Inching toward training - with vacation upcoming

Writing from my hotel room in Norwalk, CT. Cranked out a couple of 5-milers so far this week: the first on Monday during lunch and the second on Tuesday morning.

I flew early this morning and rested today. For Thursday, I will get up at 6 AM ET (5 AM CT) so I can get in at least four or five. This week's goal is to get to 26-27 miles. I am feeling recovered and preparing to start ramping up, keeping in mind I'll be in Aruba May 8-16th (SWEET).

I continue to ponder the magnitude of a sub-3-hour marathon, and I am pretty much settling myself on the goal. I was talking to my friend tonight, Steve, who is coming off a ACL blow-out and trying to run a 2:50 in Chicago. Yeah, the dude can't barely walk and he is setting a 2:50 goal five months from now.

I explained my concern about the fact that we all have day jobs and lives outside of running. I have to travel for work, sometimes overseas, and cannot always control my schedule. Guess we'll just have to deal with these little curveballs as they come and manage the schedule carefully.

For your reading pleasure, below is a text copy of an article written about me for a Global newsletter at my company that will be published next month. For anyone who ever accused me of not committing to a goal, it's out there in writing to my professional world now....

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Nied Competes in Boston Marathon

How does it feel to complete the world’s most prestigious 26.2 mile running race through rain and wind with tens of thousands of spectators cheering? Just ask Ryan Nied, Procurement Director, based in Plainfield, who achieved a personal milestone by running the 111th Boston Marathon on April 16, 2007.

Just hours before this year’s event, meteorologists had predicted the worst conditions in the event’s history with a Nor’easter storm hovering over the Boston area. Despite the wind gusts and harsh rains, Mother Nature wasn’t able to dampen Nied’s spirits.

“I was just so thrilled to be in the race. I was surrounded by some of the best runners in the world – and the best marathon spectators in the world,” said Nied, who completed his eighth marathon in Boston.

Most runners consider participating in the Boston Marathon a major accomplishment because of the strict qualifying times required to gain entry and the heralded tradition of great runners that compete in the event every year. Nied qualified for Boston by running the 2006 Chicago Marathon in a time of 3:10:04.

Nied’s next marathon goal? He will try to break the three-hour barrier. He has set a daunting goal time of 2:59:59 when he returns to run the Chicago Marathon in October. This will require him to run an average of 6:51 per mile for the 26.2-mile distance.

“I’m very intimidated by the level of training need to put up that kind of time, and I really don’t know if I can do it, but a fellow runner just said to me: ‘Remember, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,’ and I took that to heart,” said Nied.

Nied will dedicate his next marathon effort toward raising money for the American Cancer Society. “I’ve been so fortunate in my life. Running has done so much for my health and my confidence as a person. It’s definitely time for me to do something positive with it.”