2018: A Challenge and an Invitation. Join me on Amerithon!

There was an article in the paper Monday about one of our local elite runners, Adam Goucher, and his program called Run the Year: 2,018 miles in 2018 challenge. If you want to do that, here’s a link to his program: runtheedge.com.

For me, that’s way more mileage than I am up to running. I’m happy with my own running progress, going from zero to 3 or 4 miles at a time over the last 6 months. But the 2018 challenge breaks down to 5.5 miles per day, 365 days a year. Way beyond my current range.

However, if I think of it in terms of triathlon training, and break it down into weekly mileage, that’s 38.8 miles per week. Divided up between swimming, biking and running, I might be able to pull that off. I’m thinking about it. Its an interesting challenge. Technically, its manageable with my current skill set. As an example, 25 miles biking, 12 miles running, and 1.8 miles swimming. Yes, I can and have done that.

Now the bigger questions. Does it look like fun? Maybe. My concern is that this may take the fun out of training, putting it into the obligation category, and I’m not sure that’s something I want. On the other hand, it could be helpful in maintaining some discipline around training, particularly in this weather challenged season. More to ponder.

But wait, there’s more!  Want to play with me?

I checked out the runtheedge link. In addition to the run the year program, they have a second program, the Amerithon Challenge. In Amerithon, you cover 3,521 miles, journeying across the US in segments of varying length. This can be done individually or with a group of up to 8 members. For me as a beginning triathlete with modest running capabilities, that training miles can come from a variety of activities (run, swim, bike, hike, walk, elliptical, etc) is a big plus.

Now this looks like fun to me, so I’m hoping to form a virtual group from the blogosphere to do this. If you’re interested, send me a message or leave a comment below. What’s involved? You sign up online  https://runtheedge.com/amerithon/ and pay ($25 to $75 US, depending on whether you want some swag in addition to basic entry). Once you’re entered, send me your info and I’ll put the group together. This doesn’t seem extravagant to me in terms of finances, although it does feel like an extravagant ambition on my part–going for it in a bigger way than I am accustomed to do.

So my first choice for a 2018 training adventure is to do the Amerithon with some of my fellow bloggers–Runners, cyclists, swimmers–join in with me, lets have a little extra fun as we train.  If you all have other priorities, then I’ll do the Run the Year as a triathlete. Either way I’m up for a new challenge in training. Right now, either sounds like fun to me. Want to play with me?

<a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/extravagant/”>Extravagant</a>