Coming along...

How the heck is it already November and just a handful of weeks away from 2009? This time of year always seems to fly by, and it amazes me how training pushes it along even faster. I’m in the middle of my sixth week of training, and yet it feels like I just started. Things seem to be progressing pretty well, although there are still a lot of runs, even the short ones, that are a real struggle. I know there comes a point, and usually it just happens one day, where four and five mile runs feel like a breeze. I’m still waiting for 3.5 mile runs to feel that way. But it will come. Running is all about consistency…and a little bit self-torture. You’ve got to love the feeling of finishing a run just a bit more than you love feeling like dying along the way.

I’m gearing up for my first 10k of the season in just four days. I don’t expect this to be my strongest 10k ever, but I’m going to give it my best. I just don’t want to set myself up for disappointment if my time hasn’t improved compared to past 10ks. I’ve set expectations that the 10k on Thanksgiving will be a stronger run for me. This will be my longest run yet this season, so just getting to the end takes a lot of effort. I did finish out a long run this morning of six miles, which is a definite boost to my confidence. Knowing I just have .22 miles further to run on Sunday makes it feel like a smaller task. And who knows, some days you can head out for a run and it’s just easy…other days it makes you beg for death…hopefully Sunday will be an easy day!

I did some comparing to see how I’m doing this year compared to last (I’ve kept some extensive logs the last 2 years of training). Last year my training was to last 18 weeks, whereas this year I’ve scheduled 16. My injury flared up in the 15th week, hence the shorter training. Both years I hit my long run of six miles in the sixth week. My first 10k last year wasn’t until the beginning of week eight, whereas this year it’s a week earlier. My pace this year is quite a bit faster too. My paces are about 5 to 15 seconds faster than the same weeks last year.


Week 5 Summary: Goal 13.5 miles in three runs, with a 5.25 mile long run. I finished out 13.5 miles at a pace of 8:54. I completed a long run of 5.5 miles which has pushed me .75 miles ahead of my scheduled long runs.

Week 6 Goal: I’m scheduled to run 18 miles this week with a long run of 5.75 miles.

Sunday, November 9th 10k Goal: My goal is to complete the race in 54:25 (8:45 minute miles).