Hello fellow Mustachian runners!
Runner here since 2018. Started running to get into shape; I worked my distance up to 10K by the end of 2019, half-marathon by spring of 2019, and full marathon by summer of 2019. I'd always hated sports because I have zero natural talent, but with distance running, you can make up for genetic deficiency through patience and sheer stubbornness -- both of which I have in spades, LOL.
It's also a really good and cheap investment -- upfront cost is just a pair of shoes, and you reap significant health dividends which can keep future healthcare costs down, which is great for FIRE. Be still my Mustachian heart. :)
My training lapsed in 2020 after the pandemic cancelled all of my races (including the NYC marathon), and work stress shot through the roof. I know a lot of people exercise for stress relief, but stress and burnout make me shut down into zombie-mode and I stop doing things. I need to be in decent mental health to stay self-motivated.
I am solving the work stress situation by retiring in two weeks, so I hope to be back to form soon! Major goals for the rest of this year include:
1) Build mileage base back up to 30 to 40 miles per week by the beginning of July. I'm aiming for 3 to 4 shorter 10K runs and a long run of 10 to 15 miles. I was able to crank out 13.1 the past two weekends, so endurance is still decent, but I have to work on volume.
2) Train for either a (thrice-deferred) local marathon in the fall, or the 2021 NYC marathon if I get in. A PR is probably not realistic given my current fitness level, but I'll settle for a decent training cycle and a well-executed finish.
3) Restart strength training. I'd lift at the gym 2 to 4 times per week pre-Covid, but need to establish a new post-pandemic and post-FIRE routine. A plank a day keeps the injuries away.
4) If I find out that fall marathons still aren't happening, I might put in a training block to work on a sub-2 half. It's really hard to fit these in around two marathon training cycles per year. I should have been doing this last year, but now I wouldn't have work stress as an excuse anymore.
I'm currently really enjoying the beautiful spring weather. Slowly reclaiming my lost Local Legend titles in Strava is also helping with motivation, ha. I'm gonna be a lot less happy when it starts getting hotter, though. I'm not a morning person and I cannot do crack-of-dawn runs. I used to run midnight laps around my workplace campus parking lot to escape the summer heat, but I'm not gonna be able to do that anymore. Hopefully I can figure out a solution to this dilemma.