Wednesday, August 10, 2011

30 By 30 Challenge





Training for and running the Red, White and Boom! half marathon in Minneapolis this July was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I've had to date. The twelve weeks of training, pushing my self-proclaimed 'non-runner' body beyond what I thought I could do and challenging myself mentally made finishing the race all that more gratifying. 

One part of the process I absolutely loved: having a specific training plan and sticking it out day after day. Knowing exactly what I was supposed to do (and when I was supposed to rest) was amazingly freeing and made my rest days that much more enjoyable. I was hooked on the whole process.

So I had an idea: why not set a goal for myself beyond just a single race? Why not do something that seemed a little crazy in my mind. So I took a note from Caitlin's book, who is running 50 races by the time she is 30? Except I decided to make it a little more realistic for my fitness goals and body and challenged myself to 30 races by the time I turn 30. 

I'll be 24 in October, and the half marathon I ran in July was my first race. As you can see, I've got some work cut out for me. My plans for the rest of the summer/fall race calendar are:

-August 21st: local 10K race 
-October 2nd: Twin Cities 10-miler
-November: Living History Farms Cross Country 7-miler

Hopefully, I end up feeling like this after each race:


What about you? Do you like to set fitness-related goals for yourself or do you prefer to just wing-it day by day?

10 comments:

CupcakesOMG! said...

wow that's awesome! i'm not a runner and races simply don't appeal to me, but i'm always trying to improve my performance at Crossfit!

www.cupcakesomg.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I find that unless I set a goal for something like a marathon or the MS150 (cycling), I never stay consistent with working out. If I have something to work towards then it gives my workouts a real purpose rather than just working out to stay in shape. Apparently staying in shape is not a specific enough goal for me.

Congrats on finishing the half marathon and good luck with your new goal as well!

Cindy @The Flipping Couple said...

I'm all about the goals! I actually just revamped my training plan (I'm a CrossFit gal) last week and I am PUMPED to see where it takes me.

We're running the Monster Dash half marathon in October...you should join us!!

Sara @my less serious life said...

I love that you are making these tough, but achievable goals for yourself. I agree that having a plan each day for your workouts does wonders for maintainability. Good luck and keep us posted!

Taylor said...

That's an awesome goal! I wanted to do the Red White and Boom Half Marathon but I was out of town over the 4th...are you from the Twin Cities?! I will be doing the Twin Cities Marathon, which is the same day as the 10-miler! Also, I've been wanting to do the Living History Farms race for years..it looks so fun!

Nisrene said...

Would you share your training plan with us? I have recently taken up running, but I'm still below the 10K mark. I have been considering signing up for a race, but I'm not sure how to train for it

Randi Lynne said...

I think that fitness goals are necessary to staying consistent. Go for a triathlon!

Anonymous said...

Goals are awesome and definitely make it easier to hit the pavement every day! We are triathletes so it is important for us to have a consistent training regimen, along with making sure we actually sign up for the races so that we don't try to "back out" of training. :)

Madison Mayberry said...

Cindy - that would be SO fun! I am seriously considering signing up now that you mentioned that.

Nisrene - I will be putting together a training plan post soon! :)

Randi - I've thought about it and I think that Joey would love to do a couple tri's next summer!

Becki's Whole life said...

I definitely love having goals and my husband and I are realizing right now that we really missed our training schedule when we were training for our half. We followed a plan and did our long runs every Sunday and then three shorter runs throughout the week with one cross training day. I stuck to it and now I feel a little bit lost even though I am doing my 4-5 days of working out. I really liked something that told me what I needed to do that day. Plus finishing my race was a huge, wonderful feeling!

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