So after taking my two scheduled days off, I came into Saturdays' run rested and ready to push out a great workout. Saturday is always a speed workout day, and on tap for this day was a mental crusher of 2 x 5K with a 3 minute rest in between. I hadn't intended to run the second 5K since I had an appointment to get my trucks AC fixed, but I was feeling really great.
My first 5K was incredibly consistent on the out and back course. 7:15, 7:23, and 7:33. Considering the homeward stretch was slightly uphill with a stiff breeze in your face, I'll take that as a consistent run. I couldn't have been happier. I hammered home one of my best 5Ks in well over a year. That's a great place to be at the start of a marathon plan. The second 5K, I had intended to go out to the 1 mile mark and make the turnaround there. Wasn't pushing the pace like before, but I wasn't totally slouching either. The goal pace was supposed to be 30 seconds per mile slower. And when I got out to the 1 mile mark, iI made the command decision to just do the whole darned thing. What's an extra 8 minutes amongst friends. So it was at that point I set out to catch some of my group members that were ahead of me. In all, I ran my final mile at a 7:45 pace, within the 30 seconds. And best of all, I felt great and that's a HUGE mental boost. I have to say, my mental state of running is probably my biggest deamon. It keeps me from waking up in the morning. And it keeps me from doing the FULL workout, because I'm usually somewhat intimidated by the "mileage". Lately my minds been in the mode of saying I'm not prepared for the longer workout. But, with each and every milestone met, that facade gets chipped away.
Which takes me to Sunday. My planned run was only going to be 8 miles. Mentally, that's a really long way. But, after running 7 (after warmup and cooldown) from the day before, it was only 1 extra mile, and it's not anywhere near the pace I had run in Saturday. Sundays are a nice easy, throw on the iPod and lose yourself in the outdoors and music. Which is EXACTLY what happened. I got up a little later then usual, and headed out t he door a bout 8:15. I had one of my genius playlist rolling and I have to say...The are GENIUS. A great set of tunes for a nice easy run. The thing about my Sunday runs, I like to run them a bout 2 mins per mile slower then my speed sessions. I never even looked at my watch, and after the first 5 miles I hit the lap at 45 and some change. Suring these worksouts, I take a few breaks along the way to break up the monotony. So after a quick water break, I got back to pace and busted out the next 2 mile segment. This is where the run got a bit deviated. That 2 mile segment took me a little further out then I had though, I 8 miles wasn't really going to b e 8 miles. It ended up being close to 9.5, but hey....You gotta get home don't ya. But, after that 9.5 miles, I had a GREAT amount of energy left over. I came home, hooked up the compex, and rolled through a nice active recovery cycle of my back and legs and manages to BUST through all the jobs I had intende dto do. Talk about productive. Not only did I have a great weekend of runs, I ended up above my 27 mile goal with 28.6 miles.
And this week has started off even stronger. I fugured my les would be spent today, but I met Paul again, and we wne out for a little Monday AM stroll. Last week on Monday, I did 2 miles of what I like to call cleanup. Today, I wasnted to extend it a bit, but not the full 5 miles we had run on Wednesday. This time I did a modified small loop with the intent of doing 3.5 miles. More then last week, which is the ULTIMATE goal. Build up the miles, lose some weight, and run your marathon like ya stole something!
Hope everyones weekend of runnign was as great. LIVESTRONG and Train HARD!
