Feelin' good, but a long way to go...

It's getting towards the end of February. Since my mind works in such mathematical fashion, I keep breaking down my training schedule, my weight, even the winter weather, down into measurable time frames to be "endured". I will give an example:

Winter is about 90 days, or roughly 13 weeks. I began the big running/weight loss effort right around that time. From just before Christmas to just after St. Patrick's day, I expect every day to be freezing, or worse. But this winter, we enjoyed the first 4 of those weeks, reveling in 40+ degree days, and getting multiple chances to get outside. But around January 20Th (or 30 days in), Winter showed up in the northeast, and the temperatures have been as cold as expected ever since. The snow has been unusually tame, though, which has been a bonus.

Anyway, February 4 is the day I look forward to, because it means that we are half way through winter, and each day gets harder for Winter to continue its grasp on frigid temperatures. Yes, we can still get some "deep freeze" days, but things are starting to look more promising. The days are noticeably longer and baseball spring training starts up, among other signs of spring. By now (February 24), we have just under 4 weeks left of winter (24 days to be exact), and my countdown to Spring starts to put a bounce in my step.

I can start to look ahead and plot the remaining weeks (about 11), until the half marathon race in Long Island. I ran on Thursday, and was able to get about 5.25 miles before having to walk and jog the rest of the hour I spent on the treadmill. I went 7+ miles that day. But my goal is to finish the half marathon without stopping, and I have a ways to go to accomplish this feat. With 11 weeks left, and just under 8 more miles to gain on my training, I think I am going to have to get outside to run a few longer runs.

But I just can't seem to get to the point where I can go outside to run in 16 degree weather. My concern is that I don't want to go on a treadmill for longer than an hour, because I don't want to burn out the machine, and I find it terribly boring. But I feel a need to try to go longer than an hour, just to test my will power. I don't want to run in the cold, because it is too cold. But I need a measuring stick of whether I think I can get to 13.1 miles by May.

I haven't even begun to expound upon the desire, or need to lose at least 10 more pounds to be competitive with the "big boned runners" in the weight loss competition. The weight loss should help any pressure on my ankles and knees.

So to tie all of these random thoughts together, my mind keeps bouncing between a whole host of numbers, which are starting to drive me crazy.

24--days left until spring
11:03--number of daylight minutes in a day now (up from just over 9 hours two months ago)
2-3--number of minutes the daylight increases each day.
236--current weight
225--where I need to get, before my friends lose their 30 lbs, so I can win the bet
50--the temperature I am looking for before I will run outside.
60--the time I will spend on a treadmill before ending my training runs.
5.25--longest I have run thus far in my training
4.75--length of the last race I ran
39:41--time it took me last time to run 4.75
7.2--mph, which seems to be the minimum standard time I set on the treadmill for training before stopping to walk/jog.

I guess it is a good thing that I am an accountant for a living. I won't even get into how I plan for tax season, or my investment strategy!

Anyway, the training remains on track for now. I have continued to eat better (as part of my new year's resolution), and while I have not lost a ton of weight in recent weeks, my clothes fit better, my energy is up, and I feel good.