I decided at the beginning of the year that I would try to finish four long races in 2010. Well, my definition of long is anything over 9 miles. March isn’t finished and I already have two of them in the bag (Hangover Half on 1/1, and 3-Person Marathon Relay on 2/21 when I ran the 9.2 mile leg)! My next long race isn’t until 10/10/10 when ADP and I will be running the Mohawk Hudson River Half Marathon in celebration of our 10th anniversary (anyone see lots of 10’s?). So, I’ve been thinking about it and I need a change of focus to get me through until I start training for my next half.
The initial problem was figuring out what to change my focus to and then it hit me – race the race. Races are just an endpoint to me and that is how I treat them. The race is there to confirm I can run the distance I’ve been training for. Notice I said run, not race.
In January, ADP joined me for a one of the Winter Series Races and I didn’t want to keep him waiting so I pushed myself. The race was 3 miles and I finished in 27:10. I’ve never pushed myself so my times had almost always been over 30 minutes for 3 miles. What could I do if I actually tried to run fast and not just finish the miles?
My focus has changed. I’m planning on seeing what I can do with the 5k distance. How low can I go? What do I need to do to get there? What races do I want to enter (I’m cheap, so they’ll be cheapest races I can find)? I have until mid-July when I’ll start getting ready for my next half. All I can say about it is that I’m excited and re-energized to run more…and hopefully faster.
This week:
Monday: 4 miles (oops, slept in)
Tuesday: 5 mile fartlek
Wednesday: rest day
Thursday: 6 miles a.m., PT in p.m.
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday/Sunday: 5 miles one day/rest one day
9 comments:
Good for you! I'm excited to see how fast you can go!
Great news - maybe I'll see you at some races, then! Keep me posted on what to do to get faster!
that sounds like a good plan! I'd love to get under a ten minute mile!
Looking good!!
Yay! I am excited that you are excited and re-energized!!! Good luck!!!!!
LOVE all those tens! What fun. And you have a great new goal.
Sounds like an awesome plan.
For me, it's not a race unless I finish feeling like I'm going to puke LOL.
Sounds like a plan! The 10-10-10 races really intrigue me!! There is quite the feeling of satisfaction when you really push yourself! I bet you have a lot in you and can't wait to hear how it goes!
My friend just decided she is going to focus on 5k's too!
And yes, there is a huge difference between running and racing!
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