ago about running 10k, and he told me the last time he ran the Canberra Fun Run was 20 years ago, and he posted a PB for 10k in that race. His time was 36 minutes. THIRTY-SIX MINUTES. Apparently he was tired after running 17 minutes for his first 5k, that he only managed to run the final half of the race in 19 minutes. What a freak. But I'm going to try and let that inspire me, rather than scaring me off.

So my aim is to run a time somewhere in between my dad's "I'm never running again" time and Lloyd's "I was tired so I only ran the final 5k at a SEMI-elite pace" time. I think 45 minutes is a nice figure.

I feel that my fitness is on a slow decline after completing the half-marathon, so hopefully having something to aim towards again will remedy this. Lately I've only been managing about one run a week. It's a lot easier to just stay in bed when you don't have a program to follow, or a goal to achieve. And armed with some training advice from Lloyd, I think I'm ready to write up a program that will get me out of bed and into the blizzard that is the winter morning in Canberra.

The awesome thing is that the start line for the Canberra Fun Run is practically across the road from where I live, so I just need to make sure I bring enough change with me on the run to catch the bus back homw.