Looking ahead!

A short but intense day on the training front today!
Started the day off today with my training medicine, a great morning yoga practice.  I find it  a great way to open up my mind and fix what ails me with my body.  The nice thing is the practice is also very physical therefore my HR is up for the whole hour as well.  It is a good workout that I never leave feeling like I have not worked hard.  There are actually a few times when it is harder than a tough run or climbing a nasty hill!  ON a fun note I have started to recruit new people to take do yoga classes.  Many people are intimidated by studios and will not get out there to do it. As I am working to get practical experience, it is a great way for me to get started.  I am offering friends the opportunity to do a class in the comfort of their own backyard or home.  All they need to do is recruit some friends and I will take on teaching the class for them.  It gives me great practice and exposes them to another great training tool! I am looking forward to getting started.
My speed work tonight felt awesome!  It was a short workout and on a hill area of town, the run did not have more than 200m of flat before another 200m-300m gradual hill.  I did a total of 8k with about half being focused speed work.  I feel stronger than I ever have with that at this time.  I struggled a lot in the past with running anything under 5min/k, it usually would feel like I was going to be sick of I kept any distance at all going.  This run seemed to be a better one, able to maintain 4:15-4:20 for a great part of what I was running.  Looking ahead, it gives me more confidence in a being able to get done what needs to be done next year to get my Boston qualify time.  The fun part of running on Thursday evenings is the group that I am running with.  There are a couple of people who join me who are super intense and it is a great way to push myself harder, wanting to be at the front keeps me honest!
So looking ahead I have 2 goals that I want to accomplish.  ONe will be to qualify for Boston.  That is a big one as I currently have a marathon PB of 3:56 and I need to 3:20 to get to the start line.  I have the time tools that I need, now I need to put in the time.  I will likely hire a coach for the beginning of the season in order to change my stride a bit to get more speed out of it.  I have been playing around for the past while and have already seen a change, but  I want to make certain that I am not doing something that will hurt me.  Within the context of training to be a better runner is a sub goal of beating a good friend in a sprint tri.(I actually bet him $100 that I would).  Currently I get him by about 2 minutes going into the run.  But he runs a 4:10min/k and I run a 4:50 so he beats me.  Not next summer!  I am done with him passing me on the road running!
My second goal is to develop my company Sports Performance Adventures.  I want to continue to train runners and triathletes.  With my experiences and continuing development I want to bring the excitement of triathlon and running to new people.  I will tie in my passion for yoga as a great part of the overall development with them.    I will  also continue my ski teaching/coaching and develop a winter and summer performance camp for those who want to go faster and go steeper and deeper!
I guess right now I should focus on the race in 3 weeks, but I need to look ahead.  The thought of not training for IM seems like a lonely time, so I am getting ready for it!
Have a great day!