Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Reality Check

Scheduled: 4 Actual: 4 RPE: 4

The first mile is really a struggle for me. My body is still waking up and my mind is foggy. It probably doesn't help that half the time--or more!--I wake up to my alarm and mutter groggily to myself, "I really don't wanna do this." I'll keep working on that positive attitude. My body felt rusty; as I warmed up in that first mile I swear I heard myself creaking like the Tinman in Wizard of Oz. It was about a 17 minute mile.

Mile 2 and 3 were my best miles and I finished them in 12 minutes each. I walked about 3/4 of my last mile because of my leg cramps and finished in about 15 minutes. I think my mantra was off. Instead of just saying, "I am getting stronger" I said, "My calves are getting stronger." I think that was a mistake because it reminded me too much that my calves were cramping.

Now is time for a reality check. I have been really worried about how long my miles take. I know it's early in my training and maybe I'll get faster as I progress but I haven't had any improvement yet. I decided to calculate and see just how much trouble I was going to be in unless I didn't pick up the pace. Turns out, absolutely none! If I run an average of 12 minute miles over the course of 26.2 miles I will finish in about 5 hours, not 6 like I'm expecting. So I officially need to give myself a break and just enjoy my training.

Let's Running.

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