Turkey Trot RR

Saturday was our Turkey Trot through downtown.  The race is only in it's 2nd year.  It's a 5k (actually a bit short I think...3.04 miles).  Anyway, last year I managed 3rd place overall women and awesome Brown's Shoe Fit donates 6 pairs of free shoes of your choice to the top 3 men and women so I was out to win shoes again this year.

I'm pretty tired...9 weeks away from the next marathon and running some pretty tough workouts and over 50 miles per week.  I worked all week to prepare myself mentally "it's only 3 miles...who cares how bad it hurts for 21 minutes?? You got this!"  Last year I went out too fast and slowed a lot during the 2nd miles that has a really big hill in it (21:28 finish time).  This year I stayed cool the first mile....swift but not exhausting (I really wanted to break 21:00) a 6:45.  Second mile, big hill, start passing people (I live downtown so I know the hill very well) 6:50.  Third mile, work to hang on and push to the finish...and I do. 6:44.  20:21 finish time.  2nd place for women.  Wahoo!  Free shoes!  Felt pretty strong into the finish.  A very encouraging day in the midst of marathon training.  :)

The next day was a 15-mile "Long" run.  In Hansons marathon method, that means a pace-ish run.  Pace should be between marathon goal pace (7:40ish) and easy pace (8:45-9:15).  So my long run pace is 8:15-8:25.  The book says to just chill out and run it easy.  So I did the first mile easy 9:24, but felt good so I went with it. 8:33, 8:21, 8:26, 8:11, 8:14, 8:20, 8:06 (gees), 8:17, 8:28, 8:29, 8:33, 8:25, 8:19, 8:09.  Not bad after a PR in a 5k.  Two hours later I was tired and had some nice tightness in my calves and feet.  Is there anything that could make me feel better? Yep! We had Thanksgiving early so I got to eat like a pig (my mom is a wonderful cook).  I had extra helpings of dressing, gravy and sweet potatoes.  I never got full....that's the way to end a long run!

You can't judge how a run is going to go based on how you feel.  I was tired and sore for both great runs.  The more time I spend on the road, the more I realize that SOOO much of this running thing is just a mental game.  "How much pain are you willing to endure today?"