Some Comments About My Running

At the start of November I had big plans for my running, with three local long-distance races available to enter: the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon on the 11th, the Cupcake Half-Marathon (or 10K if I chose that distance) on the 18th, and the Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving morning, the 22nd.  I didn't run any of them, for various reasons.  I did accomplish a 14 mile practice run earlier in the month (taking very small, slow "old man" steps) and since Thanksgiving have begun a regular morning regimen of running the course I designed, up and down streets in my subdivision and the neighboring one, time constraints and weather permitting.  My basic course is 3.3 miles long...I made an agreement with myself that the bar for success is to simply cover the course, be it through running, walking, or a combination of the two.  So far I've mixed my running with a little walking at the start while during the second half I've run the rest of the way.  My goal is to progressively lengthen the course until I reach seven miles, which I want to make my daily, regular training distance.  This will put me within easy shot of any of the distances I like for future races (10K, 15K, and half-marathon).  There is a 15K event scheduled on Saturday, December 8th in SE Gainesville, but I'm not exactly enthusiastic right now about entering it...we'll see.  My main current goal is to establish a better outdoor running routine...the cooler weather couldn't have arrived at a better time...