Today is Day 4 of my 20 week training program in preparation for the St. George Marathon and today I really began to realize what a fight it is going to be to run a sub-3. Today was my first tempo run in a long time. 8 mile run. 2 mile warm-up, 5 miles at 10k pace, and 1 mile cooldown. Well, my 10k pace should be around 6:15 - 6:20. However, today, it was 7:00.
My lungs are completely out of shape. This is what happens when you haven't trained specific to your capabilities, but rather to someone else's capabilities. Your lungs go to pot. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the social aspects of running here. It's really the first time that I have found a large group of people to run with. The problem is that they run hills and when we do run the flats, I'm typically holding back. I'll still run with the group, but I will likely only do it on short recovery runs when I'm just looking to get mileage. Good thing I have 19 weeks and 3 days to move the needle.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Happy Birthday Liz!
I hope all of your birthday dreams come true. I plan on making lots of gravy. And slathering it all over me.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Lottery Winner
This isn't about money, but about my entry into the St. George Marathon. You see, due to local and state regulations regarding the road this race is run on, only 6900 people are allowed to participate. However, because it is a very downhill course, very well organized, and in a beautiful part of Utah, many more people than 6900 try to enter each year. That's where the lottery comes in. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones and got in.
With the reality of me running St. George in October (potential reality really as we have a newborn coming in August), comes the necessary creation of a training schedule. Not since I ran the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon in 2004 have I created such a detailed schedule. The reason being is that this race will represent my attempt to go under 3 hours. Having a marathon result that starts with a 2 is my ultimate running goal. I am quite sure that if I ran a sub-3 that it would be the most significant athletic accomplishment of my life. I would probably even shed a tear or two. It means everything to this runner.
However, when I looked at my schedule and truly began to comprehend what it would take, a little bit of fear crept into my psyche. It's going to be extremely difficult and even if I train perfectly, the possibility of not running a sub-3 is there. With a perfect training cycle, I still put the odds at about 50/50.
Training starts May 21st. May I have the strength to wake up at 4:30am Monday through Saturday for 20 weeks.
With the reality of me running St. George in October (potential reality really as we have a newborn coming in August), comes the necessary creation of a training schedule. Not since I ran the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon in 2004 have I created such a detailed schedule. The reason being is that this race will represent my attempt to go under 3 hours. Having a marathon result that starts with a 2 is my ultimate running goal. I am quite sure that if I ran a sub-3 that it would be the most significant athletic accomplishment of my life. I would probably even shed a tear or two. It means everything to this runner.
However, when I looked at my schedule and truly began to comprehend what it would take, a little bit of fear crept into my psyche. It's going to be extremely difficult and even if I train perfectly, the possibility of not running a sub-3 is there. With a perfect training cycle, I still put the odds at about 50/50.
Training starts May 21st. May I have the strength to wake up at 4:30am Monday through Saturday for 20 weeks.
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