The Plan

When I got injured the first time, I had to cancel or defer my entry to several races.  There was the Spring Lake Five, the largest five mile race in the country, and a huge local summer tradition here.  And of course there was the Atlantic City Half Marathon, which was to be my first "big" goal.

I am now injured again, but this time I will NOT be cancelling or deferring the races I have already registered for.  I have already decided that I will heal and complete these races.

I am not doing this haphazardly or irresponsibly, however.

Of course I want to heal again properly and return to running properly and train properly, under a physician's guidance.  But last night I came to terms that while I would love to run these races, I don't necessarily have to.  I've seen that races generally have a 16 minute per mile time limit, which is fine for brisk walking

There is a lot of debate about the Galloway method (walk-run) and general walking in these races.  If you walk, did you "run" the race?  You can't say you "ran" a marathon if you walked part of it, they say
When I started running, I did not want to walk, and a very deep part of me still has the goal of truly "running" a marathon, and "running" Goofy.  To each his own, but I will not be personally satisfied until I RUN the entire Goofy.

Here's what we have laid out for the next year or so:

Now through January 2013 -- heal smart, heal responsibly, be patient.  When I return to running again, will get gait and form analyzed.

March 23, 2013 -- Allstate 13.1 Marathon, New York -- I understand that when I heal and recover, there will only be a short time to train for a half marathon, and I want to avoid injury again.  The thing is, I realized I can WALK this if I have to!

May 5, 2013 --  New Jersey Marathon -- this is to be my first full marathon.  Again, I do not want to get injured.  I want to train smart and accelerate mileage only as appropriate.  But I can WALK this to if I need to.

(13.1 Marathon + NJ Marathon = NY/NJ Challenge!)

October 13, 2013 -- Atlantic City Half Marathon -- I deferred this from this year.  This will simply be a training run for ...

January 11-12, 2014 -- Walt Disney World Goofy's Race and Half Challenge -- That's the half marathon on Saturday, followed by the full marathon on sunday.
This is the point and purpose of this whole blog.  And my goal.  I see it!  I'm there.  In my mind, it is accomplished.  Thank you.