I was clearly feeling the effects of the training and adventure of the past two days. I think I clocked my total mileage between walking and running at about 50 KM. As I stumbled out of bed this morning, knowing that I had to do a 8 Mile run at race pace I had two questions; How and Why am I going to get this done?
I suppose I could have done the run tomorrow and taken today off but I know how much that would have eaten me up inside and that wasn’t really an option for me. Instead I took my time this morning just trying to wake myself up and psych myself up at the same time. I decided to download a few motivational songs to keep me going. By the time I had finished my cup of tea and eaten my ½ banana I was ready to at least attempt this.
In order for me to reach my marathon goal I need to be able to run an average of an 8 minute mile or better for 26.2 miles. These race pace runs are designed to prepare my body for how that pace “feels” like. There are many factors that lead up to keeping or “holding” a certain pace including temperature, elevation, and wind. Of course the main factor is how I’m feeling on that day in late September. I’m sure my body will not be as beaten up as it has been these past two days so that was in the back of my mind as I left my house.
As predicted I started out very fast and finished the first 4 miles in 7:54, 7:52 and 7:48, 7:53 respectively. I have a bad habit of starting out too fast while trying to “bank” some time for later on during a race. This practice doesn’t always work however and by the time I started my 5th mile my body was really starting to tire. Mile 5 was 8:05 and I wondered if I was going to be able to continue. With still 3 more miles to go, doubt started to creep into my mind. I started thinking about any excuse to stop. My breathing was shallow and I know I was starting to wonder if I had made the right decision to run today.
I decided not to quit but I also decided that if I didn’t hit my goal today then I wouldn’t be disappointed. This seemed to take some of the pressure off and I finished my 6 in 7:55. It certainly helped that I was running some of that mile down the same Rossland hill that I do my hill repeats at. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, I had two miles remaining.
At that point there was no way I was going to settle for anything less than my full effort for those two miles. I kept saying to myself that even if I average my race pace I will be finished in 16 minutes or roughly 3-4 songs on my mp3 player. I was glad that I had downloaded those songs because they really helped me through those last two miles. Mile 7 was exactly an 8 minute mile and Mile 8 was my fastest at 7:29! I have no idea how I pulled off that last mile because when I glanced at my watch and saw that I still had ½ mile left I got really upset as I thought I was closer to finishing than I was. ½ mile is another 4 minutes, not much unless you have already been pushing yourself for over an hour without stopping.
In the end I finished the run in 1:03:07 which works out to be a 7:54 pace. I learned a great deal about myself today. It amazes how powerful the body is when the mind relaxes and allows the body to do what it needs to do. It is almost like the mind is the antagonist and the body just sits there and takes it all until it decides that enough is enough and decides to fight back with reckless abandon.
I also realize the importance of rest and that is what I will be doing between now and Tuesday morning. My body is beaten and needs to recover now more than ever. All I need now is a comfy couch and big sized pillow…………..
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