Alright, so my first few posts about my running experiences were a bit whiny, and possibly awkward since I was writing them from a perspective two months after those first couple days of training. So the last two months have been good, I mean really good. In a nutshell, I've gotten my pace down to an average of 8:45 on shorter runs, meaning 4-5 miles and 9:15 on longer ones, which are 8-10. That may seem like huge gains over the last two months, but I really have just been knocking the rust off and getting back down to my usual shape. Now let's keep in mind that my goal is three and a half hours for the Marine Corps Marathon, which breaks down to a little bit slower, and I mean barely slower, than and 8:00 pace. So, yeah, I have some work to do. However, I'm pretty amped on the gains I've made and I think I'll stay on the same course for a few more weeks until I can start my training plan, which is five months long.
I know it's kind of a fast forward for me to just skip two months of training musings, but I refuse to recount every single day of training since I've started and for the sake of this blog, I think you'll thank me for that decision. So the best place for me to pick back up would probably have to be yesterday's run. I finished up classes and hit a nap until I went down to the gym at around 5:30 in the evening. I had to go down there because I still live in Colorado and it's still cold. So I started out cruising at an 8:35 pace. I ripped out that first mile and I felt great. So in order to impress everyone around me, I increased up to a 7:30 pace. A little too fast. I rode that out for a half mile and unimpressed everyone around me by decreasing my speed down to 8:41. I finished the run out at this pace and I ended up running 5 miles.
I have good news though, now that I have been running for a few months, my mind can wander during runs. Actually, that's probably bad news because you guys have to hear about it from now on. One of my first thoughts while running was that I wish I was a smoker. The only reason I wish that is because smoking makes you look cool. I don't care what anyone says, it definitely does. I really can't sustain it while living in Colorado because there's already no oxygen up here, but adding a barrier between me and my ability to engage in respiratory activity would not be my wisest call, and this is coming from a guy who trusted Kevin at Dick's Sporting Goods to pick out his gear. Regardless, how smooth is it when those guys in classic movies walk up to some young vixen and say, "need a light?" Boom. Cut to the next scene because you know what they're doing is not suitable for underage viewers. If you don't believe me, check it out:
Maybe I'll try to make something else look cool since I can't sustain a smoking habit. Is eating cinnabons cool? I can do that.
So I kind of nerded out for the rest of my run and thought about running. I'm pretty excited though because training is going well, I get to start my real, structured training program soon and I'm injury free, minus some psychological injuries I suffered in my first few days of running. Lace up and run hard folks.
You're hoping to run your debut marathon (in 7 months!) under 3:30, and you have difficulty holding a 7:30 pace right now?
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, sir, best of luck! You're young, so who knows what could happen.
True, true. I'm just not very good at setting realistic goals. It might not make much sense, but if I set a goal of say, 4 hours, I would get kind of lazy.
Delete4 hours is no easy goal either, for a full marathon, especially for your first. The MCM is not an easy course, and it's super-crowded, so you'll have trouble finding your rhythm early on as your dodging other runners. I broke 4 hours in my first, but I had been running for a few years prior to that. I was also twice your age, so your youth may get you to your goal.
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