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!
No comments:
Post a Comment