Adjusted Reality

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” – Mark Twain

Category: Half Marathon Training Page 2 of 7

Second Half Marathon Training: Week 10

Really, week 10 already?  Three weeks from today, my race will be run.  Will I make it in under 2 hours?  Will I beat my last time?  Will I even finish?  Dramatic chipmunk builds the drama.

Damn you Kanye!!!  Anyhoo, will I finish?  Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got this one.  As terrified as I was at the beginning of this because 5-6 miles seemed hard and long after a summer of 5ks, it’s nice to get a good reminder that my body can do just about anything with reasonable training time.  I’m going to work to not lose my mileage base this time.  It helps that I’m coming out of the race when it is starting to be gorgeous prime outdoor running weather.  I’m starting my last hard week of training actually THRILLED and GIDDY at the idea of some nice looooooong slow runs to get used to being on my feet past 2 hours.  This is a good sign, as last time at this point, I just really wanted to finish the race and NEVAR RUN AGAIN…

Will I beat my time (2:16 and some change)?  I think it’s almost inevitable.  Saturday’s run was just a tinge slower than my last half marathon pace, and the after effects?  I feel like I may as well have just gone for a long walk.   I may not have *quite* hit some of my paces, but with how I’ve been running so far, I think I’d have to have a crazy bad day not to PR.

Now, beating 2 hours?  I’m not sure.  I still feel very strong when I run.  But there has come a point where my body makes me aware that, no, in fact, I cannot do ANYTHING I ask of it.  I can either get frustrated and piss and moan about it, or use those experiences to figure out how to best salvage each run that’s not going 100% perfect and keep those strategies in my back pocket for race day.  I’ll choose the latter.  My prediction?  I’ll need a really good day to break 2 hours.  But I’ve had good days!  So we shall see.

So day by day –

Sunday: We decided to take a nice long walk because it was FREAKING GORGEOUS.  We walked about 2.5 miles to lunch and then over 3 meandering back through some parks and nifty neighborhoods.  I figured that just under 6 miles was nothing to sniff at so I counted it as one cross training day.

Monday: 6×800 miles.  I went into the gym and started and while it wasn’t as bad as the 1600 sprints, it was no cake walk.  Then in the middle of it, I remembered that this week and next week were the ones I added to the program myself (since there was either a 10 week or 16 week program, I picked the 10 weeks of sprints and upped the ante for the last two weeks).  No one *told* me to do 6×800.  I could *probably* quit after 4 and be ok.  I could *probably* just cut the speed a bit on the last few and be ok.  But then I realized after last week, I needed to do it just like I set out to do.  And thus, I did.

Tuesday:  Yoga’d it up, had a DAY at work, and decided I needed a rest.

Wednesday:  6 mile tempo.  I had to slow down in the middle slightly, but I was able to pick it back up at the end and still make my 8:55-ish pace (I think it was 8:57 but whatevs).

Thursday: Was able to fit in 30 mins DDR, but not circuits.  This means I took the entire week off strength training, which is not optimal, but it was a ROUGH week work-wise and very very busy.  Sometimes, you take what you can get.

Friday: Since I was an idiot and stayed up WAY too late partying on a school-night (insert comment on not-a-role-model here), I got through the day, and then our houseguests pampered us with a home cooked dinner and an hour long massage.

Saturday:  If you hadn’t gathered from commentary above, it had been a hell of a week.  Crazy stuff at work, stuff to do after, and on top of it all, this morning I woke up and realized that it was that one morning per month where I’m lucky to be able to drag myself off the couch.  My legs had also been constantly sore all week.  It hadn’t even gotten better with 2 days off.  So, I said screw the 15k race plan, and decided instead to do 9 miles easy, no pace requirement.  This actually felt WONDERFUL, I got to enjoy the great day, my Zliten biked a bunch of the way with me, and I was ready an hour later to go out and do it again.  I did a bunch of yoga after and felt even greater.  My legs feel better now than they have all week.  Sometimes, you just have to throw the plan out the window.

Sunday: movies on the couch.  Resting up for the week to come.  Not lookin’ like a fool with my pants on the ground.

This week is my last hard week.  Next week, week 11, starts my full two week taper.  There is some debate on whether you need that much, but I remembered running 12 miles 6 days before my race, and never quite felt rested, so I’m going to give it a try.  At first, I was pretty freaked out about taking it easy for so long, but after having two completely WASTED weeks of training where I was lucky to get a run in at all let alone 3 at pace, and then bouncing back just fine, I think it’ll do me good.

And it’s not taper yet.  This is what’s up this week:

Monday: 5×1600 sprints @ 8:25 min/mi pace.  This is my own personal gift of hell to myself.  At the beginning, when I put together the program, I thought, “I need more work at long distances being fast, so I’ll throw in mile sprints this week and add 1 since it’s the last week.”  I think  I might could go find a time machine, go back, and kick myself.  I would take 12 x 400 over the mile sprints.  These have been the toughest on me.  But I suppose, it means I need them more than the shorter intervals.

Tuesday: DDR circuits.  Or I might just buck up, head to the gym, and do weights.  With my taper I need to taper the weights as well and I want to make sure I get in two good sessions this week.

Wedensday: 4 mile tempo @ 8:55 pace.  Going to attempt to get my hiney up early and do this in the morning outside as I have a social engagement after work.  Failing that, another jaunt around the campus at work.

Thursday: DDR circuits (or something equivalent involving WEIGHTS).

Friday: rest

Saturday: 12 mile run @ 9:40 pace.  This is another important one.  If I can do this one on pace without too much trouble, it will be a good omen for the 1.1 mile longer race.

Sunday: relaaaaax

Weight/Food/Tracking Update:

I’ve been giving myself a little leeway here as I’m pretty close to the race day.  I’ve been actually pretty good about eating good food in mass quanitites (like a 2 lb bag of baby carrots and 1/2 lb pea pods… yeah, that was 3 days of afternoon snacks for me), minus yesterday evening’s cracker and cheese fest.  I did fall off the tracking this week, so I’ll need to get back to that tomorrow.  The scale has been between 156 – 157 (minus one odd day of 152.8 which I don’t believe) but I haven’t weighed since Friday, so again, will start monitoring tomorrow.  It’s not been a bad exercise to track during this stage of training, as I actually most running days I’m struggling to eat ENOUGH.

So there.  Wish me luck with this last week and I’ll be sighing with relief when Saturday afternoon rolls around.  Still trippin’ out how awesome and loose my legs feel though!

Random Non-Obvious Half Marathon Advice

So I had a lovely, lovely *deepthought* type post planned for today and then today happened – a 2.5 hour dentist appointment, a super busy (and late) day at work, and I’m not in any capacity to do anything but shallowthought.  So hopefully tomorrow I’ll scoop out my brainpan and throw it all over.  Today, something a little lighter.

I’ve gotten a few requests for half marathon advice.  I’ve posted EXTENSIVELY on the training methods and emotions and play by plays of my runs and whatnot, but here are some random right before/during/right after the race advice I can pull together from the last race and both training endeavors. In no particular order and absolutely not inclusive of all advice – just what’s off the top of my head, I present my tips and tricks.  Not including having this chasing you (I know I’d get a PR fo sho…)

1.  Bring slippers to the race.  There is nothing like getting out of those shoes you just ran 13.1 miles in and putting on something fuzzy.  Bring a change of clothes too.  Generally you will be too tired to care, but if you’re exceptionally sweaty or it’s rainy or muddy or if you might just feel like NOT wearing what you spent the last 2+ hours running in, it’s nice to have the option.  Especially if it’s a long way home.

2.  Mentally prepare and visualize a perfect race day, and then realize it’s going to be anything but.  I was so late to my first half marathon my warmup was a half mile all out sprint to the start line and I had to haggle with the race officials to let me cross the timing start since they were taking it down.   Not a graceful start at all.  I’ve run 5ks in pouring rain and one course had sticks in part of the path.  Yeah, it’s as uncomfortable as it sounds to run on.  Shit is going to happen.  Whatever it is, you are a rockstar and you can recover from it.  Don’t let anything shake you.  This is your damn day.

3.  Don’t plan anything after the race.  You might be totally rarin’ to go and that’s cool, but you might also be so drained you can barely walk.  My first 10k, I was so pumped after we did a big long bike ride that same day.  Same after some of my double digit runs – I do believe I did a 11 mile run and a 20+ mile ride in the same day.  After the half?  WIPED the fuck out.  Just wanted to eat massive amounts of food and then go home and spend the evening with my butt planted on the couch.

4.  DO NOT DIET the week of your race.  I know you’re running less.  I know the scale might get angry with you.  Make sure to ingest lots of awesome healthy food and ignore the fact you’re only running what feels like a warmup.  Whatever was working for you before, keep it goin’.  Also, splurge after the race.  You don’t have to eat the moon, but definitely take the opportunity to have something yummy.  I mean, you just burned over 1500 calories if you ran a half marathon, and even if you ran a shorter race – you just ran the hardest you ever have in your life!  Get THAT THING that you have been salivating over.   This is THE DAY for it.

5.  Speaking of eating, eat something the night before that you know is not going to bother your tummy.  My meal was steak, fried shrimp, mashed potatoes, a loaf of bread, and salad.  Nothing spicy, which is difficult for me, and nothing from a questionable food cart.  I went with a chain steakhouse I’ve eaten at dozens of times.  Most people say stay away from so much protein and fat, but it did me great.  For me, it was VITAL I did not wake up hungry because I won’t get up early enough before the race to eat anything substantial (grumble grumble stupid early start times grumble grumble).

6.  Even if you’re not going to eat a full meal in the morning, eat something.  A protein bar or a normal AM type snack for you is good.  Something you’ve eaten close to working out and been ok.  And make sure to hydrate.

7.  What does eating lead to… hmmm?   Yeah.  Try to #1 and #2 as many times as you can before the race, #2 mostly.  It disturbed me I could not do the later for about 24 hours before the race and I was SO EFFING scared I was going to have to stop during the race but my body did me alright.  But make sure you give yourself the chance.  Once you get going the sweat should balance out the need to pee so just make sure you go before the race and you should be fine.

8.  Don’t get to the end of the race and don’t get your time reported because you went the wrong way!  Or, you might feel like this guy above.  If you have questions while running, ask the race officials.  I don’t know how many people got DQ’d on the last race but it was quite a few… it was definitely a confusing course.  The officials are there to help, don’t worry that you look stupid.

9.  Do whatever feels good after the race.  Sure, you’ll recover faster if you keep moving.  But honestly?  Who cares!  You just blew your load.  You ran your big race.  You’re probably not going to run for a few days, so don’t push yourself.  I collapsed about 100 feet after the finish line, rested, got up, hobbled to the water cooler, collapsed again, drank about 10 glasses of water, hobbled to a bench, and stretched.  I tried to do the post race thing but what I really wanted was to sit, so I left.  See #3 about not planning anything.

10.  Give yourself a break.  If you push yourself to the limit and give 110% (or do some other cheesy sports cliche phrase type thing), it’s going to take a while to get your mojo back.  Do some easy cross training  the next week.  Maaaaybe some really easy jogging-like runs.  It is going to take a WHILE to want to go either FAST or FAR.  You just spent 3 months doing some really intense things with your body.  Give it the recovery time it needs.  Go swimming.  Ride your bike.  Take up dancing.  These are the things I did for about a MONTH before I started running again.  I wondered if I would ever run again like I did before that month.  But a few months later, after resting a bit, I shredded my 5k time by almost a full minute (and more in practice).  And you know how strong I’m feeling lately.  So no matter how weak you feel shortly after, know you WILL recover.  Chill out and do some active recovery.

Other little tidbits?  Smile during the race.  You love this.  This is your day, and you are carpe-ing it.  Run hard, leave it all on the course, and have fun.  Enjoy the course (personally, I DON’T study courses which is so all against my controlling, type-A ness, but for some reason, I like the surprise that day and rolling with it).  Cheer other runners on if you get the chance.  Double knot your laces so they don’t come undone.  Carry at least one 100-calorie pure sugar source.  Don’t train with any sports drink – it’s so much better to be able to use it as your ace in the hole.   Lift your hands and celebrate wildly when you cross the finish line – it’s unlikely anyone will get a proper picture of it, but they’re cool when they come out.

Any silly or random race tips to share?  Any more serious specific half marathon or race questions you want me to answer – I mean – I’m not an expert, but this will be my 7th race in a year, so it’s not my first BBQ, so I’ll be happy to share any biased and twisted wisdom I can.

Second Half Marathon Training: Week 9

Well, this week was the week of almosts.  Of getting about 90%.  Of testing my limits and finding them.  Of just not quite having the juice to put up rock solid times, but close enough that I feel good about it.  The saying is close only counts for horseshoes and hand grenades, but I think it works for training too.  When close is still putting in the miles, and still feeling pushed to the limit, I’ll take it.

Monday’s run foretold a lot.  As I complained about here, I was just not recovered from my long run + epic night of drinking + crap food.  I’ve done that same workout before minus a mile, and I’ve never felt so bleh during a sprint before.  I made it through the first two, and *probably* could have held on during the third, but since I had four to do, I went ahead and slowed from sprint to tempo pace.  I was a little disappointed, but overall, it was not so bad.  I put in the miles, and just barely missed the mark.

Wednesday was the run I was super excited/nervous about.  I totally prepared, did everything right, and then I got to mile 6 and had to slow down or I was not going to make it.  On that day, I was simply unable to run that pace for that many miles.  6 miles or 7 miles?  I could have done it.  Not 8.

Saturday’s 11 mile run, I made the awesome decision/mistake to tackle the hill that fucked me up last week TWICE.  I just didn’t recover well after it, and most of my latter miles were either just under or just over the 10 min/mile pace.  I did finish the run at a 9:57 pace, and considering miles 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 were uphill, I”m calling this a win.  I think I’m going to pick something a little flatter for my 12 miler to see if I can hit the 9:40 pace.

So that being said, I’m feeling like I did what I could, though I am definitely starting to feel some muscle fatigue that isn’t recovering in my days between runs.  So – this training method is MUCH better than the run-more one, but it is not impervious.  Oh well.  The good news is that now my tempo runs start to taper, and two weeks from now, so does everything else.  So I just have to tell my stumps-for-legs that they just have to hold out a LITTLE longer, and then we can start getting rested for the race.

I still feel badass, I still feel strong, but I don’t really feel untouchable anymore.  Which is ok.  I was getting to be a little Cockypants McGee and while confidence is good, having some runs that don’t go your way helps you learn.  I learned a lot from the runs this week.  And though I could certainly have hoped for a little more out of all three, I definitely refreshed my memory on how to recover a run that’s not going my way and still kick about 90% as much ass.

By the numbers:

Monday: 4x 1600 sprints @ 8:25 pace  – check (did 2 @ pace and then 2 @ 8:50)

Tuesday: DDR circuits – check

Wednesday: 8 mile tempo @ 8:55 pace – check (ended up at 9:07 pace)

Thursday: DDR circuits – check

Friday: off

Saturday: 11 mile run @ 9:40 pace – check (ended up at 9:57 pace)

Sunday: off – actually cross trained (6 mile hike around the hood) for next week due to a) beautimous day and b) weekday shenanigans, so I can have an extra day off.

So, next week.  This week and next week, and then it’s taper.  Getting close!  Less than a month away!

Monday: 6×800 sprints @ 8:10 pace (4:05 per 800)

Tuesday: DDR circuits

Wednesday: yoga/off

Thursday: 6 mile tempo run

Friday: yoga/off

Saturday: 15k race pace (shooting for somewhere under 9:40)

Sunday: off

So a little less mileage, but 3 super intense fast pace runs.  If I can get through Monday’s on not-completely-rested legs, I think I will be alright.  Send good, happy, zippy thoughts!  What do you do when you’re partway through a run (or workout) and don’t think you’re going to make it?

Writing in the Future Tense

**Note – I thought this would be a clever post, but upon rereading it, it feels very weird and disjointed.  Hopefully it makes some sense to y’all.  Also, super random funny pictures because it’s late and I’m lazy. /end disclaimer**

5pm:

So, I am SUPER NERVOUS about this tempo today.  8 miles @ 8:55 pace.  This is the run for all the marbles (if by marbles you mean confidence in the sillyfast pace I picked for myself which I do).  If I can hit this pace, I am convinced I can do anything.  This is also the LONGEST run I will have to do at this fast pace.  I’ve done 6 miles twice and the first time it was tough, and the second time I barely made it.  I am trying to channel the essence of time 1 when I wasn’t shooting darts through my brain at the inventor of the FIRST program after mile 2, and realize that all I have to do is add just a bit under 18 minutes to that fairly notsohard run.

If I just remember that #1 the pace is non negotiable and #2 I am not going to remember how hard it was, just if I finished it or not and #3 I never have to run this again at this pace – I should be all golden.  I have a good playlist, and I am about 1:30 away from hitting the ‘mill, but I doubt I’m going to finish the post before then, so instead I’m going to talk to you from the future.  I bet this guy would have liked a future-gram saying PROTECT THE FAMILY JEWELS, kthx.

Hi all!  It’s about 7pm and I’ve just gotten out of the shower after my run.  I am soooooo pleased to report that I was able to get through my 8 miles and keep my pace.  I’m totally pumped now because it means I can do ANYTHING! ROAR!  I have confidence a-plenty that I will ROCK my goal pace at this half coming up.

So I went into the day prepared.  I had a super 30g protein bar for breakfast, and made sure to stay SUPER hydrated all day.  I had a nice mild lunch that I know doesn’t aggrivate my tummy (seafood salad salad w/cilantro dressing) and kept feeding my face with healthy snacks (like pistachios, carrots and hummus, and fruit) so my fuel tank would be topped off and I’d be rarin’ to go.  I had also changed up my playlist and put all my favorite songs that make me pick up the pace so I didn’t run into silence around mile 6.5.

I got to the gym and warmed up and took off.  I decided that it seemed to work best last time when I started at 6.2 and worked up to 6.7 over the first half mile, so I did that.  Once I got there, it felt fast, but comfortable, and I threw my workout towel over the numbers and spaced out, getting really into my music.  I had even remembered to bring a second towel so I could cover the screen with one and wipe my sweaty face with another.

Miles 1 and 2 were uneventful.  Mile 3 started getting a little tough, but I focused on some happy news I got today and breathed through it and made it through my first 5k feeling strong.  I just kept repeating 5 miles to go.  You can do anything for 5 miles.  Look at how STRONG you look.  How STRONG you feel.  You are such a STRONG runner lately, how awesome is that?  Mile 4 – 5 seemed to go quicker, but 6 kinda dragged.  I was starting to feel it – this SHOULD be the end where I do my final sprint to the finish line, but I still had more to go.

I dug deep and reminded myself that this was the most important run before my marathon.  That if I can do this, I can do anything.  That though it was tough, I didn’t NEED to slow down, I just WANTED to.  That I would only remember if I did or didn’t do it, that there was no room for “I tried”.  That this was my longest tempo run I have to do.  That I have 2 days off running starting the moment the treaddy ticks to 8.0 miles.  These thoughts got me through the first half of mile 7, and then a really kickin’ song came on and I got buoyed up by that and barely noticed when I was onto mile 8.

When .5 miles to go hit and it was time to kick – my legs were barely my own, but my fingers were still within my control so I hit the speed increase every tenth and finished up the run at an 8:57 pace.

As Miz likes to say, I am my own superhero today.  Almost as super as Fire Breathing Al Gore.

After the gym, I shall come back and share how things really went in superfun strikeout text.

…ok back from the gym.  Here we go:

Hi all!  It’s about  7 9pm and I’ve just gotten out of the shower after my run finished my run, eaten dinner, had a beer, and am snugged up watching sci fi.  I am soooooo pleased to report that I was able to get through my 8 miles and *almost* keep my pace.  I’m totally pumped now because it still means I can do ANYTHING! ROAR!  I have confidence a-plenty that I will ROCK my goal pace at this half coming up.

So I went into the day prepared.  I had a super 30g protein bar for breakfast, and made sure to stay SUPER hydrated all day.  I had a nice mild lunch that I know doesn’t aggrivate my tummy (seafood salad salad w/cilantro dressing) and kept feeding my face with healthy snacks (like pistachios, carrots and hummus, and fruit) so my fuel tank would be topped off and I’d be rarin’ to go.  I had also changed up my playlist and put all my favorite songs that make me pick up the pace so I didn’t run into silence around mile 6.5.

I got to the gym and warmed up and took off.  I decided that it seemed to work best last time when I started at 6.2 and worked up to 6.7 over the first half mile, so I did that.  Once I got there, it felt fast, but comfortable, and I threw my workout towel over the numbers and spaced out, getting really into my music.  I had even remembered to bring a second towel so I could cover the screen with one and wipe my sweaty face with another.

Miles 1 and 2 were uneventful.  Mile 3 started getting a little tough, but I focused on some happy news I got today and breathed through it and made it through my first 5k feeling strong.  I just kept repeating 5 miles to go.  You can do anything for 5 miles.  Look at how STRONG you look (didn’t have a mirror spot).  How STRONG you feel.  You are such a STRONG runner lately, how awesome is that?  Mile 4 – 5 seemed to go quicker just about as painfully, but 6 kinda dragged.  I was starting to feel it – this SHOULD be the end where I do my final sprint to the finish line, but I still had more to go.

I dug deep and reminded myself that this was the most important run before my marathon.  That if I can do this, I can do anything.  That though it was tough, I didn’t NEED to slow down, I just WANTED to That I actually physically needed to slow down a little for just a little bit if I was going to make it through. That I would only remember if I did or didn’t do it, that there was no room for “I tried” That a strong finish was more important than pooping out at 7 miles.  That this was my longest tempo run I have to do. That I have 2 days off running starting the moment the treaddy ticks to 8.0 miles.  I took a tenth of a mile at 6.0 at the beginning of mile 6, and because I had to stop to reset the treadmill after 60 minutes, I slowed a tenth of a mile before and after stopping as to not shock myself into a stop from a breakneck pace. These thoughts got me through the first half of mile 7, and then a really kickin’ song came on and I got buoyed up by that and barely definitely noticed when I was onto mile 8.

I tried to start the kick at 1 mile to go to make up some time, but I had to slow down again because I felt physically spent, however… When .5 miles to go hit and it was time to kick – my legs were barely my own, but my fingers were still within my control so I hit the speed increase every tenth and then every 5 hundreths the last quarter mile and finished up the run at an 8:57 9:07 pace.

As Miz likes to say, I am still my own superhero today.

…no explanation for this one.  It just made me LOL.

Analysis:

So honestly, I’m going to give myself a B+.  Sure, I didn’t hit my pace.  Sure, I had to slow down.  Sure, it sucks BALLS that I was just 10 seconds per mile off my goal pace.  But – I was only 10 second per mile off my goal pace!  I felt pretty strong at the end of it.  I found that 8 miles was just a little too far today to keep one OMG CRAZY pace, but I did learn that it is way doable with a few slowdowns for recovery.  And if I can add 5 miles and stick pretty close to the pace I kept tonight, I will still beat my goal.  And… I firmly believe I run stronger outside, so I have that going for me.

Now, it’s up to me to keep training strong.  Somehow I had lead myself to believe in my sillybrain that if I did this run perfect, everything else would fall into place.  I didn’t do this run perfect, but I did good enough.  And that will just have to be good enough for my confidence.  I get another chance to rock it Saturday with an 11 mile run @ 9:40 minute miles, and then another 2 hard weeks of training to prove myself to myself before the taper.  Wish me luck!

Second Half Marathon Training: Week 8

I try to refrain from prolific cussing here, but it must be said.  Holy fuck, my half marathon is a month from Saturday.  Last year during this week I was just saying to myself, “just hang on a few more weeks and you get to taper”.  I was exhausted.  This half, I barely feel like I’ve been training.  Sure, I’ve missed 3 training runs, but that’s not much.  I definitely have some tough stuff to go, but beyond the silly injuries, I am overwhelmed at how STRONG I feel.

What’s turning my crank the right way?

1.  The FIRST program.  Running hard 3 days a week just works for me.  It might have done me good the first time to really get some road time in to get used to it, but now this is really helping me train SMART and HARD.  During the spring, I loved the nice fa-la-la happy fun scenery runs outside, but now my choice is treadmill or freezypop weather.  I want to get it in get it on (all night long – or not, hehe) and get it DONE.  My running time is right around 3-4 hours per week and I’ve never felt stronger or faster.   I’m so happy I decided to make the jump and try it for my half, I will SO be following this program for my marathon.

2.  Body fuel.  I’m eating a lot more and cleaner than I used to, though there was definitely a pizza incident Saturday night after my run.  Instead of sticking with my sillypants cutting calorie regiment and then binging on buffets and handfuls of chocolate chips when my body is about to break down, I’m eating good food until my body tells me I’m full.  For the most part.  I am paying a price for it.  I’m carrying about 5 more lbs than I was last time.  I don’t think I look quite as fit as I did this time in the training (though I could be wrong).  But I have knocked off 1-2 mins per mile on my mid-distance runs.  That right there is worth it.

3.  Pace goals.  Even though the treadmill is booooring compared to my happy fun little running route, it does help me learn how to run at one pace/a certain pace.  Though I did finally get to to my inaugural run with the garmin (I named it Gypsy) and it is AMAZING to be able to have constant feedback on my pace.  But it’s different than being dragged along by a conveyor belt – which is honestly good for me sometimes.  Having a pace goal determined by my race goal means I’m training just as hard as I need to be (not too hard or hard enough).  Last time I was doing 2 runs per week where I could go as slow as I wanted, 1 tempo run (which honestly, I rarely did a REAL tempo and at max it was 35 minutes – in comparison I have done 4 tempos so far that have been longer and faster), and 1 sprint day (where I didn’t really have a specific pace goal, just *faster* for 400 meters).

4.  Working my brain too.  Not that I didn’t do this last time, but I am really testing my mettle with some of these paces and lengths.  I’m starting to learn what I can really put myself through and still come out smiling and happy after.  Last week’s 6 mile tempo was SO HARD.  I can’t remember a time where I felt like I ran harder.  Maaaaybe the last mile of my half, but honestly, it would be a toss up.  I wanted to quit so so so so so so so many times but I kept doing the injury check and it wasn’t there, it was just wah and general discomfort, so I made it non-negotiable.  I don’t even know if I was in full control of my legs by the end, but I was of my fingers.  So I just upped the speed like I needed to and somehow I didn’t die.

One big realization:  I’m not going to remember how I felt during the tough run.  I’m convinced that good runners need short memories.  I’m not going to remember that the gym smelled like burnt hotdogs and chlorine (I had a few miles to pinpoint the specific aroma).  Or that I had the wrong water bottle.  Or that I accidentally pulled the emergency stop reaching for my towel and had to restart, and it was long enough my legs got stiff and hurt the rest of the run.  Or that I had a major stitch in my side for about the last 4 miles.  That special hell is reserved during running times only (thank you, short memory).   I’m only going to remember if I did what I set out to do or not.   And screw you, problems working against me, I did it anyway.

The rose colored glasses come on later and I remember “Oh, it wasn’t THAT bad, sure I can add 2 miles next week and not drop my pace, I can do anything for 18 minutes, whatevs.”  And then I go back into that special hell that’s an 8 mile tempo 20 second faster than race pace, and somehow, I will conquer.

I think last week and this week are the most pivotal runs of the program.  For my confidence.  Last week’s second 6 mile tempo made me realize that the pace on the first one wasn’t a fluke.  If I can do it twice, I can do it anytime I want.  Last week’s 10 mile run showed me that I can break into double digits and still keep a wicked pace.  This week, I have that scaryscary 8 mile tempo.  I’m of the opinion if I can tough it out through that, somehow, I can do anything.  Then, I’ve got another double digit (11 miles) to reinforce my confidence that I can keep my pace at long distances.

Honestly, from there it’s all gravy.  If I can complete this next week at the required paces, I can honestly feel confident that I can do a sub 2-hour half even if the rest of my training somehow goes to shite.  I will even put that out there now, feel free to remind me of that if it happens.

By the numbers:

Monday: 6×400 sprints @ 1:58 pace (with the requisite 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, and 400 recovery in the middle) – check.

Tuesday: DDR circuits – check.

Wednesday: 6 mile tempo (tempted to make up the 8 mile tempo but I think I’ll refrain) – check.

Thursday: DDR circuits – check.

Friday: off – check (yay)!

Saturday: 10 mile run @ 9:40 pace – mostly check.  I ended up at a 9:47 pace, but considering my path had a mile long hill I wasn’t expecting, I am so not complaining.

Sunday: off

One more week with the goal simply to rock the paces as planned.  Here is the plan:

Monday: 4x 1600 sprints @ 8:25 pace (with the requisite 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, and 400 recovery in the middle)

Tuesday: DDR circuits

Wednesday: 8 mile tempo (*eek*)

Thursday: DDR circuits

Friday: off

Saturday: 11 mile run

Sunday: off

This is a really tough week, adding another mile to Monday’s run, the epic tempo, and then another double digit run this weekend.  I just gotta approach this week with the confident swagger it deserves, stare it in the eyes, grab it by the balls, and tell it how much it doesn’t intimidate me and it better watch out because I’m gonna kick it’s butt.  Wish me luck!

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