The Newbie

I was asked recently by bl to share in contributing to poetic feet. Though I'm not as poetically inclined as some (99% of the poetry I write will never be read by anyone but me), I do run. In addition to various 10K's and half-marathons, I've endured four 26.2 -mile marathons, and more recently I completed an 8-year marathon known as the Doctor of Philosophy degree. So I might just do alright alongside the other co-bloggers.
Now that my Ph.D. ordeal is behind me, I will be running significantly more, though I've always needed a specific race to set as a goal in order to train as hard as I can. Any suggestions?

One interesting topic that I will have more to post about is not my own training, but my role as personal trainer/drill sergeant for a friend of mine who will be joining the Air Force in a few months. He asked me to help him out because I've shared my marathon preparation experiences with him, so he thinks I know what I'm doing. And I guess I do, but being responsible for someone else's physical condition is something new to me, so I'll likely be running my various coaching/motivational ideas past you all for the next two months. Right now we're focusing on running and weightlifting, but we may branch out a bit as well before we're through.