Running Adventures in an Extraordinary World

I really had to think a bit in coming up for a new name to my blog since "Countdown to my first marathon" no longer applies (yay!!). I wanted to use "Adventures in Running" but that has been taken by a rather interesting website that offers just that - adventures trips with running activities.

I thought about using "average running" in the title - but this is not an average thing. You could say I am average in my running ability - I am not fast. I am rightfully a "middle of the pack" runner. But what I have been doing and plan to do are more than average running things. I actually finished my first marathon - a feat that .1 of 1% of the planet achieves. That is a bit more than average. Now, I need to come up with the next adventure. And adventures are exciting! :-)

The fact that we live in an "extraordinary world" is easy to see. When you are running, whether in your neighborhood, in a race, in another city or even another country - there are such extraordinary things to see. You experience things running that you can't when you drive down a road! You can enjoy first hand everything from the greetings of individuals out walking or running to wildlife flying around or children playing on a playground. If you want to experience places outside your local area, listen to Adam on Burning20. In his podcasts he takes you running all over the place - and helps you feel the wonder of his surroundings. Or, Nigel on his podcast Running From the Reaper will take you along a gravel path in the English country side where you can hear swans in the background. Steve Runner on Phedippediations has taken his listeners on a historical tour of his home town of Oxford, MA.

So what are some running adventures coming up this year? I still need to set a few personal goals, but two things on my "list" include:

1 - Running a 5K race with my 11 year old daughter. She is so excited about all my marathon running, she is upset she has to wait until she is 18 so she can run a marathon (16 for the Alaskan Midnight Marathon). So this year we are training together for a 5K team event at Disney in early May. Perhaps we will run that marathon in Alaska together when she turns 16 or 18 :-)

2 - Run with my husband in his first marathon. He was scheduled to run Disney with me this year but due to health and shin issues could not complete the training. We are going to give it another go next year. Perhaps I can train to run a bit faster and maybe I can keep up with him. We are going for Disney 2008!

In general, I want to keep up the running routine I have developed over the past 6 months, and work on more cross training to help strengthen my running (mostly core training). I like Adam Tinkoff's goal to run 1000 miles. Maybe I will try that too :-).

So as I slowly recover from my marathon (too soon for going down stairs. Ouch!) I am excitedly looking forward to another great year in running.

Running long and strong in Florida! I am on a running adventure in an extraordinary world!! Thanks for joining me!