... in one week. This is the first week I've ever done it. Have to say I'm pretty proud. I even felt like I could keep going after my 20 miler on Saturday.
I plugged in my most recent race time to the Runners World SmartCoach program tonight and it says that I should be able to run a marathon in 3:35. It also gave me the training paces I should be using and apparently I've been doing my easy runs a little too easy... alright a lot too easy. It says long runs should be at 9:27 and tempos at 8:04. So I think 3:35 is more than a long shot. And it wouldn't BQ (Boston Qualify) me this year anyhow -- I get to "age up" in September and can BQ with a 3:39:59, which could... maybe... possibly... happen if I got really strict with my training. But this year, the goal is just to break four hours. My plan is to start with the 3:50 pacer and see how that goes.
I think I did a pretty good job of getting mileage in this week without sacrificing kid/ family time. I also added in swimming (yes I need to add cycling but I'm going to wait a few more weeks on that one) 3 hours a week. Morning workouts are key. I joined the CycleLife masters swim program (more on that in another post) and that meets MWF. I found that if I want to swim and run on the same day it's not too bad - I just have to have everything ready to go the night before. If I can get the kids in the car by 7:15, I can be at work in time to get an hour's run in before the day starts. So for example on Friday I wanted 6 miles easy plus the swim. Didn't quite get to work by 7:40, but I DID get there in time for 4 miles. Then I ran 2 right after work and still got the kids in plenty of time. So some of my easy runs might be split -- whatever works.
Back to the pacing -- I'm going to try to be better about following the plans, but I also feel like running is a place where I've met some of my best friends, and if I worried about pacing that never would have happened. I do the marjority of my runs alone, but the really long runs (18+) I've been doing with the DC Road Runners and it's great to just have people to run with -- no headphones, just conversation. I usually just jump in with whomever I'm close to when the group starts out. I had a 20 miler scheduled for this weekend and I left my house in time to roll on up right at 7:58am or something. There was no parking. Anywhere. I drove up on a hill and started searching, finally found a spot about a half a mile away and by the time I made it back to the Iwo Jima Memorial, there were no runners in sight. Well darn, I could have just run outside my house, right? Enough whining, it was a beautiful day in FEBRUARY (can't beat this mild winter) and the sun was shining. I headed off towards Rock Creek Park. I made it to the waterfront and noticed two runners head the wrong direction. They soon emerged back and asked for directions. I started talking to them and it soon because clear that we had a lot to talk about . The woman had taught in Kenya, which is where my father lived, taught medical school, and still spends a great deal of his career. They live right by the school where I work and the girl runs a tutoring business. They both are edurance athletes and like to run on trails. I guess the woman's boyfriend wanted to pick up the pace so he left me with her. We finished slightly over a 10 minute pace which is about 30 seconds slower than I wanted to aim for, but... I had a great time and the 3 hours we ran together flew by.
This week the training plan is also high mileage, but instead of spreading it out over 6 days, they give you longer runs more often and no real short runs. It will be interesting to see how I get these in - especially since Jamie is working all of Friday evening and Saturday day. I rest my running legs Sunday AND Monday -- my first two days off since December. I am getting a sports massage Monday night. Woot!
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