Welcome!
Running is probably my favorite hobby, and writing is something I went to school for and did professionally for a few years. Both have always brought me the joy and present me with occasionally frustrating challenges that I get satisfaction out of overcoming. I love setting aggressive goals in running and pushing for them, but I’ve let my writing deteriorate after changing careers. Negative Splits is my idea for changing that.
A new running goal popped into my head after taking some time off and recovering from my last major race – setting a personal best time in the four major distances (5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon) in the next couple years. It’s an enticing thought to be running my fastest as a total amateur doing it on my own, in some cases several years removed from my running peak. In thinking about it I also realized achieving it would probably require more accountability and commitment than I typically ask of myself. And so the idea of keeping a journal about training, airing some of my ideas and aggravations outside of my own head (even if I’m the only person who ever reads this) is going to serve as my means of self-motivation. Hopefully the benefit will be two-fold: some racing performances I can hang my hat on and some re-sharpening of my writing skills.
So, about those PBs:
5,000: 16:55
10,000: 38:17
Half marathon: 1:20:36
Marathon: 2:57:36
Some of these should be easier to break than others. I’ve not run very many 10ks, and the majority of them are from a time when I wasn’t in great shape (for me) in college or was more focused on training for something else. I expect to better that time, so I’d like to improve by more than just a personal best in that case. On the other hand, even though 16:55 for a 5k is not exactly an elite time, I’ve not worked on running the kind of per-mile pace required to beat that in at least 10 years, focusing more on half and full marathons since high school.
Why the vague “next couple of years” timeline for completing this? Well, as I came up with this idea we were headed into fall and I wasn’t in particularly great shape. I was able to get a couple good races in before winter, but 2019 is going to have to be the year for real improvement. And then there’s the small matter of the full marathon. I don’t know if I’ll even run one in 2019, because they’re kind of the worst. That’s at least based on the training plan I have swirling in my head right now (more on that in the future). I do plan to push for this, but realistically I don’t think it will happen before 2020.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be doing my best to keep it light and enjoyable, hopefully producing some pieces of writing that I’m proud of on top of the races. I may even eventually add some non-running posts on my other interests–movies, books, sports–when I see or hear or read something worth getting fired up about. I love having discussions, so I’d be happy to hear your thoughts.
-Nate