Oh man, I am so excited by how today’s run went!
Things didn’t start quite so positively. I awoke in the early hours obsessing like I had been since last Sunday’s 27.5 mile extravaganza. All week long I worried that I had run too hard and too fast. I had an encouraging run on Wednesday, but on Thursday my legs still felt stiff. Since then my head hounded me with doubts like these: What if my legs don’t feel better? Would I be able to CIM? Had I royally screwed up my training with last weekend’s run?
Yikes!
Originally, today was supposed to be an ambitious speed workout: 14 mile repeats. I let that go starting three weeks ago, when I decided to run an EZ long run with my buddy Erik rather than do those mile repeats. This was the moment I decided not to go for a PR (or “personal record”) at CIM this year. Since then, I have mostly taken it slow-and-steady (though I did enjoy doing my super fast 6’37” mile two weekends ago!).
The modified plan for today was 16 miles, but after last weekend’s 27.5 miler, I was concerned about managing even 8 miles. Happily, when I started running at about 7:30am, my legs felt, well, mostly fine 🙂 I thought, “Holy s**t, I might just be able to do this after all!” Thereupon I settled into an 11-minute per mile pace, taking 1 minute walk breaks after 3 minutes of running. Any time I considered pushing the speed, my left side hurt. I figured this was what I needed to keep me in line. As a result, I held to a conservative speed, and ended up running 12.5 miles without a hitch.
To say I’m appreciative is an understatement. Today’s run might be the most significant in my training. It literally felt like my CIM experience was on the line. I’m so happy to be past that. Now I can focus on the final stage of marathon training: preparing for the Big Day.
Speaking of which, today I wrote up these intentions for December 4th:
- I am disciplined and pace myself well, especially in the first half. Conservative, smart, and tuned in to my body :).
- I have fun!
- My body is happy and I feel great!
- As long as it is feels good, I have a triumphant, fast 2nd half, making negative splits, and ending strong (and happy!).
- I successfully handle all aspects of the marathon before and after, including: nutrition, hydration, sleep, mindset and visualizing, overall pacing, and post-marathon recovery!!
Mood: jubilant, grateful, appreciative, focused. 🙂
Let’s do this!