I did it

That's right, folks. I did it. I reached my first goal. I managed to jog my entire route without walking. Now, let me be perfectly clear, I'm not the fastest person in the world, but any way you slice it: Goal 1...check.

Originally my goal was to be able to jog the entire route by the end of October, so you know I am thrilled to be able to meet that goal early. My initial plan was to walk/jog the route three times per week and build up to be able to jog it in its entirety by the end of October. Instead, it soon became apparent that I could only walk/jog twice a week or else I was really going to be tempting injury. Being a heavy guy who hasn't run in a while, I have to be hyper-aware not to injure myself and hence be set back. Slow and stead really does win the race...at least for me.

Now an eye on the future. I will keep my current jog route at least a couple more weeks through the end of October. Again, no injuries allowed. My current route is 1.75 miles long. Using mapmyrun.com, I've planned my next route which will be about 2.9 miles. It's a general rule of thumb not to increase more than 10% per week, so when I start this new route, I will allow myself to walk/jog it. In fact, for starters, I will probably do the new route once per week and jog the old route on the other "run" day. On top of this, it's time to start another discipline. After all, they don't call it a TRIathlon for nothing. So let the swimming begin! In the next week or so it's time to head to the local YMCA. I'll try not to scare the women and small children with my mass of white flesh, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Last year, Smithfield, VA held a Sprint Tri on April 4th. I'm assuming, for now, that they will hold it again at about the same time. That gives me a little over five more months to train. Bring on the pain!