Getting back into the swing of things

I’ve said this to a couple of people lately, but it’s so true: if I hadn’t run a 2:44 marathon in January, I would honestly be wondering if I had any running ability… seriously.

My first threshold workout was supposed to be 6 miles in 36 minutes. Should be easy enough, right? Except that I found myself after the gun STRUGGLING to keep up (with the Carleton team). I averaged 6:12s through 4 miles, then took 1 mile easy, and averaged around 6:20 for the next miles. That’s WAY slower than my Trials pace, in case anyone is comparing.

But, I guess that’s just what it is — you can’t rush being fast/fit. I am where I am. It’s a one day at a time process that I think about often, wishing that it COULD be faster, faster. But it’s just not something you can rush. It’s a process, and getting faster takes time. Plus, with my recent achilles injury, Jerry reminds me that if I’m not patient, I’ll end up a patient. Ahh, yess — but I hate that it’s true.

This week was better. My track workout was better (not exceptionally slow, like the first one! I’m not even kidding!), and my threshold earlier today was at 6:05 and 6:10 pace (2×3 miles). Still not fast, but at least I’m working in the right direction. I’ve often wondered if my workouts lately are normal – is it typical to be (so much) slower after a big race? I know I took a few weeks off from running, but I feel like I didn’t get out of shape (after a week completely off I cross trained a lot, often 10-12 hours/week). Anyway, whether this is a normal slow-down or not, I can not WAIT until these threshold miles are back below 6 minutes.

That’s it for now – looking forward to a nice long run this weekend! Jerry is allowing 20 this weekend, and I am SO excited. I live for long runs 🙂