Perspective
I've finally got a bit of perspective back about Sunday's run. I think the main thing that was depressing me wasn't failing to crack 1:50 but the fact that if I felt so bad after the half how can I ever imagine running twice as far. With having the full marathon on at the same time it really reinforced that it is twice as far, two laps of the same circuit. Which is a long way, and I wouldn't have been able to do it on Sunday. That got me down for a while, making me wonder whether I really could do Berlin or whether it's just unrealistic.
It's taken me a couple of days to realise that I'm not meant to be running twice as far at the moment. (Duh!) According to my marathon schedule the longest run I need to have done to date is 11 miles, with only a maximum 6 mile run at marathon pace. Well, I've done that - I managed the first 7 miles or so at slightly faster than marathon pace, and I'd have coped with an 11 mile run on Sunday without too much drama (and without the pain of the last couple of miles). The plan doesn't expect me to be able to run 26 now, it expects me to be able to do it in September. If I train to run 26 I will be able to run 26, but at the moment I've only trained to run 13 so, guess what, I can't run much further than that.
Also, had I been going round twice I would undoubtedly have taken it a bit easier in the first half than I actually did, and I'd have taken on more energy gels and drinks than I needed to get round the half. I'd also have bought and worn in new trainers prior to the run rather than getting blisters from my old worn out ones (I ordered some new ones this morning though!). I'd have done a proper taper, and had a proper build up rather than trying to fit it into the training programme and going to a party the night before. I'd have sorted out my knee properly.
And anyway, you're meant to feel drained after a race, if you don't then you obviously didn't give everything and could have gone faster! Even after a 5k, if you finish with lots of energy in the tank then you've done something wrong!
So what if I didn't manage the 1:50 target I was aiming for, I know that I have days where I run well and days where I don't, and Sunday was just a not so good day. I know that I'm capable of it, just not this week. There will be other races, and I will make it. But even at 1:54:07 (my gun time - I haven't found the chip times anywhere) I came in 570th out of 1364 runners, and roughly 146th out of 479 women. Which is hardly bad, is it? (And an improvement on my last half in placing terms as well as actual time - last time I was 717th out of 1110 so in the slower rather than the faster half of the field - were there fewer fast runners this time or was everyone slowed down by the heat as I finished further up in a bigger field, despite only being a couple of minutes faster).
It's taken me a couple of days to realise that I'm not meant to be running twice as far at the moment. (Duh!) According to my marathon schedule the longest run I need to have done to date is 11 miles, with only a maximum 6 mile run at marathon pace. Well, I've done that - I managed the first 7 miles or so at slightly faster than marathon pace, and I'd have coped with an 11 mile run on Sunday without too much drama (and without the pain of the last couple of miles). The plan doesn't expect me to be able to run 26 now, it expects me to be able to do it in September. If I train to run 26 I will be able to run 26, but at the moment I've only trained to run 13 so, guess what, I can't run much further than that.
Also, had I been going round twice I would undoubtedly have taken it a bit easier in the first half than I actually did, and I'd have taken on more energy gels and drinks than I needed to get round the half. I'd also have bought and worn in new trainers prior to the run rather than getting blisters from my old worn out ones (I ordered some new ones this morning though!). I'd have done a proper taper, and had a proper build up rather than trying to fit it into the training programme and going to a party the night before. I'd have sorted out my knee properly.
And anyway, you're meant to feel drained after a race, if you don't then you obviously didn't give everything and could have gone faster! Even after a 5k, if you finish with lots of energy in the tank then you've done something wrong!
So what if I didn't manage the 1:50 target I was aiming for, I know that I have days where I run well and days where I don't, and Sunday was just a not so good day. I know that I'm capable of it, just not this week. There will be other races, and I will make it. But even at 1:54:07 (my gun time - I haven't found the chip times anywhere) I came in 570th out of 1364 runners, and roughly 146th out of 479 women. Which is hardly bad, is it? (And an improvement on my last half in placing terms as well as actual time - last time I was 717th out of 1110 so in the slower rather than the faster half of the field - were there fewer fast runners this time or was everyone slowed down by the heat as I finished further up in a bigger field, despite only being a couple of minutes faster).
posted by YP at 8:37 PM
1 Comments:
Being about to get your period might make a difference too, maybe? Once a month I wonder why I'm having such a bad workout, and then the next day I ge the answer...
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