Just 80 Miles Until Beer and more blister pics.

I now have until December 11th to run a half marathon.  To date, 8 miles is the farthest I've run.  So at this point, I'm just going to try and complete the half marathon.  I originally had a 1:45 goal in mind, but that'll be for another day.  I just want to get to the date without injury and complete the event without injury.  Then, I can work on a better base.

I'm actually very excited about building my running base.  :D  Can't wait for the routine.  I can't wait to execute a plan and see it come together.  I can't wait to have less of these (they're now 8 days old):

Note:  The blistered obtained running are nothing compared to the blistered obtained riding.  It's like real estate, location location location.

In yesterday's El Tour de Tucson (can read about it here) I didn't kick butt...I got my butt kicked.  I expected an eye-opener.  While it's technically a charity ride, there is a clock and there are timing chips involved...so to me, it's a race.  It's my second race, and first of this distance.  

I learned a lot, much of it will translate directly to running.  I think I could easily exchange the word ride for run here.  First, I need to make more use of the miles I ride.  I've not ridden empty miles, but I need to make each workout more focused on its goal.  Second, I need to try and make each long ride a negative split.  Third, I need to shorten the distance and increase the intensity and maintain that intensity as I rebuild the distances.  So, eventually I'll be riding the same distances, but at a faster rate.

I believe my original plan of spending the next two months on strength and condition, not specific to running or riding is on target. 

On a side note:  The best sign I saw at El Tour de Tucson yesterday was "Just 80 Miles Until Beer." 

I said, "Well, I better hurry then!"