Leap for the Ligers

One of my lifetime goals is to run a marathon in less than three hours. Before my emergency surgery this past February, I decided that one of the best ways to do this is to first run a 5k in less than 20 minutes. This is the first big step in that direction since I had my surgery. Steve, Jana, and I ran in the Leap for the Ligers, a 5k put on by Boy Scout Troop 449 here in Columbus (www.leapfortheligers.org). I was shooting for a 23:00 finish, but I believe that I came in closer to 22:30.

It's both encouraging and disquieting to know that I ran today at approximately the pace I will have to run to qualify for the Boston Marathon (time for my age group is 3:10). While this finishing time lets me know that I can actually run at this pace, I realize that I must keep this pace for an additional 23.1 miles. I've told myself that I won't run another marathon until I have run a sub-20 min 5k (we'll see if I can actually hold myself to that).

My next planned 5k is the Dublin Snowflake 5k in Dublin, Ohio, on 12/13/09. I'm hoping that I can at least drop my time to below 22:00. I will be training with the FIRST plan, which consists of three quality days per week.

Tim