I turn 50 in November 2010.
50! It's hard to believe.
Not too long ago that it WAS easy to believe. During my late 30s and into my 40s, I'd become soft and sedentary. I'm not sure how that happened. I'd always been active: surfing, jogging, in-line skating, rock climbing, hiking, golf, tennis, swimming...but as I let those activities slip away, middle-age sneaked up on me, and the further out of shape and out of condition I got, the harder it became to reverse that momentum. Before I knew it, I was thick around the middle, muscles weak, joints creaking and I found myself acquiescing to the belief that my best years were behind me.
Something snapped me out of my torpor in late 2008, and by the first quarter of 2009 I had lost 20 lbs. and was feeling strong and alive again. Over the course of perhaps six months, I had recovered (mostly) from a decade of body-age lost to lethargy, and for the first time in almost 20 years I was running again.
Not just running because I had to; running because I liked it. This was something new that I hadn't experienced when I was younger. How strange to discover the Joy of Running that I was blind or resistance to when body was in its youth. With my new found ambition to see how much I could accomplish, I made the decision to not go quietly into my 2nd half century. I am going to run through the year, all the way to 50...and beyond.
These pages are meant to be a personal journal of this year, focusing mainly on my quest to see just how good a runner I can be and what I can accomplish on the path to 50. Some of the things I'd like to accomplish:
1. Complete a half marathon: I finished the La Jolla Half Marathon in 1988 when I was 27. I want to do it again. As 2010 dawns, I'm already training for the Carlsbad Half Marathon on January 24th. I'm trying not to set a time goal, but I at least want to finish in under 2 hours. 1:50:00 would be nice. (Update: finished Carlsbad in 1:48:06, La Jolla in 1:43:09 and America's Finest City in 1:48:53.)
2. Complete the San Diego Half Marathon Triple Crown: One half marathon isn't enough. I'd like to finish at least 3, and San Diego offers three premier events that, if completed in full, are dubbed the Triple Crown. Carlsbad first, then La Jolla in April, and finally America's Finest City half marathon in August. (Update: done...see above.)
3. Complete a marathon: Okay, now this is probably crazy; but might I want to tackle the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon in June? Is that biting off too much? I've never run further than 13 miles...ever. I'm going to seriously think about taking on this challenge though. (Update: Thought about it. Trained for it. Finished it. It wasn't pretty though. First 20.5 miles in 3 hours. Last 5.7 miles in 1 hr and 20 minutes. Begin training for the January 2011 Carlsbad Marathon in September.)
4. Run a 10K in under 46 minutes: I begin the year about 3-4 minutes away from that target. (Update: Accomplished this on July 4th with a time of 44:52.)
5. Run a 5K in under 20 minutes: This may be my most difficult challenge. I'm 2 to 2 1/2 minutes away from that goal but discovering it to be very difficult to shave off more than a few seconds at a time. Also, training to improve 5K speed might be contrary to the endurance goal of running a marathon. I don't know. But I ran 20 and sub-20 minute 5Ks in high school. Is it conceivable that I could reach that level again almost 30 years later? I'm going to try. (Update: 20 minutes may have been too lofty a goal. I've adjusted my sites downward, to 21 minutes. My PR is currently 21:15. My last official chance before 50 will be the Silver Strand 5K on November 14th)
6. Sprint-length Triathlon: I know I can do this. I'd just like to find the right event, at the right time amidst all the other running events I want to participate in. Low on the priority list. (Update: No plans in place to do this during 2010. I'll move this to 2011.)
Let's see how close I can get to achieving these goals before I turn 50 on November 18th.
Go!
