Reflections: Afterthoughts of the 20k/10k Relay...

I found myself saying this at www.houstonrunningbloggers.com the day after the 10k relay:

"I plan to work the 30k Striders water station too…I wish there were more longer races (longer then 10k but shorter then a half-marathon) for kats like myself that need a ‘warmup series’ too. You know what I mean? I don’t mind 5k and 10k races but honestly those are more of a speed work-out for me then a half-marathon pace run of some sort. In hindsight, I wish I would have run the 10 miler and the full 20k but I am really working hard this season to avoid overdoing it/getting injured. Besides, there is always next year:)
I guess in the end I am just impatient for the Half!"

Well...I have finally gotten around to reviewing my running progress in my little green journal from the last few weeks. Despite a fantastic 10k time this past weekend, there aren’t many other impressive times in there worth mentioning again. In fact, MOST of my training runs have all kind of ‘tapered-off’ at an ‘easy’<---(my word) 10:30/mile pace. Granted, this is a 1:00 minute/mile improvement since the start of PIM in March of this year. But still….I need to push myself more like I did this past Saturday when I ran with my brother at a 9:12/mile and I felt like I was getting a great workout, both mentally and physically. I guess, truth be told, I need to find either people to run with or pacers that are faster then me for all the mildreds of loops at the Park that I do…since I just can’t push myself enough when I run alone. (which honestly, I run alone 99% of the time).

Also, I have been seriously neglecting my speed work lately and I can feel it when I do my longer runs…I feel like the last few miles are going to kill me-especially my hamstrings (well I am going to start trying some new GU’s this week to see if this helps with the energy level, as well). But I also need to continue with cross-training/CORE/ab crunches in between all my long runs/off days/SMARTie workouts. I just feel like I have been neglecting anything that is not actual running.

I guess in the end, I am just a little disspointed with my last few weeks of training and just feeling like I am running ‘junk miles’ to hit my total mileage for the week. I need to take into consideration that running is just one component of being a ‘runner’-I have to feed my body and mind right, strengthen the rest of my body and get rest (when I can). It seems like such an easy balance but with Marathon season in full swing, it feels like it’s almost a part-time job!! Arghh, any advice is helpful. Signed,
‘New Runner Blues’ aka ME