Week 7 - The Little Engine that Could

Week 7 down, 9 more to go! I feel like that little old engine, from children's books, that just kept plugging away.  I’m not really sure what is going on, but I feel fantastic! I really hate to jinx myself, but I really do feel great. Perhaps it was because it was a “step-back” week and my long run was only 11 miles this week? The weather has been hideously hot and humid, so I can’t “blame” it on cooler temps. I’ve been stretching and rolling out my calves regularly. I still have some major knots in my calves, but at least they’re not painful anymore. Whatever the cause, I hope it continues, because October 17th is a long way away (in marathon-training terms).


Here’s the craziest part. Thursday I headed over to the local HS track to calibrate my new watch and footpod. This is a big sacrifice, because it means leaving my beloved Dingo at home. Well, it’s been too hot for him anyway and if the truth be known….he’s been driving me crazy. He wants to stop and pee all.the.time. I know it’s a stall tactic and I also know it’s likely a sign that he’s not enjoying himself. We got in about 10 miles together previous in the week, so it’s not like he hadn’t gotten any exercise that week. So anyway, with the Dingo at home, I headed to the track. I calibrated my watch just fine and as I was getting ready to leave, I decided I might just try a mini-speed workout. I only had 4 miles on the schedule that day, so I figured I could manage it no matter what. Of course being the speed workout-loathing- runner that I am, I know nothing about speed workouts! And then the Yasso 800’s came to me. And then came the dilemma in my mind. I’m going to be running at least the last half of the marathon by myself (my friend’s husband is running the half), so I’ve decided I want to join a pace group. The only problem with that is that for slow folks like me, they only offer a 4:30 and 5:00 hour pace group. I completed my first marathon in just under 5:00 hours. While I’m not competitive, I’d like to at least not be slower than that time! But with my injury status, I know that I very well could be slower than 5:00 hours. I also know that if I’m feeling good and comfortable with the 5:00 hour pace group, I may not want to leave them! For the sake of training and the Yasso 800’s, I decided to try for a 4:30 split. My first split was 3:58. My second split was 3:54. Sweet! And then the HS soccer team starting pouring into the stadium and sat watching me, in silence. That was my cue to leave! I am way too self-conscious to have HS boys watching me. I could only imagine them saying to one another "did you even know that someone with such a big ass could run?"
I got home and started researching Yasso 800’s and found out that ideally, you should be able to work up to and complete ten 800’s at your desired pace to accurately predict your marathon finishing time. You should also start about 7 weeks out from your marathon. Man, was this a sign or what? So without much hesitation, I decided I would give it a try. Going to the track was a nice change of pace, so to speak. Now to just get there BEFORE the soccer team! And so begins my relationship with speedwork. I have a pretty good record of long-term relationships (hubby and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary this Wednesday, 17 years since we started dating..yikes!). We’ll see how it goes.


This weekend I have 17miles on the schedule and am pumped! My running buddy will be back this weekend and the humidity is suppose to decline. I can hope at least! Until next week ~ Embrace Your Pace and Run Happy ~

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