Our Daily (G)races

Training to be the best wife, mom, runner, and person I can be each and every day....

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Running High at the moment

I have been on a runner's high for about a week.  Things have been going well despite not feeling physically great.  My knee hurts.  I probably have runner's knee.  Ironic isn't?  My hip is tight, but my new exercises are helping with that.

I ran in the ran last week.  Seven miles in the rain and I hate rain.  I rain maybe four in light rain and the rest in a downpour.  I survived and it felt good.  It was a fast run with my overall pace less than 9/min mile. 

On Sunday I ran 10 miles in 1:34 which is pretty good for me right now.  The run went quickly and I felt like it was over almost as soon as it started.  It felt good.

Monday I ran a nice easy 3 miles with a 9:04 average pace.

Tuesday I ran eight miles in the dark.  The moon was amazing.  It lit the way for me and I just loved having it light my way.  I ran these miles in 1:11 which I have never done before...EVER.  I thought this might be my fastest 8 miles on a training run and I was correct.  My fastest last year was 1:12 so not too much faster, but faster.  That is all that matters.  I am seeing progress!  The other wonderful thing is it felt easy. I did not feel like I was working to get that time.  YEAH!

The best part of my running happened today.  I ran 6 800meter repeats with the 3:30 rests in between repeats.  I know that is a weird rest time; however, the rest is supposed to be the same time as it took to run the 800.  3:30 is pretty close and that equaled approximately 0.3 miles of rest time.  My goal time is 3:45-3:39.  My times today were 3:33, 3:32, 3:31, 3:33, 3:31, and 3:27.  I yelled out loud when I saw 3:27 on my watch.  I was hoping to break into the 3:20's by November.  It was an awesome feeling.  Trust me it was hard.  The last two were really hard, but I pushed.  I kept thinking push, you can finish this, don't give up now.  And, I did not give up.  I swear my arms were as tired as my legs!  I think that means I was working hard---ha! 

So, what does all this mean.  To me it means progress.  It means I have made slow small gains in the past month. It proves to me that I am capable of more gains.  It proves to me that I am capable of achieving my goal.  I must believe and I cannot be afraid to try and to maybe fail.  I kept thinking about this verse today:

2 Timothy 1:7  "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline!" 

I love how the verses I memorized for my first marathon pop into my head when I need them.  This verse was perfect for today and it just may be the theme verse for this training cycle!

There is so much running left to do.  I have just less than three months until my race.  Lots can go right and lots can go wrong.  I know both will happen.  However, I know I am capable of more and that is important for the mental game. 

I am glad tomorrow is a rest day!  But, I am also ready for those 16 miles I will be running on Friday!

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