Good morning! Hope that your weekend is going very well. Mine is going well so far. This morning I had another significant marathon workout planned and I'm pleased to report it went very well. The goal today was to run 13.5 miles, then race the Spotlight on Nursing 10K, and then run a 1 mile or so cool down. In total, my goal was to run just over 20 miles.
What I was most proud of today was that I worked the plan that I created months ago rather than adjust today's workout for short term success. You see, earlier in the week I seriously considered just racing this 10K without running 13 miles before the race. I knew that I could run a fast 10K and possibly win the race. I have not raced this fall on fresh legs, as I've run significant miles before each race to practice running my marathon pace while tired. One cannot go out and practice to run a fast marathon by running that distance at a high speed. It would kill your legs for the actual marathon. So...one has to run some easy miles and then run the hard miles late in the long run to simulate the effect. I STRUGGLED with sticking to the plan all the way until about 10p last night. I'm so competitive and I just hate not being rested when I start a race. But...as I tweeted yesterday and reminded myself last night the goal for this fall is not to run a fast 10K but rather to run a fast marathon on November 5. Running teaches patience and discipline--two things our society often forgets--and today was a great lesson on having the discipline and patience to reach the ultimate goal.
All in all, I am ELATED with how things went today. I got up at 6a and took Myles out to potty. The race started at 8:45a so I knew I needed to get running early. I ran 13.5 miles at about a 6:50/mile clip before the 10K. When I got to the start of the 10K there were a lot of guys from the Runners Forum there and some very talented runners. While my legs felt somewhat tired, they still felt strong. During the first mile I felt pretty good and pulled through in about 5:58. At this point I was in 7th place and I felt like I would catch the two guys in front of me. I ran the second mile in 5:39 and then the third mile in 5:45. I was through three miles in 17:23 and was sitting in 5th place. The fourth mile went pretty well as I hit that in 5:46, but I was starting to feel very tired. During the fifth mile it was tough, my legs hurt, I was winded and I pulled a 6:00 mile and I knew it was gut check time. About a month ago I raced The Ripple Effect and I let up the last mile, relaxed, and got passed at the end. Today, I told myself that this pain was what I'd feel in the marathon and that this is why I ran the 13.5 miles before the 10K--to feel this pain and RUN THROUGH IT! So...I focused on trying to pass the 4th place guy and I ran a 5:46 sixth mile and then finished in 36:06, good for 5th place overall. Amazingly, today's time is the 4th best 10K I've ever run (I've run 13 10Ks over the years). I'm so pleased with that. Mainly, though, I'm pleased that when I felt the "marathon wall" type feeling today, I answered the gut check and kept attacking. That's just what HAS to happen next month.
Running is such a gift and I'm so very fortunate to be able to do this each day. It's a lifestyle and I'm sure it seems crazy--who runs 20.75 miles on a Saturday morning for fun? Well...there are a few of us and we are a bit crazy, quirky, and odd. But...as Steve Jobs so eloquently put: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." For me, my inner voice, heart, and intuition SCREAM "Josh, you're a runner." So...I RUN. Happy running to you...
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