"Hard to hold a candle, in the cold November rain..."

That's why I'm picking November to begin a training program. November here brings the beginning of what was, last year, an excruciatingly long rainy season. It's not supposed to be that way. We are supposed to have a rainy November, relatively dry December and January, with rain increasing until April when it should be at it's wettest, steadily decreasing until June, when we supposedly enjoy a long dryish season until the next November. Last year, it began raining in November, and it didn't stop until the end of June. We had dry week or few days here and there, but there was never another "dry" season and the country suffered for it. Our old neighborhood had daily landslides and the coast was a total mess. Who knows what this year will bring, but at least this time I'm prepared and know what to expect.

To start the mood off right, I'm beginning "training." Where before I was base building, now I'll be throwing in actual workouts. I'll have a plan, a path. Something I've not had in almost 10 years. If I have a plan, the rain can't get me down, right? I won't be able to say that I'm exhausted and depressed by the rain. I'll still have to go out there and get it done.

For the next two weeks I'm going to throw in fartlek runs twice a week--probably two rest days a week to start off as I'm having some knee difficulty and want to see how it goes. Two weeks in, I'm beginning the following training plan from Runners World: a modified "Rookie Plan."
Why Rookie? Why modified? Rookie because of various complications and goings here and there resulting in unplanned days off, my mileage doesn't get much higher than 5-6 miles in any given day, and I'm probably averaging only about 5 miles a day. Modified because I can and want to do more than what this plan calls for. For example, instead of cross training, that will turn into a run day. My ladders will be longer, tempos will incorporate the new to me and oh-so compelling "step-down" approach (run increasingly faster miles rather than the same pace throughout--amazing!), longer distance runs, and, oh, yeah, we're running a half marathon in the very beginning of my "training."

On the 23rd, Tim and I will be racing to the center of the Earth. Doesn't that sound cool? The 1/2 marathon begins a bit north of our house and continues straight on to the monument that sits at a supposed 0 degrees latitude. The monument was a couple hundred meters off, but oh the accuracy of the triangles and pendulum clocks used by the French in the 1700s!

Forget that there is no marathon or anything closely resembling a marathon anywhere near me till June. I've not yet figured out what to do with a marathon training plan that incorporates a tapering period and, you know, a marathon. But we'll just see how it goes and deal with that all in good time. I'm also not sure what to do about our two week vacation for Christmas during which we plan a no-holds-barred assault on the surrounding mountains (no running). Again, I'll deal with that when the time comes.