February 3, 2006
Rest. Oh yeah? What of it?

February 4, 2006
Well, I have already surpassed my own predictions. I was sure that this running thing would wear off. I was sure after one day of rest it would be out of my system. But alas, almost against my own will, I found myself out "running" again. This time I made some changes:
1. I didn't dress for the arctic.
2. I went before it was completely dark out.

Some changes that I still need to make:
1. lights for my clothes
2. a head band to keep my ears just a bit warmer
3. big ball to do stretches on when I get home
4. soft mat to do stretches on when I get home

My route did not change I still ran down along the water to the hotel and back. This route is just over two miles. My time was vastly improved. On Thursday I was running a fairly inconsistent 20 minute mile. (i.e. the entire run took me 40 minutes) Tonight I ran it in 36 minutes. That is a four minute improvement in only two days. Hmm, lets look at the numbers.
20 minutes x 13.1 miles = 262 minutes ÷ 60 = 4 hours and 22 minutes

At my "old" pace it would take me 4 hours & 20 minutes to complete this 13 mile event. Provided I don't keel over dead at the 8 mile mark.
18 minutes x 13 = 236 minutes ÷ 60 = 3 hours 56 minutes

At my "new" pace my race time is already under 4 hours.
If my improvement continues at this rate every day, and I continue to train, it will take me …16 minutes per mile the first day, 14 minutes per mile the second day, 12 minutes per mile, 10 min/mi, 8 min/mi, 6 min/mi, 4 min/mi, 2 min/mi, 0 min/mi …That would be eight training days before I could run the race instantaneously. You know, one instant I am at the start, the next instant I am at the finish. I wouldn't even have to trouble myself with that pesky "Half marathon training for the novice" crap. Which is a good thing since frankly that looked like it was going to take up quite a bit of my time.

Maybe I should look at my increase in running time not as a linear relationship but as a percentage. An increase of 4 minutes is a 10 percent decrease of the initial 40 minutes training time. Looking at is this way I will never get my time down to zero, although I will be running much faster very soon.

Andrea thinks I should call this blog "Uphill and against the wind in both directions" or "Against the wind" for short. Is it still a blog if no one reads it?