My Apologies!

I’m sorry that it has been a while since I’ve posted anything. It’s not that I’m not running, it’s because I get caught up with everything else in life, then at night - when I should be writing - I just veg out!

This week has been a very good week for running. So far, I’ve put in about 15 miles. Monday was a good “recovery” run from the 12 miler on Saturday. I put recovery in quotes because a true recovery run should be slow and steady - to work out the crud that builds up on a long run. However, my run on Monday was a bit faster than expected. An 8:53 pace to be exact. (BTW-that’s fast for me.) Weather was cool to start, but I was definitely warm by the end.

Wednesday was my speedwork day. A 5 mile total run with 3 miles up tempo. My tempo averaged 7:58. This was not easy for 3 miles. Plus, I was not feeling great that morning. I was tired because I was back to my normal schedule and Monday’s run wiped me out a bit. Overall, I was happy with my speed. And I was really happy to be done!

Now Thursday...

Thursday was supposed to be an easy day. An “easy recovery” day from the speedwork. Again, supposed to be...We started out great! A nice easy 10:00 minute pace. We kept this up for the first 2-1/2 miles. Then, for some reason, a few people started to speed up. And for some other reason, I decided to as well. We were really moving for a while - then took a short walk break. Then, the real speed came into play. We started running much faster (mostly to finish faster, but also due to egos). A runner’s ego is a dangerous thing. It’s really not about outrunning someone else, but about pushing your limits to see how far/fast you can go. And we were running very, very fast. According to my Garmin, I hit a max speed of a 5:15 pace. That is insane! I was glad that it was over quickly. I then realized that elite runners move faster than that for 26.2 miles! No thank you...

Needless to say, I am thankful for my rest day today. And I can’t wait for tomorrow - venturing into the unknown territory of a 14 mile run. This is the start of my “long” runs. From here on out, except for a recovery run every 4th week and of course the taper, the runs are 16 miles or longer - topping out at a 22 miler! I am really excited.

I feel that my training is now officially beginning!