STRESS...TAKE 2.......

Strength workout.... 4x1 mile repeats 1/4 mile recovery with 1 1/2 mile warm up and cool down.

I haven't had time to return my new shoes yet and I am starting to pay for it. My feet and ankles were so sore last night after running. The workout went really well and the weather was perfect. We were supposed to do 6 x 1 mile repeats, but I only did 4 because of the shoes and the pain. Pace was supposed to be 10 seconds faster than marathon pace which would have put me at 9:50 miles. Right after the warm up my stomach started to flip flop and the resulting potty break made me late for the actual workout. Because of this I went out very fast, again fast when I use it is a relative term, and finished mile one at 9:07. At that point I figured since I knew I was not going to do the full 6 miles I would push a little harder and readjusted my goal pace to be 9:30. The next three miles were, 9:20. 9:20, and 9:15. I was very happy even if my lower extremities weren't!
During the warm up I had a chance to re-evaluate my approach to this, my second marathon. I have been stressing about finishing time. Last year my goal was simple, finish without any significant injury. Which I did, 5:21:00 with about 5 miles of mostly walking between 17 and 22. This time around my goals are slightly more lofty. I would like to finish in 4:30:00, which I really should be able to do. Here I am three months away and I find myself worried about not being able to pull it off. Well last night I decided that if it works out, great! If not, oh well, just finish what you started and let everything else sort itself out. Now don't get me wrong I am still going to try and do it, but if it doesn't happen it is ok. Life will go on and lessons will be learned and I will get faster.

Thanks for stopping by,
R.P.D.