All right, I'm back!
I had been inspired about two months ago by Tim VanOrden and his Running Raw Project. Tim and I are about a year apart in age, and like myself was a runner way way back, about twenty something years ago. He has taken up mountain racing and other grueling races to prove the point that eating a raw vegan diet is not only good for you, but also is the diet for athletic success. He is out there every day competing against much younger people than himself, and winning.
So, I'm quite excited about this possibility to go out there and race again after all of these years. The last race I was in was the Western Massachusetts Valley Wheel Championships my senior year in high school, 1985. I was seated number one in the half mile. The quick re-cap of that race is: I took off so fast on the first quarter mile (in fact, I would have won the quarter mile race) that my whole body cramped up in the last 200 yards of the race, and I finished sixth. That was a most ignoble way to finish my running career, but I never enjoyed running enough to keep up with it. I ran because I was good at it, and I liked to win. That's it.
But now, the competitive juices are flowing again. And because it's not in my nature to just go out and jog every day. I am training to be a competitive runner again, against all of the odds.
So, here are my goals:
To run a competitive 5k road race on Thanksgiving. That doesn't mean I have to win, it just means that I will stay with the best runners for most of the race.
To do that my time goals are these:
By the end of this month I will be able to run seven minute miles for over three miles.
By the end of October, I will be able to run six minute miles over the same distance.
And finally, on Thanksgiving I will run five and a half minute miles for the race.
Ambitious, yes. Possible, we'll see. I don't believe it could be possible eating as most people do. But on a raw vegan diet, the best food in the world, it is all possible. The rest is up to me. To do the training, stay injury free, and take on all the responsibility for my results.
I would like to, time permitting, to make this blog a running and life journal, for my own benefit.
See you on the road.