It has been 2 months since the Charleston Marathon and I’m still on a running high from breaking the 4 hour barrier. I thought I would spend the rest of the year focusing on ultra distances and had my eye on a 50K and a 50 miler or two. However, after Charleston, I found myself wondering just how much faster I could run the marathon and I got very excited at the idea of finding out.
I found a mid-summer marathon that I’d like to focus on, Mad Marathon; its small (my preferred size race), its in Vermont (pretty and convenient to my parents) and it is a first-time event (for some reason, I like doing first-time events). After a week long vacation, I am back to running regularly and find myself focused on running a faster marathon in 16 weeks.
This morning was my first of several “pace” runs. I ran the first mile as a warm up and then started pushing the pace to get close to a 9 minute mile, which is what I would like to run at the Mad Marathon this summer. I’ve always found it difficult to run at race paces during training. Put me at the start line of a 5K and I’ll rip off an 8:30 first mile, no problem, but in training I find it difficult to even run a regular 10 minute pace. I convinced myself that that is just the way it is so why fight it?
However, running faster in Charleston has given me the confidence to push the pace every once in a while and tell myself that I can and will run faster. This morning, running to work, was my first test of my newfound confidence. To my surprise and delight, it worked. After mile 1, my pace picked up and even though I was feeling the effort, it got easier and I found myself in a nice running rhythm, not trying any harder but running faster and faster paces. Mile 2 showed a 9:20 pace. Mile 3 was a 9:13. Mile 4, when I thought I was not pushing as hard was a 9:09 and Mile 5 was a 9:03.
It felt good to be out on this cold morning, my backpack thumping on my back, speeding along the trails to work. What better way to start this round of marathon training? Mad River Valley, here I come!
Daily Dozen:
6.3 miles run to work, 4 miles at pace
