my Daily Mile

A few years ago, I was running, a LOT (up to 12 miles on my "long runs)!! When I injured my knee playing Ultimate Frisbee (a piece of my knee fell off), I had to stop running. A few years later, I started again and I was using a website called "Daily Mile". It was in "beta" at the time and you had to sign up for an invite to participate. It had an awesome way to log your runs and compare with friends. Then, I stopped running and started P90X. I did that for about 2 months. It was awesome, but I got busy and stopped that. I had also stopped running - which I really missed.

I started up again and posted a few of the runs on DM & then I stopped again (got too busy with the restaurant was my excuse, but I was working 18 hour days).

Now, I've started up again. I am not putting any pressure on myself this time around. I am just going to run. I'd like to sign up for a few 5Ks this year and complete a 10K. I have some running goals that should get me to the ultimate goal of running & finishing my first 10K sometime this year. So, I logged my first run of the year on daily mile. It was a tough run and chilly. I don't have the appropriate cold weather run gear. But it was a pretty good run. I did 1.5 miles in 16:50. That is an 11:13 pace. Then I went back and looked at my previous times: 12:00 was one of my fastest paces at the time. Most were around 13:00 or 14:00. WOW! This was really encouraging. I thought the run was slow and cold, but it was actually one of my best outside run times and it was the first run of the new year!

Then I realized, that is EXACTLY what Daily Mile is for! It isn't just to connect with other runners and get advice/encouragement. It is to see just how far you've come in overall fitness, focused on running.

Last year, I logged 100 miles. That sounds like a lot, but that really isn't much. This year, I want to run 350 miles. That is less than 7 miles a week on average and will be very doable with other fitness goals I have in mind. If I hit 350 early, I'll target 500, but it depends on how much time & effort are required from P90X at the start of the year and CrossFit by the end of the year. Follow along with me with the milage counter on the right side of the page. Jan 1, 2012 it was at 100 (unless I figure out how to make it count YTD only). 1.5 down, 348.5 to go!

This is why I've deemed 2012 is the Birth Year of the BEAST. Join up with Daily Mile and train with me. BEAST MODE!