Pacing myself

Today my legs were definitely feeling my 14-miler from yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought though. I could sit without crying, and go up and down stairs without wincing. My legs did feel swollen though, which doesn't make me feel very lady like. These days I'm more comfortable in a sports bra and a pair of shorts. Not exactly something I can wear to work...

I did make it to the gym today, just to see how my legs were holding up. I ran a mile to warm them up and then just did some ab work and light weights. Pretty good all things considered.

Tomorrow the work begins though. I've made up my mind on my goal for time- I want to run as close to 9 minute miles as possible in my race. If I run 9:09 pace, I'm at 4:00 hour marathon. Yikes. oh god. breaking 4? people train for years to do that! Here's a pace chart to break it down:

http://26m.com/running/charts/9-minute-mile-pace-chart-4080

Yesterday's run was right on pace- I finished the 14 miles in 2:07ish- It was probably closer to 2:10 which is only a minute off of pace. If I can sustain it that pace at 14 miles without thinking hard about it, imagine what I can do racing. I'm going to continue to be cogniscent of 9:09/mile throughout my long runs so I can train my body to continue to fall into that pace.

The other part of the puzzle is I'm going to try and do some speedwork throughout the week. Each week I have 2 runs that are not very long- usually 3, 4 or 5 miles. Then I have a 6, 7, or 8 miler and my long run on the weekend. I'm going to take one of the short runs and make it speed...or run my mid-length run at faster than 9:00/min pace, maybe an 8:00 or 8:30? I've read tons of articles and studies about the benefits of adding 2 kinds of workouts into your training: hills and speed. I'm putting hills into my mid and long runs. The course isn't that hilly, so I should be covered there. The speed is what I'd like to focus on, because I know I can go faster but I haven't given myself the opportunity.

In high school, I had a love/hate relationship with repeats. Repeats are when you designate a distance, and run it multiple times, fast. Breaks are minimal in-between each repetition, and hitting your goal time is crucial. Yasso 800's are my key to success. I'm not the only one to rely on this method- check this out: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html Basically, if you can run 10-800 meter repeats at 4:00 minutes each, you can run a 4:00 hour marathon. If you do them in 2:50 minutes/each, you'll run a 2 hr 50 min marathon. Seems simple, and I like simple. Doing math while running always gets messy because I'm flippin' tired and it just seems too daunting of a task.

I'm starting my 800's tomorrow, and am shooting for 4-5 sets. Phil's coming with and doing his 3:40. Time for bed so I can get up and cruise around the track! --Which, is another reason I LOVE 'Tosa- it has a high school track about 10 minutes away...which is a perfect warmup to my speed work!

-Haylea