Tuesday: 7 Miles (58:31)
Reflecting over the first 5 weeks of training, I am excited in some regards to taper this week and give my body some relief with school ramping up. Typically my weekend runs are double digits, this weekend will be last single digit “long run”. I am both excited and nervous as the mileage will begin to accelerate and with school just around the corner, I know that my scheduling will be essential to make it all work.
With 6 miles on the schedule, of course I pushed it a bit further and achieved 7 miles. I met with Stephanie and Ryan to celebrate Ryan’s birthday with a morning run. This is what makes runners unique, tell me who wakes up on their birthday and says, I am going to go for run, not many people, lucky to have this group that run with.
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:19
Mile 4: 8:20
Mile 5: 8:21
Mile 6: 8:10
Overall Time: 58:31 & 8:21 Pace
Quote of the Day:
“What you do today is important because you're exchanging a day of life for it.”
Wednesday: 4 Miles (32:52)
With last week’s run finishing up at Randy’s pool, we were fortunate to have another wednesday run with water involved in the end. Stephanie and I made quick work with the course, adding on some additional mileage to round it out to 4 since the course was a bit shorter. How do you celebrate running 4 miles in the wonderful humidity, see the photo below. :)
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 8:26
Mile 2: 8:21
Mile 3: 8:06
Mile 4: 7:54
Overall Time: 32:52 & 8:12 Pace
Quote of the Day:
“When your legs can’t run anymore, run with your heart.”
Thursday: 3 Miles (23:00)
Today was supposed to be a 6 mile tempo run, but I decided for 3. Now, I feel lazy, especially with this week’s mileage, but I am glad I was at least able to get 3. With a pace of 7:40 I really wasn’t motivated, but I need to remember the importance of these days, especially when I am trying to increase my pace.
Quote of the Day:
“Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part of your brain that wants to keep going.”
Saturday: ISD Wellness 5K (21:30)
With the exception of last weekend’s 5k with Jennifer, I have steadily been decreasing my times and setting a PR at each 5k event. Coming into this morning, I was a little skeptical as I wasn’t feeling 100% and some negative self talk had creeped in thinking about the route that we would be running. Jennifer and i had run the course a week prior and to say the course lacked “energy” was an understatement. I knew if I could get out of the gate quickly and establish a pace I would have a shot at a new PR but it would be a challenge with the last half of the race being uphill to counter the downhill start. The race began on the track, which provided a nice start but not good in the sense that I got to far ahead of myself hitting a pace of 5:16 to start which I knew I had to back off quickly or I wouldn’t make it. I did fail to run negative splits, but was pleased that I did break my PR by another 26 seconds to take my time down to 21:30 but what I was most pleased with was my pace, which according to Pace Calculator, dropped me to a 6:55 pace. My goal was to break into the 6’s but I would like to see how low I can get this, but also being realistic that my distance running is not going to be anywhere this, yet. :)
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 6:52
Mile 2: 6:57
Mile 3: 7:17
Overall Time: 31:20 & 6:55 Pace
Quote of the Day:
“Set your goals high and do not stop until you reach them.” ~ Bo Jackson
Sunday: 8 Miles (1:09:31) 1:06:06
After a long day with the 5k and helping out in my teachers classrooms, I was not necessarily looking forward to the long run this morning. The Running Well Store put on a great event and it brought out a lot runners. Stephanie and i took a few minutes to get in stride, but the miles seemed to go rather quickly today. Conquering the miles each week with friends definitely makes the journey all the more great. I can tell a difference now running solo rather than running with the group and the miles do seem to take longer to accomplish with the silence of running solo. Music is motivating, but a conversation to draw your mind away from your own obstacles has truly been my saving grace on several occasions, so I am thankful for the dialogue throughout the runs. Also nice to consistently run with the same people. Last week, Stephanie, Sarah, and i ran 8 miles in 1:09 around similar areas in Lee’s Summit. This week, we knocked off 3 minutes, love seeing the progress week to week!
Sunday wouldn’t be completed without breakfast with the group afterwards. Runners are unique, but in the best possible way. You won’t find a more charismatic and energetic group than us, even after 8 miles, it is seldom to not hear laughter none stop at breakfast and constant chatter that gives it that family feel. If you aren’t apart of a running group, I highly encourage it, if you are in the KC Metro area, come on out and join us, just be prepared to social and enjoy yourself!
Below is the breakdown of my splits for each mile:
Mile 1: 8:37
Mile 2: 8:17
Mile 3: 8:14
Mile 4: 8:21
Mile 5: 8:38
Mile 6: 8:03
Mile 7: 8:03
Mile 8: 7:46
Overall Time: 1:06:06 & 8:15 Pace
Quote of the Day:
“Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.”
Final Thoughts:
After 6 weeks, my total distance in training is 199.3 miles. As the weeks continue to pile up, two thoughts currently are running through my mind. With many mental barriers broken down over the first few weeks, one still looms and run in excess of 20 miles. “The Wall” as it is called has plagued me in both marathons I have trained for. In both training's, I have only attempted to run 20 miles twice. During this training, I will run in excess of 20 miles three times. The first, occurring in 3 weeks is already a scary monster in my head. I know that once I have broke through the first 20, the others will be much more manageable in my mind, but the anticipation is killing me.
The second thought is the “PR” that I continue to set in my smaller races. Every race that I have attempted this year in a 5k, I have set a new PR when I have showed up to run my own race. Mentally I have developed that mindset, PR or bust, and with overall goals to achieve a successful marathon, I am contemplating giving up 5k’s for the rest of the year to focus strictly on marathon training. Stubbornly however, I want to see how much further I can drive down my 5k time as I would love to break into the 20’s and even into the teens, but that all remains to be seen.
75 days till Baltimore. I get chills thinking about it, both nervous and anxious. I know that if my training continues to be consistent like it is now when school begins, I will achieve the goals that I have for my marathon. School will definitely test my dedication, but I welcome the challenge with open arms.
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