Chicago Marathon Week #1: Utah Ski Week

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I got into the Chicago Marathon! Now what?"

THE STORY
In 2014, the Chicago Marathon switched to a lottery system for entries after being overwhelmed with applicants using a first-come, first served process.  The application window for guaranteed or non-guaranteed entry to the 40th annual Chicago Marathon closed on Tuesday, November 29. Runners in the non-guaranteed entry drawing were randomly selected and notified two weeks later on Tuesday, December 13.

THE BEGINNING
Like a New Year's resolution (click here to read my 2016 resolutions), a tradition in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement beginning from New Year's Day, this is the beginning of many months of blood, toil, tears and sweat. Even though we're couple weeks early of New Year, the start of marathon training signifies goal setting.

It isn't my first marathon or race, so I've had some experience on what works best for me, but let's take a look at a couple expert advice. Doing a search on internet, here are summaries of a few helpful articles:

• "Setting a Marathon Goal Pace: Run your best marathon by pacing and listening to your body" - (1) Nail the basics including pace, max pace, and grade adjusted pace; (2) Track and monitor pace during training; (3) Set a realistic marathon time goal, and establish a focused, pace-based training plan; (4) Listen to your body and live in the moment in order to aim for a negative split in a race; (5) Get to work
• "How to Set Good Running Goals: Meb Keflezighi's five-step plan for making sure you reach any goal" - Meb is an Eritrean-born American long distance runner, decorated with notable achievements and titles including 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and Marathon personal best time of 2:08:37. While most of us aren't running at the world-class level, he believes these are the elements of good goals: (1) A good goal has personal meaning; (2) A good goal is specific like "I want to run 30 seconds faster for 5K" instead of "I want to run faster," or "I want to run 5 days a week" instead of "I want to run more."; (3) A good goal is challenging but realistic; (4) A good goal has a time element with weekly evaluations; (5) A good goal keeps you motivated.

While these are good advice, when I reflect upon some of my best races, I enjoy the experiences the most when I'm less focused on time or performance goals, but rather I'm focused on the process and the journey.

Here are some blogs on process-oriented goals that I've enjoyed reading:

• "Setting Realistic Running Goals" -  The article provides an anecdote of two runners with the same goals but who take different routes and experience different outcomes. Spoiler: the realistic runner ends up reaching her goal when she focuses more on taking her time and being honest with her fitness rather than trying to run too fast too soon.
• "Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead." - (1) Commit to a process, not a goal; (2) Release the need for immediate results; (3) Build feedback loops.
• "Process To Outcome, Part 2: Process-Oriented Training" - Rather than strict numbers, process goals for daily training may include: (1) Just show up, i.e. I'm going to get out for five runs this week; (2) Find ease, i.e. I'm going to find ease and feel good on this run, at whatever pace or distance that may be; (3) Know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em, i.e. I want to run four to six half-mile repeats. If I feel good, I will do six, if I don't, only four; (4) Consistency is king, i.e. I'm going to execute the plan for the next three months, preceding my goal race; (4) Focusing on the 'Renewable Resources', i.e. I'm going to adopt a weekly yoga and foam-rolling routine; (5) General strength training, i.e. I will engage in a comprehensive strength routine each week; (6) Stride efficiency, i.e. During today's run, I'm going to focus on tall and forward posture and good arm swing; (7) Cover the non-running bases, i.e. I'm going to limit evening TV and internet time in order to get to sleep earlier, or I'm going to eat whole foods and limit processed and junk snacks.

MY GOALS
My goal in this first week is to build strengths. Ok, it was just an excuse to go skiing for a week. After four consecutive days of skiing, my legs do feel stronger!

Monday: Rest. Crushed it with jet lag!

Tuesday: Rest. Travel day.

Wednesday: Ski Park City. 60 km in 6 hours.

Thursday: Ski from Park City to Canyons. 40 km in 4 hours.

Friday: Ski Canyons. 60 km in 6 hours.

Saturday: Ski Deer Valley. 45 km in 5 hours.

Sunday: Rest. Travel day.

Weekly Review: A solid week of skiing and building leg strengths!