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Photo_by_David_Colby_Young_after_the_Joseph's_5K (picking out my Whoopie Pies
- Photo at the start of the month, each month I plan to put my favorite photo in the monthly summary.
March is usually the weird month weather-wise you just never know what you are going to get. This year April and March were not all that different, one week we were battling snow/heavy rain, then 80 degree weather and then back to cold rain/snow and blustery wind – the old saying “just wait a minute the weather will be different”.
While I cut-back my running compared to March, it was planned and I feel a lot less tired at the end of April than I did at the end of March. Blogging and social media have taken definitely a backseat to looking at finding a full-time job again. My sabbatical was great, but with the price of everything going up (officially there is no inflation – things just cost us more) our budget is stretched a little lot too thin. So to do the things we want to do, it is time to look at me getting a job again.
Now to figure out what I want to do when I grow up – if I ever decide to grow up so wish me luck on this job search. 
Running In March
I am making fantastic progress on my 2012 running goals
Summary
- Miles Run: 145.4
- Days Run: 25
- Days Off: 05
- Longest Run: 13.2 miles on 4/9/12
- Fastest Run: 7:33 pace for 3.1 miles on 4/28/12
- Best Week: 40.03 week ending 4/22/12
- Monthly Summary March 2012
Shoes Run In
- Saucony Kinvara 2 – I now have 222.2 miles on these shoes and my knees and hips are starting to ache after running in them. I like them a lot, but the sole is wearing on the outer forefoot and there are small tears in the upper, so I am not sure how the durability will be long-term. I sort of retired the Kinvara, but due to other circumstances have had to bring them back and will be using them for longer runs for a while longer.
- New Balance MT110 – I have used these more for walking shoes this month than running trails with them, I really, really love the way they fit and how they allow me to walk. I tend to take smaller, quicker steps than I do with other shoes and my knees and back don’t hurt nearly as much as they used to, even though I am running and walking a lot more.
- Newton Gravity – I really, really liked how I was running in them, until they developed a rub spot on my right ankle. Which kept getting worse whenever I ran in the Gravity’s. I have put them in the closet until my ankle heals completely and will try them again at that time. It is too bad because I really like the Newtons.
Summary: I am still well over my 100 mile monthly goal with over 140 miles for the month! I enjoy my weekly long run and once I get my running shoes straightened out and they maybe even creep up to 15.0 range, but I don’t need multiple double-digit runs in the same week and I think keeping the others to a max of 6.0-7.0 miles or so is in my best interests.
This month in a word: Consistent
Weight
Injuries
Run Blogging
- Newton Gravity–After 50 Miles
- Tommie Copper Sleeve Review – First Impressions
- Tommie Copper – Is Working
- Running Clothes and Runners
- First Run in Asics Gel Blur 33 – 2/16/12
- My Transition Plan to Minimalist Running Shoes
- Fly Like an Eagle 5K Recap – 4/7/12
- Running Log Spreadsheet Template
- Narrowed the Choices Down to 5 Running Shoes
- Knowing What You Eat
With everything going on I have cut way back on my blogging and time on Twitter/Facebook and Google + over the past month. Too much going on with trying to get the yard cleaned up. cutting firewood, garden ready and do some job search on the side, in addition to doing some stuff with the VA.
So it should be an interesting next couple of weeks, whether I want them to be interesting or not.
Reviews
Running Goals
A slight change to my goals – is to make sure that I am enjoying running and not letting it become too much like work.
Good progress, while I worked hard at my running, I didn’t allow it to become work. I still look forward to my runs and don’t get too wound up about them if they are not quite what I am looking for that day
This year my big goals are:
- Run 1,200 miles – I am ahead of schedule having a total of 372.3 miles through three-month.
- Run a sub 20:00 5K – This will be very tough to do, but for now I am working on my mileage base and not worrying too much about speed, in training runs last month, I ran at an 8:11 pace for a 5K, so I hope to break 8:00′s on 4/7, but I am not too worried about it either way. However, to meet this goal I will have to start doing a lot more speed work.
- Get through 2012 without any significant down time or injuries (running related or others). Just some aches and strains so far
- My unadvertised goals from the start of the year are to be able to finish a half-marathon. Ran a 2:01:44 for a training run last week, so I am way ahead of schedule for this one.
- Run a few trail races when the weather gets better – Running some trails but not scheduled for any races until Memorial Day weekend.
My long-term goal will be to run the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon. I finished the 1983 Marathon and to run/finish Marine Corps again 30 years later would be very cool. This is one of the major goals that I have in mind for my running and it would be even more fantastic if I could qualify for Boston that same day. Therefore, I am doing a 2 year work-up to the Marathon distance, just to see if my knee will hold up.
The reality is that
