A milestone of sorts

I hit the treadmill today for 5 miles before a 1 hour strength training session. That, of course was no milestone. In fact, I felt somewhat sluggish during the 5 miles at 9:05 pace…just a bit of a “hangover” from yesterday’s threshold work I suppose.

The true milestone has to do with a website I’ve been working on (less than I’d like to be) for much of the year. If you’ve been a longtime reader, you’ve probably heard me mention in passing that I’ve been working on a social network for runners. Today, I completed the portion of the site that allows users to insert their own custom running plans. It took me much longer than I would have liked, but a lot of the architecture for the whole site is built into this potion of the site. So, things like the training log should take quite a bit less time by comparison. It would be really cool to have at least an alpha version of the site available by this summer, but we’ll have to see how things go. It’s entirely funded by our graphic/web design business so my ability to work on it depends on my client load at any given time. I’ve resisted the temptation to go after venture capital since the thought of selling it or going public aren’t very palatable (even if the site doesn’t exist yet).

Although it seems small, today was a big step in the process. In addition to just a social website, the “Digital Running” concept will include a nationwide team of runners. I truly can’t wait until the day I pull on the Digital Running Jersey and run a race sponsored by my own company. Speaking of which, the logo is still in flux. I was initially thinking a circuit board with the silhouette of a runner coming out of it, but I haven’t really liked any of the rough concepts as yet. So, I’m open to new possibilities. Suggestions from my virtual running buddies are certainly welcome (and encouraged). I do like green and black as colors, though.

5 comments

  1. we must be on the same schedule. my legs were heavy today too from yesterday’s repeats. sounds like your easy/recovery run went better than mine. i am impressed by your website-making skills and look forward to the big unveiling. i’ll have to get back to you on any logo ideas, my creativity seems to have left me back when i graduated high school…

  2. I just took up running in May, as part of my attempt to lose 75lbs. I did Couch to 5K. Finished in July and I’m still running (and can do 5K at 7:30 pace when I try – not a cruising pace). Up til last week I was running 6 miles every other day. I want to train for a half marathon so I decided to start running 5 days a week…so I added two days of 5K runs…I call them snack runs because they’re light and satisfying. I haven’t identified a half that I want to run…I’ll figure that out after I get to running 13.1 miles.

    Oh, and I lost 77lbs. I might try to lose about 15 more, but only to help my running, not for looks.

    Obviously, I just started checking out your blog. So, hi, and thanks for having a running blog.

  3. Lindsay: I think the greatest victories are often seeded in the lowest defeats and likewise, many defeats are seeded in great victories. So, perhaps it should be a lesson that you should take it easy in the half-marathon to prepare for the full marathon the next day….Of course I only say that so that I can beat you in the half :P.

    Jennifer: Congrats on losing so much weight! Now that you’ve got that whole weight loss thing out of the way, you can enjoy running for running. I guess your half depends on where you live. I’m biased to Walt Disney World, but you’d have to wait until 2010. I’ve heard the flying pig in Cincy is good and it’s in the Spring, I believe. Or you might try one of the Rock n Roll races. I’ve always wanted to do that.

  4. Hi Brian!

    Thanks for responding. When I started running for weight loss I had NO idea how much I would come to love running just for running’s sake. Back when I was weighing 217 the simple thought of running made me feel like a heart attack was coming on! I was sooooo sedentary.

    Now I can’t believe I didn’t discover this thing called running earlier in life (I am 34).

    I live in Atlanta. I think there are several halfs out here I can run in the early summer or in the spring. I don’t want to run one until I feel fully prepared though so I think I won’t target one until I’ve hit 10 miles or so.

    Right now, though, before I hit the sack, I am going to go read more of your entries!

  5. I look forward to switching to your site. Inspiring words up by the way. Jennifer, if you haven’t already you should start a blog about your experience.

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