Waaaaahhh is me
I've been rudderless with regards to my upcoming running plan. I still haven't picked a fall marathon or even decided if I'm going to run one at all. I've considered Long Beach, Detroit, Columbus, Philly, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Tulsa and probably some others. It seems my decision waffles every night. I should just nut up and pick one, but in addition to the running-related pros/cons of each, there are other factors involved, like $$$ and kids.
I've also considered taking a break through part of the summer and aiming for the AT&T Austin Marathon in February? Then again, initially I wanted to up the miles over the summer, not take a break. Maybe I can do both? Maybe Whiterock in Dallas in December would be a good compromise. The $/kids/travel problems are lessened, and I could take a little break now, get some solid miles towards the end of the summer, then start focusing hard in the Fall.
I'm getting a lot of conflicting advice, and I guess it really doesn't matter, so I should just pick a plan and, ahem, run with it.
This week's training:
Long run last Saturday was tough and a real confidence deflater. Scenic loop, 11 miles in 1h22m, and it was too fast and so effing humid. First two miles on the trail in 8.04 and 7.40 which seemed way off-kilter, and the last two miles on the trail in 7.07 and 7.19 as I limped home. Ran with C.Rains and new guy Ty and they pushed it hard and we all talked smack about Kristen Armstrong after I pointed her out to them at one of Gilbert's water stops. It was obvious that she was checking me out, probably because I reminded her of Lance. He and I are so similar you know ... born 6 weeks apart ... and that's about it. Anywaayyyy.....
Monday Firecracker was a true progressive run on the 7-loop and not quite as reassuring as a couple weeks before when I demolished it. Felt ok on the middle couple of miles after picking up the tempo, but like the long run, I kind of struggled home in 6.08 and 6.13.
So after these two struggling, deflating sessions, at this point I'm thinking, "no way i'm going straight into marathon training. I need a break."
But I felt great at "Secret Hill" on Tuesday, so now I'm chalking up all the struggling to the weather and I'm back on an October marathon plan.
Wednesday afternoon I bagged out of the stampede 5k and ran easy with S.S. Fletch, which is like going to school in a subject you love with a great teacher. But (shhhh, don't tell any "afternoon" geeks) the heat left me weak the rest of the evening.
Thursday was 1000s at Zilker at a reasonable pace, not killing them, and it was par for the course.
So now I'm thinking any choice I make will be fine: October, December, February, break or no break. Whatever.
Apropos of nothing, I started logging miles in February and was curious about the numbers. Here they are if you're still reading and scoring at home (you need to get out more): Average 41 mi per week, high of 51 low of 34 (which interestingly were on consecutive weeks). March: 173mi, April: 188mi, May: 189mi. Thought they'd be higher, would like to do more.
And that's it in one very large and boring nutshell.