20 Mile long run - and a bit of a reality check
Alrighty then. Let's recap.
San Diego Marathon, 6/3. Goal: 8:45/Mile pace (under 4 hours - aggressively). Current Marathon time: 4:06.
Sunday I had a 20 Miler. Well, Sunday I had a "written" in 20 Miler, that could easily be a 10 Miler... just depended on 1) support 2) motivation... in that order.
So, after some debate, the decision was made for me when a friend agreed to run the 20 Miles with me. Locked in: 20 Miler on Sunday.
Don't I sound convinced...
Sunday, 7am we push off. All is well in the world. Hitting slightly faster than my Long Run Pace: closer to 9:15ish. Attempting to slow down on the Huntington Beach trail but conversation is pretty interesting and so the Pace speeds up.
Mile 9 is my kick off to start GMPs. I'm still heading "away from home" which means I need to still mentally push myself because I'm going away from my goal not towards it. Needless to say, this is top of mind. Yet, I still hit 8:35/Miles. And the cockiness begins.
Once reality catches up... I do what any Runner now a days does and put my headphones in to drown out the pain/heavy breathing. We turn around on our out and back... only to be greeted by a slight headwind. At this point I'm willing to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Headwind in my face, headphones in to drown out the nagging voice of my heavy breathing, and a constant fear in my thoughts: this isn't going to work.
Yup, this isn't going to work. I've decided I'm pushing too hard on an aggressive pace. That means I either need to readdress my Goal or push harder through it. Problem is, I'm pushing pretty hard. A few times I've chalked over strenuous workouts on my recent development for panic attacks. I don't want to push that much more.
At the end of the day, my Long Run missed the mark on my Training Goal. We iced down in the ocean, post Run, so the only thing hurting is my ego. Admitting you were overly aggressive on your Goal is a hard pill to swallow. But then again, there are plenty of Marathons out there.
I'll have to view this as a building block to the next (sub 4 Race).
San Diego Marathon, 6/3. Goal: 8:45/Mile pace (under 4 hours - aggressively). Current Marathon time: 4:06.
Sunday I had a 20 Miler. Well, Sunday I had a "written" in 20 Miler, that could easily be a 10 Miler... just depended on 1) support 2) motivation... in that order.
So, after some debate, the decision was made for me when a friend agreed to run the 20 Miles with me. Locked in: 20 Miler on Sunday.
Don't I sound convinced...
Sunday, 7am we push off. All is well in the world. Hitting slightly faster than my Long Run Pace: closer to 9:15ish. Attempting to slow down on the Huntington Beach trail but conversation is pretty interesting and so the Pace speeds up.
Mile 9 is my kick off to start GMPs. I'm still heading "away from home" which means I need to still mentally push myself because I'm going away from my goal not towards it. Needless to say, this is top of mind. Yet, I still hit 8:35/Miles. And the cockiness begins.
Once reality catches up... I do what any Runner now a days does and put my headphones in to drown out the pain/heavy breathing. We turn around on our out and back... only to be greeted by a slight headwind. At this point I'm willing to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Headwind in my face, headphones in to drown out the nagging voice of my heavy breathing, and a constant fear in my thoughts: this isn't going to work.
Yup, this isn't going to work. I've decided I'm pushing too hard on an aggressive pace. That means I either need to readdress my Goal or push harder through it. Problem is, I'm pushing pretty hard. A few times I've chalked over strenuous workouts on my recent development for panic attacks. I don't want to push that much more.
At the end of the day, my Long Run missed the mark on my Training Goal. We iced down in the ocean, post Run, so the only thing hurting is my ego. Admitting you were overly aggressive on your Goal is a hard pill to swallow. But then again, there are plenty of Marathons out there.
I'll have to view this as a building block to the next (sub 4 Race).
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