Bloomsday is approaching. Starting tomorrow, the race will be 10 weeks away. In preparation for the race, I ran around the Ferris High School track to calibrate my footpod. After 2 miles (8 laps) my watch/footpod was off by 78 yards. I made the necessary adjustments so that my training pace will be more representative of what I need to do during the race. I am also running the Vancouver, WA half marathon 6 weeks later. I’m hoping that my training for Bloomsday doesn’t cause me to burn out for the half marathon.

About a year and a half ago, I did not calibrate my footpod. That was a mistake because when I was doing my speed work the watch was saying that I was running my goal pace. However, in reality, I was about 13 seconds too slow – thus I was never really training at my goal pace. Bummer. I missed my goal by a little over 4 minutes. Not this time!

My running shoes are the Saucony Ride 3…because I’m a neutral runner. I think when I began running again in 2008, I had the original Ride which I really liked. Anyway – I bought two brand new pair from Holabird Sports for less than $50 each. I couldn’t pass up getting two pair! My current pair has about 250 miles on them…so not a whole lot of life left. They will be used for wet runs…when I can’t help but train in the rain/sleet/snow/graupel.

A few upcoming obstacles will be a week long seminar in April and following that…another 3 days away from home. The trick is to continue training and dieting properly. Speaking of diet, I hope to lose about 15 lbs. Current weight is 168. Goal weight for the half marathon is 150-155 lbs. The lighter the better – lighter means faster!!