Week 9 Training

I finally feel like I can say I'm officially "training" and not just "trying to get my bearings." In the grand scheme of things... it honestly didn't take that long. And now looking back at all my bitching and moaning and navel gazing, I kinda just wanna be like... Ummm... overreact, much?

 Make room for the pity party!

So, now the pity party is officially over. (For today, at least). And I'm finally feeling inspired. To be completely honest, I'm more nervous about the Bitches Annual Relay coming up in a month, than I am about the 10 miler. We have changed things up this year. Normally, I run the trail leg. Which is like 8 miles of run hard, while trying not to trip, but admittedly, no one is going to see if you powerhike up this steep hill, or if you end up powerhiking up the steps, because YOUR LEGS ARE JELLO at that point.

This year, I'm running the first leg which is like 8-9 miles of the 11.2 loop. So, basically... you have to run hard the whole time, because it's mostly roads. Fuuuuuuck. This wouldn't be too big of a deal, because ya know.. it's a relay. it's supposed to be fun. But, I've been very vocal about wanting to go sub 4:00 this year. Melissa ran the leg at an 8:29 pace last year!!!!!!!! Which is just like.... WHOA. Seriously. In order for us to go Sub 4:00, as a team, we need to shave less than 3 minutes off our times from last year. So, yeah, I need to be at LEAST as fast as Melissa was last year. Hopefully a little faster. I AM GOING TO DIE.

In other news... it looks like I will end 2014 without a marathon finish.

It's an alternate world called...

YOU DONT HAVE TO RUN ALL

THE FUCKING MILES ALL THE TIME.

And, I'm fine with that. I am kind of sick of the marathon training for a specific time. I've already decided that next year is going to be the year of the marathon and I might even get back onto the ultra horse. I miss running races for "fun." Not to say that I don't want to do well at them, I do... and probably next fall, I'll train for a "fast" marathon. But for now... I am enjoying being able to look at a calendar of races and be like... I can run that race, and I can run that race, and hell.. I can run that race! Instead of being like... Okay... PICK ONE race that will define your whole season. Ugh. 

Well, that was a tangent... ANYWAY... back to the week.

I'm still only running 8-10 miles as my long runs, but I finally pushed over the 35 miles a week threshold. So, that feels good. I also did a tempo run of 3 miles averaging about 8:10 pace. One thing I thought of while pushing through that workout, was how I need to start doing my tempo runs on the roads... instead of on the track or on the flat 1 mile loop at Centennial Park. Sure, it's easy to track my times there, and I typically don't have to stop for intersections, cars, etc... BUT, it's TOO flat. Harden up!