Well my 10 miler went just as I had figured it would : badly. The only way I'm going to learn where my limit is to push until I find it. Today, I found it. So I'm grateful for that...but I still sort of feel like a failure at the same time. What I've realized:
1. With my training plan, there's no room for tempo specific runs. At least not at my current fitness level.
2. I'm just gonna pull the 1/2 mar. from my butt and that's all there is to it. I think I want to run a 1:50, so it's only two minutes faster than my PR, which I have hit in training recently, just not today when I shot for the moon and ended up slowing down a LOT.
3. All this over-training nonsense started with my friend, Nichole. We both really love the Green Bay marathon, but have never done it the same year as the other. This year we are. Also, this year, she's going for Boston. We were going to run the race together and BQ (3:40) together....but... She's more experienced than me, by about five years and three or four good marathons. I was going to give a BQ a shot these first couple months and see if I could hack it. Well, I can't. Too big of a goal for me right now.
4. What I want to do is PR (under 4:03) and average under an 9:00/mi. This goal is reachable if I don't over-train and kill myself beforehand. Every run, except the one 20mi in Michigan, has been sub-9:00. I can do it. FO SHO. So, new goal : 3:55. Guess I'll be running without Nichole. She can save me some chocolate milk at the finish line.
5. I will not let myself feel like a failure if I don't reach the 3:55 and still PR. A PR is a PR, no matter if it's a few seconds or a few minutes. Also, it's still a darn marathon, 26.2 miles. Not everybody can do that. Quit whining, Karen.
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I guess there's a silver lining in there somewhere.
3 comments:
Sorry your 10 did not go as you hoped. But you are right, this is a lesson and there is no need to feel like a failure. You are building something and it takes time, that is all.
--Says me who is always impatient with her fitness level no matter what.
Just catching up and I've got to say that running a good marathon just comes with practice and figuring out the distance. I bet you have some wicked speed in you but just need to learn how to run the distance. Also, you could throw in some tempo miles in any run -- it won't hurt you. Just do a couple.
Ewa, I love how you're all zen. Always makes me take a step back and realize there's more to running than PRs, it's more about getting out and moving, one foot at a time, under my own power.
Danni, It took me awhile to figure out pacing with half marathons (the first distance I started racing), it'll eventually come to me for the marathon too....I hope.
Adding tempo miles into a long run sounds good: teach myself to run harder when already tired. I'm long running tomorrow. I'll let you know if I can do it.
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Thanks for the help ladies!! :)
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