Slow & Steady Wins the Race :-)

Ran down Ali'i drive on the ocean.  Went really slow and walked the two big uphills.  After reading some interesting articles I think I may be running my easy runs too hard and my hard runs not hard enough (aka all runs are moderate to moderately hard, never easy nor very hard).  So I made an effort to go extremely easy today.  Drenched in sweat.  Think I may need a few days off, which sounds ridiculous coming off a vacation but so much walking/hiking (much of it in flip flops) in heat/humidity following a 4 week period that included a 19 miler, Hood to Coast, a 20 miler, and a 23 miler have left me feeling tired and I feel very prone to injury right now.

Saw 3 Riki-Tiki-Tavis!

Until next time Hawaii... its been a blast. 

I have the back-from-vacation-blues.  Not only is Hawaii dunzo, but its raining and winter here and I can't make it 9 more months until summer!  Plus my calf feels really weird (in a bad way), and I cut my toe badly on the lava while snorkeling on Saturday and it feels baaddd (infected?).  

This is what I was looking at 2 nights ago:

15 minutes on the bike (inside :-( ) but it was aggravating my ITB so I quit.  Did some strength stuff and called it good.

4 loops around the neighborhood.  Felt okay, twinges in calf/shin, twinges in ITB, hoping everything just stays at bay for 2 more weeks.  I ordered new shoes and hope that will help.  Kind of realizing I have no plan as to how to run this marathon, and that scared me.  So I tried to feel out what my MP should be, but it was kind of a failure, since it ended up feeling too hard to keep up for 26.2.  I'm so scared!

Did 2 warm-up miles, then 4 miles attempting to hone in on MP, but was too tired by the end for it to have been right.  8:30-8:45 is probably the ambitious goal, 9 the realistic goal.

TT: 54:05   AP: 8:50

Splits: 10:05, 9:13, 8:15, 8:36, 8:22, 8:25

This run was horrible.  Such a confidence-buster.  I didn't do a long run last weekend, I'm tapering, shouldn't I feel good and legs feel fresh?  I felt like I deserved a medal for completing this shorty, and my time was over a full minute slower per mile than my 23-miler.  WHAT?  How am I ever going to run a full marathon in 2 weeks?  There is no way I could have run one today.

Kept hitting snooze until 8:30am, which was a mistake because summer decided to pop back in for one more day (hitting 85 today) and it was hot.  Decided to do the lake loop, but then I was shocked when I saw no lake!  That was bizarre.  Apparently they are draining it for repairs or something.  Ran up McVey, which was a huge neverending hill, and when I had to stop at a stoplight I suddenly felt dizzy and like I might pass out or throw up and my heart started just racing.  It was kind of scary.  I have no idea why, maybe just the heat (though I have ran in way hotter) and the huge hill?  Another confidence-buster.  So I walked a quarter mile or so up the rest of the steep part.  Then did 2 loops around the dog park.  My ankle was still bothering me (why??  what is it??).  I'm thinking I might try some stretching/yoga and maybe call the PT this week, though I doubt I could even get an appointment before the marathon.  

TT: 1:56:54   AP: 10:08

Splits: 11:07, 9:39, 9:38, 9:20, 9:39, 9:10, 12:04 (walking after feeling dizzy), 9:59, 9:36, 9:38, 10:10

I just want this marathon so bad!  I don't want anything to mess it up!