High 40s rising to mid 50s, partly cloudy with some light fog and mists. Very pretty morning. Objectives: endurance; club run in miles 4.3-9.7; Leg Builder Hill in miles 11.7-13.7; MP in miles 17-19.2, adding the .2 because I had to hit 'lap' and walk, twice. So, 2 miles in three "pieces," paces of which were 9:13, 9:18, 9:17. Target was 9:15. Total running time 3:50, with 14 min walk-run warm up and same cool down.
Sorry, this is going to be another whiney post. But the alternative is to say almost nothing, wish everyone a happy weekend, and click "publish." I think on the whole I'd rather share...
A small part of me thinks this is just such an awesome workout because I had that big hill in the middle and still managed to get fairly close to my target pace on the MP miles.
The other part of me looks at the totally exhausting effort level of the MP miles, the need to walk (twice! sheesh), the prospect of holding that pace for over 4 hours, and the charley horse I got in my left calf after it was finished... and I just want to cry. If my taper over the next two weeks doesn't leave me feeling like a million bucks I don't know how I will handle the lack of results after working so hard.
But now I've done the training I set out to do. I may have fallen short on miles or pace but never on the time I put into my runs, the effort level, or my determination. At the beginning of August I asked the blog at large for help choosing workouts that would make a 9:00-9:15 pace feel easier, and I followed every detail of the plan that Sean Sundwall gave me. At this moment, I find myself wishing that a 10:00 pace felt easier! Is it even possible that my marathon fitness could be lower than it was in May? Lower than last December? Oh please, taper, do your magic!
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