And on Sunday, she rested

Ah, rest. Sweet, sweet rest. Actually, I need to cross-train today, which I will probably do by walking around the mall and local book sale – it counts…right?! RIGHT?!?!?!?!

I was feeling pathetic on Friday after running my long run at 12:04 – almost two minutes slower than my marathon goal pace of 10:18 minutes/mile.  But as I read over an article by Jeff Galloway and Hal Higdon’s website, I realize that I did it right:

• You can’t run the long ones too slowly—you get the same endurance whether you go very fast or very slow. http://t.co/10d3FdFA 
• The fastest that I want our Galloway Training groups to run is two minutes per mile slower than goal pace. http://t.co/10d3FdFA 
• Run slow: For experienced marathoners, I recommend that runners do their long runs anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds or more per mile slower than their marathon pace. http://bit.ly/yiUtet 
• It’s better to run too slow during these long runs, than too fast. http://bit.ly/yiUtet
• The important point is that you cover the prescribed distance; how fast you cover it doesn’t matter. http://bit.ly/yiUtet

So while I want to run faster on these long runs, at least to prove to myself that I can hold my marathon pace for that amount of time, the pros do know what they’re talking about. And about two hours after my long run of 9 miles this week, I barely felt sore at all (though I was really sore the last two miles of the run!).  I got the miles in and I bounced back very quickly.  Those are the important things. 

Also, I realized today that I inadverently made Higdon’s plan a little harder for myself – the long run of week 1 is supposed to be 8 miles (I did 9) and the long run of week 2 is supposed to be 9 miles (I have 10 scheduled).  I think I will just keep the 10 next week, because that is the last long run before the two half marathons I signed up for.  I have read a lot of articles that have said if you can run 10 miles, you can run 13.1, so hopefully that is true because 10 miles is the longest distance I have done so far and the longest I will have done before those two races.  Oops!  I basically want to finish and not embarrass myself too badly!

Hopefully I don’t look like this at the end of the races, but I will not settle for anything less than crossing the finish line!

September 16, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment