Omg figured out how to keep this from being one long paragraph! YAY!
...we had one today.
By "we", I mean the crapton of people both in my training group and otherwise who needed to get their run on this morning. You see, the meteorologists here in lovely Central Ohio have been predicting nothing but high winds and heavy rain for us, starting last night and continuing through late tonight. The thought of this made me want to puke, as I hate running in heavy rain even more than running in the cold.
However, what did we get?
A brief spurt of heavy rain last night, some wind and rain during the night...and besides that, not a whole lot. The odd sprinkle here and there, but we actually saw the SUN for roughly the first half of todays 12 mile run and for that, I am so grateful. Mother Nature actually came through this morning...hopefully she keeps it up in a few weeks for my half marathon!
This morning's run actually went pretty well. I was only supposed to do 11 miles but was feeling pretty good so I decided to do the extra mile with the rest of my group. Today was a progressive run, meaning starting around mile 6 we gradually increased our pace and finished miles 9 and 10 at around 8:45/mile pace. My legs were heavy at first so I was kind of worried about how things would go but thankfully I was able to shake the sludge out and kick it into gear :) Plus, I haven't heard a peep out of my right calf/shin in a couple of weeks so hooray!
As excited as I am about my upcoming race, I think at this point I'm even more excited for the break I'm taking from training. As in, not planning on training for a fall race. I'm not taking a break from running or anything silly like that, but I need to shift my focus-to rounding out my fitness abilities a little more with biking and swimming, and to actually putting some sort of strength training program in place. Plus, I signed up to be a coach for the 10 min/mile group through my training group for a handful of local races this summer/fall/winter so that'll give me something to look forward to as well as an opportunity to NOT focus in setting new PRs.
Overall, though, the biggest reason is that training for a certain time goal can be freaking exhausting. Needing to hit certain paces during speedwork and on shorter runs, making sure to get your mileage in each week without overtraining, fueling properly, resting enough but not too much, etc. It can get old after a while...for me and for J. He tries to be patient and supportive, but its hard when your perspective is different. He's not a runner and never has been, which is fine by me...but its hard for him to understand why I'm up and out the door by 7:30am every Saturday morning instead of sleeping in with him, and why I've been putting myself through punishing speed workouts every Wednesday night instead of coming home to spend time with him. And its hard to explain. J feels like I'm choosing running over him, but I feel like I'm trying to keep balance between things I enjoy. But I know that while I'm chasing this sub 1:50 HM goal, its going to be more difficult to really balance and really enjoy everything that I'm trying to balance and enjoy. So after this HM, its time to take a break and run for the hell of it...whether I run a sub 1:50 or not.
But that's enough of that. Now, time to enjoy this lovely lazy Saturday afternoon with the Terrible Twosome :)
1 comment:
I'm so excited for you for a few reasons - first, because of the race in May. You are going to kick butt and I think it'll definitely be a party to celebrate overcoming some of the struggles you've had, as well as all of the hard work you've put in.
Second, being a pacer will be such an amazing experience for you! :)
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