Monday: 3.2 Miles (Stars & Stripes 5k: 32:28)
It has been quite some time since I participated in a race that involved running with another person. Typically, I run the race at my own pace, but today, I was happy to run with Jennifer and help motivate her on this amazing 4th of July. The morning had not started off as planned as I didn’t read the website correctly and was late for the start of the race, by about 2 minutes. Thankfully, this event draws a large group of runners and walkers, so we weren’t the last to actually start the race, though we spent the first .4 of the race dipping and diving through the walkers to get up to the actually racers.
The course itself wasn’t pleasant. Running through parking lots for this race made it a struggle to really have a lot of fun as the scenery wasn’t spectacular, office buildings and storefronts left a lot to be desired. My biggest takeaway from this race took place when Jennifer had decided that she needed to walk, as reflected in our splits. During this time I did my best to motivate her, but I couldn’t help but think about my own mental barriers that I had and how I eventually pushed through them. The mind is truly a powerful thing and though she wasn’t breathing heavily or really in any sort of discomfort, her mind had told her that around the halfway point, she could take a break. It is incredible what happens when your mind overrules your body, but it served as a great moment to allow her to know that she could push further, she just had to override the thinking at that moment. I am excited to run with Jennifer again this week and talk about this in more depth.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 9:26
Mile 2: 11:02
Mile 3: 11:04
Overall Time: 32:28 & 10:25 Pace
Quote of the Day:
“Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit. Just RUN!”
Tuesday: 5.50 Miles (47:00)
I believe in signs. I trust my gut, most of the time, but today, I ignored it all. The laundry list of things to accomplish today took running off my priorities, first mistake, and it was quickly moved to the bottom of the list due to the hierarchy of what needed to be accomplished. Hours passed, the temperature and humidity rose and here I was, almost 6 o’clock and still not on the trail. With my parents coming over to help me complete yet another summer project, I quickly decided I would throw on my running stuff and get to the trail, second mistake. Arriving at the trail, with one bottle of water and temperatures in the mid 90’s, I quickly stretched, waited for my Garmin to catch signal and headed off. Less than .25 into my run, I realized I forgot gum, third mistake, and promptly ran quickly back to grab some. If you aren’t picking up on the signs yet, don’t worry, I didn’t either. Just over a mile into my run, I hear a train passing, but know it will be long gone by the time I get to the crossing on the trail. (If this weren’t already predictable, here comes the next mistake.)
Yup, complete stand still on the tracks and I must cross the tracks to continue running. For several minutes I play through scenes in my head of people climbing onto trains and though they make it look easy in the movies, this looked like no simple task. I contemplate turning around, but don’t, yet another mistake. As fate would have it, just as I attempt to grab the handle to cross over the train, it begins to move. As the train slowly moves forward I mentally prepare myself to run another two miles after realizing I was already sweating profusely, but didn’t bring my water. (Are you keeping track of the mistakes now???)
As soon as the train passes, I quickly turn to move on down the trail, but make it only 2o yards before I see my next obstacle, overflow from the river that has left a small lake on the trail. I could run through it, not happening, turn around, at this point why bother, or climb the rocks beside the trail and climb around. If you haven’t already guessed it, I climbed the rocks. The number of opportunities to turn around have become more of sign in my eyes to press forward, though any rationale person would say it was time to call it a day and turn around.
With little wind to help cool off, I finally made it to the halfway point and decided to take a break. Within minutes I was creating a small pool beneath and quickly realizing that I was dehydrated to a point that wasn’t really safe. The remaining miles didn’t offer the entertainment factor like the first half, but I learned yet another valuable lesson on the return home. When life places many obstacles in front of you, though you are told to push through them, it could be God’s way of saying that way, for today, isn’t going to lead you to anything worthwhile. My stubbornness almost cost me several days of training, a lesson I will not forget in the coming weeks.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 8:36
Mile 2: 8:17
Mile 3: 8:41
Mile 4: 8:47
Mile 5: 8:32
Mile 5.5: 8:10
Overall Time: 47:00 & 8:32 Pace
Quote of the Day:
“We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell.”
Wednesday: 4.0 Miles (32:29)
Hump Day always me run group day, and it’s always a blast running with my groupies. :) Hanna and I took off together and though there wasn’t much that spectacular with the run, it was nice to chat with Hanna and catch up. I was also excited about this run because Jennifer and her cousin showed up to run as well. I had been attempting to persuade her for weeks to come out and continued to say how motivating it would be and how it would help, well the group did just that. Being able to sit around afterwards as a large group at Konrads, it was nice to see the camaraderie and see how happy everyone was though we had all just ran 4 miles and were all sweating profusely. This is yet another reason why I love the running groups, everyone seems to enjoy each other’s company, poke fun occasionally always seem to be happy to be around each other.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 8:19
Mile 2: 7:49
Mile 3: 8:08
Mile 4: 8:08
Overall Time: 32:29 & 8:06 Pace
Quote of the Day:
"Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive.”
Thursday: 5.00 Miles (37:24)
Each week I slowly looking forward to the tempo runs I get to do at the gym. The 5 mile this week seemed to fly and slowly continued to increase the speed to an uncomfortably comfortable pace to see what my limits were. With an overall pace of 7:28, I am excited and motivated to see if I can get into the low 7’s and then see if that translates to a race, with the Plaza 10K coming up in September.
Quote of the Day:
"Small minds can’t comprehend big spirits. To be great, you have to be willing to be mocked, hated, and misunderstood.”
~Bruce Lee
Friday: 3.0 Miles (34:21 w/ Jennifer)
We hit the dreaded 1.5 wall. We started slow today with the intent to work on building Jennifer’s base and not worry about time. As the times reflect, we slowed drastically and used this time to talk about the dreaded wall and how it is really just a mental block, as she was breathing just fine when we slowed down. Though the pace doesn’t reflect it at the end, we ended the last .1 at an 8:38 pace, which prompted a conversation to show that Jennifer does have a lot left in the tank and she can push herself harder, not at an 8 min pace, but maintain the 10 min pace that she is actively seeking at this point.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 10:15
Mile 2: 13:18
Mile 3: 10:45
Overall Time: 34:21 & 11:26 Pace
Quote of the Day:
"Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve."
Saturday: 16.00 Miles (2:26:33)
I had the opportunity today to run with Mark Niblo and several other experienced marathon runners that have ran the Boston Marathon many times. According to my training plan, I was slated to log 12 miles, but after talking with the group, decided to attempt to push myself and keep up with Mark and log 16.
Running out on the Indian Trails was amazing. This scenic and quiet set of trails wound through several housing additions and along side a creek that was quite calming as the miles passed. Fortunately, a few of the runners had placed water along the trail, so we were able to stop, rehydrate and continue to keep moving along. I especially enjoyed the run because I was able to talk with Mark and his group. I continue to walk away from runs physically and mentally exhausted, but in the best way possible. I have learned so much running with Mark and continue to be impressed with the wealth of knowledge he has. Not only have a learned a lot from him, but I have also enjoyed getting to know him on a personal level.
The battle that I am having currently is the concept of quantity over quality. In the past, I would go out and bust my backside to run as close to race pace as possible, not realizing that I wasn’t necessarily accomplishing much except for putting myself through consistent pain. After talking with Mark and Stephanie I have learned that quantity is what I need. At the end of the day, miles are miles. So though my pace was not in the 8’s, though my last mile was :), I logged 16 miles in a very reasonable time ultimately conditioning my body to push past a new threshold. In order to continue to keep building my base, I have to keep this in mind if I am going to be able to push past the additional mental barriers that I know are still there and I will soon get the opportunity to challenge in the coming weeks.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 9:04
Mile 2: 8:51
Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 8:52
Mile 5: 9:18
Mile 6: 9:12
Mile 7: 9:05
Mile 8: 8:49
Mile 9: 8:46
Mile 10: 9:23
Mile 11: 9:29
Mile 12: 9:41
Mile 13: 9:31
Mile 14: 9:42
Mile 15: 9:26
Mile 16: 8:10
Overall Time: 2:26:33 & 9:09 Pace
Quote of the Day:
"Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits."
Sunday: 6.00 Miles (52:31)
I was leary of my run this morning after running 16 miles yesterday. Luckily, Mark and Stephanie were there and the miles seemed to fly by as we talked about qualifying for Boston, them, clearly not me, and many other random but entertaining conversations. As the weeks pass, I feel very privileged to have all of the “Groupies” to run with each week. I truly look forward to Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday when we can all take off and catch up on life and I can be a sponge and absorb the knowledge that they possess.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 8:57
Mile 2: 8:18
Mile 3: 8:46
Mile 4: 8:47
Mile 5: 8:38
Mile 6: 8:41
Overall Time: 52:31 & 8:41 Pace
Quote of the Day:
"People ask why I run. I say, “If you have to ask, you will never understand.” It is something only those select few know. Those who put themselves through pain, but deep down know how good it feels."
Final Thoughts:
With 3 weeks down, I have increased my training total to 99.8 miles. I should be excited, but honestly, seeing that I was less than a half mile away from 100, I took this as a teachable moment for myself as I haven’t ran all of my runs this week out the additional .1 as I had promised myself. Though it doesn’t seem like much, it is evident that had I just ran two more runs with that additional mileage, I would have eclipsed the 100 miler mark in just 3 weeks. Moving forward I will continue to keep this magical number in my head as I near the conclusions of each run. If I put in the extra work each day, the payout will always be worthwhile. 3 weeks down, 13 weeks to go, Baltimore, look out!
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