Saturday, September 12, 2009

22 miles and The Boston Marathon?? Really???

Today was a great day for a run. My buddies and I met at 6 am to run 4 miles before we met with the group. A big group turned out today to run lots of miles. 22 miles down in the books. It was not that bad. Really. I think it had a lot to do with the weather. It was very foggy and cool and just a very pleasant morning. The past few weeks have been hard because of the weather ( too sunny and hot!).
Another thing that probably added to the run was all the bathrooms we had access to! We took full advantage of this. I know it's not realistic ( for me) to take potty breaks during a marathon, but sometimes you just gotta go!
We ran this long run at an average of 10:11 miles. This is probably one of our slowest long runs to date and I am fine with that. It's about a minute or so slower than we normally run.

I had a chat with my coach on Thursday. He seems to think that if I am mentally prepared on marathon day that I could run it in 3:45. 8 minute miles--for 26.2 miles. Ummm, OK! That would mean I would knock off 9 minutes from the last marathon. I guess it's doable, but my goal was 3:50! Oh ,this would also mean I would qualify for The Boston Marathon! That's cool and everything, but it has never really even been a goal of mine. BUT now the seed has been planted in my head and I cannot get it out. I still want to have fun with this marathon and do my best, but I do not want to KILL myself with anxiety over the 8 mile pace.........so now I am trying not to stress out. Cool as a cucumber. That's me..... yea right!
In

4 comments:

Unknown said...

How EXCITING!!!!! Girl, you know that no coach would ever plant that seed if it wasnt realistic!!! You CAN do it & I'm excited for you! I had to giggle though because your "slow" pace is my usual lolligagging run :) lol I'm such a consistent 10-min miler!

No stressing about this. Just do your thing & it'll happen!

I'm off to get my pom poms! hehehe

Christina said...

I think you could totally achieve that goal BUT don't let it be your focus. Your original focus for this was to do it and do your best, seeing what improvements you can make on your mileage time. If that brings you to an even bigger accomplishment then GREAT but don't set yourself up for frustration, anxiety, etc. Remind me of this too, k, the closer to show I get and I know the "ooohhh wouldnt it be cool to place/win" thoughts creep in instead of the just "oh yay I'm gonna do this!" thoughts. ;)

MarciaG said...

Heather~ Thanks girl!!!
I just was not expecting him to say that to me!!! Darn him!!

MarciaG said...

Tina!
Thank you, my voice of realistic reason! haha
I think I would be fine if I found a buddy with the same goal...
I tend to do better with a bit of friendly competition ( pull ups anyone?!?! )
I am better off just running the race and not stressing out at all....Off to meditate!