I have some good news. After all of my moaning and groaning about my seemingly ever-slowing pace, I had two fantastic runs to wrap up the work week and a solid long run Saturday morning. Following my 8-mile treadmill trek on Tuesday night, I took Wednesday off to spend some quality time in my kitchen, making my favorite dinner and enjoying a glass (and a half) of Chardonnay. Grapes and green beans do the body good, I guess, because Thursday night I was ready to run!
After major commuting delays, by the time I got home I wanted to move. Nik arrived home from a trip just as I was headed out the door, but he just encouraged me to “Go! Fast!” instead of caving to the desire to sit on the couch and catch up, instead. I’m not sure if it was just wanting to get it over with and get home, or what, but imagine my surprise when my watch kept beeping in miles under 8:30 pace. Finally, a glimpse of the past! I made it home in just about 42 minutes, logging exactly 5 miles.
Friday morning came quick. My alarm went off just before 5 and I rolled out of bed and got dressed soon after. The good news is that the more I run in the morning, the easier it gets… and the closer we get to spring and summer, the brighter it gets earlier! With only 4 miles on the schedule, I felt like this was super quick, in and out, and at a nice comfortable 8:40 pace.
Saturday morning things just kept getting better. After about an hour of useless worry about whether or not I could actually run 14 miles, I made a super random playlist and was on my way. My gosh it was windy. Still, I plugged along, up and over what seemed like endless hills. Truly. I’ve never run so many hills in my life. Nik surprised me by showing up to the halfway mark to check in… and then met me another mile up the route at a convenience store for a Gatorade break. It was a welcome surprise that cheered me up and had me running just a little bit faster for the mile or two that followed. I completed the run in 2 hours and 8 minutes, or 9:10 pace… also known as nearly the exact pace I need in order to run a 4 hour marathon. (Okay, let’s not get too technical. I still have a minute to shave off somewhere over the course of 26.2)
I know, I’m a bit of an emotional roller coaster on the confidence front. Who knows where I’ll stand in another day or two. For now, I’m easing back into another week of training, well-fueled thanks to a major score at REI this weekend (Nik was super productive while I was out running):
I know. That just made this an even weirder wrap-up than it was before. Happy Monday.