2. What is Success?

Success. Living in Wisconsin, most people here would consider Superbowl 45 a success (*spoiler alert: Packers won!). Some other people *cough Steeler's fans* would consider the Superbowl a failure. As you might have guessed, success can mean different things to different people.

What this means is that if a person wants to be successful, they first have to define success. You could ask 100 different people what it means to be successful and get 100 different answers. For some, success is getting up on time every morning. For others, success is achieving great financial gain. Without defining success for yourself, you are bound to fail.

For me personally, finishing my first half-marathon last year was a success. My goal was simply to finish. This year, my goal is to run faster than I did last year. If I simply finish but run slower, then I will not consider the race a success.

Ultimately, it is important to make sure you figure out what success means to you. Without defining success, one will not be successful. Only after knowing what success is can you achieve it. *Special Note: Yes, I would consider this fan's helmet paint job a success! Go Pack Go!*

1. Priorities & Unexpecteds

Winter weather in Wisconsin is rarely predictable. It can snow one day and be 70 degrees the next. With such uncertainty, how does one decide what is acceptable workout weather and what is not?

Personally, I consider the closings of schools and blizzard warnings pretty good signs that I should cancel my scheduled 2.5 miler. I also have a list of about 7 priorities that come before training for this half-marathon which I noted in my previous entry. When deciding whether or not one should workout, I think it is important to have your priorities firmly established. Make a list of all the very important things in your life, decide where training falls, and then make a commitment to yourself that you will make choices based on where things fall within this list. It is important to be realistic when creating this list of priorities. What comes first - family or work? Work or training? Training or fun?

Without having a concrete idea of where your priorities are, decisions can sometimes be much more difficult. On the flip side, it is important to find the right balance for ultimate happiness. What might be right for one could be wrong for another. In addition, sometimes life hands us unexpected things. They are nearly impossible to plan for and typically cause us to change plans.

So when I think about training for a half-marathon (and really life in general), I try to remember these things: 1. Priorities. Know them. Follow them. 2. Flexibility. Know when it's appropriate to deviate from your plans. 3. Balance. Make sure you don't become so focused on one thing that you fail to see the big picture.

With all that said, there's a big windstorm blowing snow around at 40mph, and I'm not working out tonight. Accept the unexpecteds.

Half-Marathon 2011

When considering what went right and what went wrong with last year's blog, I see more wrongs than rights! After losing my password, I abandoned the blog. In addition, I more or less abandoned logical training and had a VERY TOUGH 13.1 miles when race day came!

What went right: my cousin and I had phenomenal support from our family and now all of the cousins are running the half this year! How exciting!!!

I guess that means it's time to start training. My schedule will be another modified version of Hal Higdon's Intermediate Training Program and can be found here: Half-Marathon Training Template. I have a pretty full schedule this year between my regular full-time job, a part-time track coaching job, recruiting and competitions, school, volunteering, and training for this thing, so I may post fairly infrequently. With that said, I'll aim to have interesting, informative, and perhaps comical posts of greater quality than if I was posting more often. Happy running :)

edited to add: Actually, it looks like I lost my password after thinking I wanted to do a full marathon. In any case, I am back!