I’m really excited because I’m about to move into the next phase of my running season: the cycle phase. This is where I start doing speed workouts to get my body ready for my first 5K race. My original goal for this season was to run 8-minute miles. I’ve been taking it slow, but now that racing season is here, I’m starting to get a little impatient. I’ve stayed in the building phase longer than ever before, but I feel like it’s paying off, and it’ll be worth it in the long run.

I’m nowhere near where I was in 2020 when I was running half marathons, but considering where I wanted to be this season, compared to where I am now, I’m pretty happy.

I did have a slight setback because I had to take a week off after getting attacked by a dog three weeks ago. I started back slowly last week, and now I’m back on track. I thought that by taking the first part of the season slow, I could avoid injury, but then the dog attack happened! It just adds to the story of my running season, and honestly, I love that my training is like a story from start to finish.

I’m excited for this next part of my training because now I’ll face the real obstacles to reaching my goal of running a 5K. I know I need to be patient because this cycle phase will carry me through the winter. I’m not a fan of running in the cold, but I have to stick with it since my first race is 17 weeks away, in mid-January. It’ll be cold, but I may wait until later in the day to run, rather than doing it in the early morning when it’s 5°F or lower. We’ll see.

Today, I put together my plan for the cycle phase and set my goal splits to cross the finish line at a 7:21 per mile pace. It’s always exciting to set a target, but it also brings up some doubts when you know how hard you’ll have to work to hit it. Fortunately, I know if I stick to the plan, I’ll reach my goal—unless I get injured or have a bad race day. The scary part is showing up for every practice and hitting the targets I’ve set. Will I be fast enough? Will I have the endurance? My past says yes, but that was four years ago.

Let’s see how this first week of the cycle phase goes! Happy running!