PoHo Hot Cocoa and 2012 Goals

First race of the year is in the books.  This past Saturday I headed out to Port Huron for the Hot Cocoa 8k.  A few months back I joined a Facebook group of local runners in my town.  Despite the fact that they post group runs almost every single day, I had yet to meet any of them. One member organized us to run this race with a hefty group discount, so I couldn't refuse. $25 to race, eat chocolate and become an owner of one of these sweet (pun intended) hoodies.

I was able to meet about 10 or so members of this 30+ strong group. They all seem to be very nice and easy going (despite how hardcore some of them are in their running skills). Hopefully I'll manage to join some of their group runs.

The race itself was a balmy 14 degrees along the St Clair River towards Lake Huron.  The windchill was reported as 8, but we were along the shoreline which was probably a few degrees lower.  It took the first half of the race to get the body warm and loose

. By the time that happened, my lungs were tired of breathing in all the frigid air so my muscles and cardio reversed roles. My GPS cut me short by a bit, causing me to believe I was barely keeping 10 minute splits, but my official time showed I averaged a 9:17.  I can't complain about that with the race conditions as they were. PoHo is a pretty neat town and I plan on visiting with the family in the summer for a nice day trip.

Now that the New Year's Resolution craze is dying out, I have a few goals for this year when it comes to running. Are they resolutions? I guess so, but they were mostly planned out back in October. Let's start with the biggie:
Run my first full marathon. A few hours into the new year, I signed up for the Detroit Marathon. I completed the half last year and almost immediately upon finishing, I knew I wanted to do the full the next year. I know running a single half isn't much of a qualification for the whole, which brings me to my next goal.
Run 2 half marathons. I haven't registered yet, but I plan on running the Let's Move Festival in Mt. Clemens and Romeo 2 Richmond along the Apple Orchard Trail. Knowing me, I need races lined up to keep me moving and progressing.

With those goals set, I hope to inherently reach a few other ones. I hope to put 600 miles behind me. That should come naturally if I stick to my training plan. The other is to lose some weight - like 20-30 lbs. Its not easy to always have to run with this built-in weighted vest. I've been working on some base miles since the new year. Not much, but come February I start training for the Let's Move Half. Then it's go time!