Can’t follow instructions…

So… I am now starting to freak out. I am on to my second week of my 18 week “Marathon Training Schedule – Novice 1” program by Hal Higdon.  Week 1 is:

As you can imagine, this was a nice easy week 1… And I blew it.  Yup, that’s right – the very beginning of my training program and I’m already doing it wrong… mine looked more like this:

Now if you look at those two grids… See how they are different?  No, seriously – go back and look – I’ll wait here.  Yup, although at first glance it looks like I did exactly what I was supposed to, the actual similarity is that they are both written in grid format.  The contents? Waaaaaaaaaaay too different.  I am thinking that I may need to do something about this if I plan on getting past mile 6 (or so) of the 26.2 miles that make up the Marine Corps Marathon. 

Now, I realize that you, my wonderful reader – are in shock.  While I give you a few moments to recover I will show you what week 2 is/was supposed to look like:

This (no doubt) has made you wonder what the week DOES/Will look like… so lets see:

You can see how well the two grids match this time… They both have one row, and 7 squares… and have writing in them… It’s where the similarities seem to end.  You would think I would be able to follow the plan for at least the first two weeks – apparently not!

Sunday is the Boilermaker up in Utica.  I have wanted to run this race since Highschool, so I am really looking forward to it. Based on my stellar training recently, I have decided to take it slow and easy to make sure I can finish it. I briefly debated going for the record (42:54 in 1997 by Joseph Kimani) but decided not to show up the other runners that way –  It strikes me as rather rude to show up, run it my first time, and make everyone else just feel silly.  So, Keeping the big picture in mind – this year my goal is to give everyone a false sense of security when viewing me as competition – I am hoping to finish in the top 10,000 finishers, with a time of 1:30-1:40.  I figure THAT should really make them rule me out when sizing up the field in 2012.

It should be fun – Here is what the starting line looked like last year:

Don't drop your soap!

About Robinson

I run, because I am a runner. Having realized that I have always "been a runner" - even when I went years with out running, I am learning how it has integrated itself in all aspects of my life. When I started running in highschool, my perspective on life changed. Funny that I didn't realize how much it had affected it until just recently.