Going Long

I have to admit that I've occasionally complained about the two block walk to the mailbox nearest my house. Ironic considering I was actually excited about doing a 20 mile training run this past Sunday.

Ahhh, the mind of the long distance runner.

Sunday was also the NYRR's Colon Cancer Challenge - a 15k road race in Central Park. So, I plotted a course of about 10.5 miles to the start and then raced the 15k (9.3 miles).

I figured that I'd be inspired to pick up the pace for the second half of this workout by the race environment.

However, I was a bit pressed for time when I left the house (read: groggy and lethargic) so I had to nudge up the tempo to ensure I'd get to the start on time.

I arrived at the starting queue just as the final race instructions were being announced. I arrived timely but pooped. The race itself was pretty rote for me. I did find a little extra umph as a result of the competitive nature of races and I ran well. A big shout out to NYFlyGirl and the Ladies of Hellgate for whoopin' it up on the course.

The good news came later and was two-fold:

First, when I woke up on Monday I wasn't destroyed physically by delayed onset soreness - a sure sign of heightened fitness.

Second was my pace.... When I combined the times of the pre-race run with the race itself my pace was on target to deliver an 8 minute PR for the marathon.

Now I just have to keep up my training and not to obsess with peaking too soon.

"Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt."
-José Ortega y Gasset