Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

18 miles. Marathon workout.
The day was damp, cool and misty with bouts of light rain here and there.
The workout called for a 4 mile warmup, 4 miles at slightly under the goal 5:52 MP, then @ 6:30 for 4 miles and then another set of 4 at the under-MP again, followed by a two mile cooldown for 18 total.
There was something about the day and the way it was just a little chilly and wet for too much down time, so I changed things up a little.
I felt good and fairly rested, even after the 17 on Sunday, so I decided to go hard for 5 instead of 4 when the time came.
Went 5:45, 5:48. 5:42, 5:39, 5:41, 5:37.
Felt pretty good, but after a mile of slowing to 6:30, I realized it was just too damned cold to be out there for 4 at that pace, so I decided to just make it 3 and then go hard for 5 more, making the cooldown a mere 1, as I knew after 5 late at such a pace, I'd be cooked.
I was up to 12 by the time it rolled around to go again, and, trutg be told, I wasn't sure how it was going to play out.
Still, I picked it up and found the change to be refreshing.
I went 5:45, 5:48, 5:42, 5:42, 5:36.
Cooled down at a shuffling 7:22 and found myself with a 6:14 overall pace for the day.
Later on went to the D-Y XC meet and ran with the boys and actually felt just fine. A little spent, but no aches, no pains.
On the run with Scott on Sunday, I expressed my insecurity regarding my marathon preparedness due to my lack of higher mileage and long runs and Scott immediately dismissed it, something he wouldn't simply do to assuage my fears.
He remarked about the way I'd been hammering the late miles on our long runs and finding great strength to drive at the end of my shorter races of late. He thinks I'm as strong as I've ever been.
maybe it's partly that kind of talking to that made me even go into this workout with confidence, but whatever it is, I really do feel good about the marathon as things stand now.