An update on my running

The last time I posted anything about my running was in November 2013, shortly after I (very slowly) finished the Kobe marathon. If you follow me on Twitter (@dperrin), you know this long and painful attempt (my first race, ever!) did not put me off running. Since then, I participated in two 10K races, one quarter-marathon, two 5K races, and two 'ekiden' (Japanese relay races, where I had 3km and 5km segments). My next event is probably going to be at the Brisbane marathon festival, but I have yet to decide whether to register for my first half-marathon or for another 10K (to try to get faster on that distance).

Now that I am settled into a new routine here in Australia (more on that in a later post, I guess), I have also started cycling to work. It is just under 9km each way, so if I can do it on most days, it will improve my overall fitness and should help my running. I am also looking into core-training exercises, but my time is limited (family and work come first).

As you may know, today is day 2 of the 2015 edition of the Global Corporate Challenge. Being Australian, it is no surprise that our university encourages staff to participate, and I am captain of one of our 153 teams entering the challenge. It should be fun, and I love data, so another way to track my activities is always tempting. Let's see if all of us (7 members per team) can get to the recommended 10,000 steps per day.

One of the ways I try to keep myself focused and motivated is by setting goals. If I leave 2011 aside (Project Biwa made it an outlier), a busy workload meant I lacked consistency and only managed a maximum of 442.3 km cycling, and 444 km running (both in 2013). Given I only resumed running in March, and cycling this week, my goal for 2015 is simply to beat these: at least 443km cycling and 445km running. I am currently being pace (due to the late start), but should be able to catch up. In terms of time, I would like to get below 25:00 over 5 km, below 54:00 over 10 km, and maybe around 2:15:00 if I end running my first half-marathon. Whether these become actual PBs will depend on which races I register for.

I will try to keep you posted on my progress.