It's Beginning to Feel Right, But Maybe Too Fast?

Back at it, hard this week.  The weather didn't cooperate on Sunday (some rain and 30-40 mph winds) so my long run was delayed until Monday. Monday was perfect, with temps in the mid-60s and light wind.  I went 9 miles (exactly on schedule, although a day late) at a pace faster than proscribed but comfortable nonetheless.  Tuesday was scheduled to follow an off day but I decided to try to get back on track and did 5 fast miles (about 45 seconds per mile faster than my desired race pace). And today was a 7 miler, again a bit faster than I would have liked.

The above brings me to the crux of this post.  Running slower than "usual" and especially slower than my desired marathon/half-marathon race pace is hard work.  More on that in a paragraph or two.

I haven't yet publicly stated what my goal is for the marathon.  All I have talked about is the pure joy in running; the fact that running is fun; the enjoyment of being outdoors.   All of that is true, but "without a goal, any road will get you there".  We all have goals.  My goal is to finish a marathon.  But finish is relative.  Truthfully, I want to finish with pride.  After all these years of competing with others and myself, I find that a little goal setting (finish the marathon) is healthy.  And if a little goal setting is healthy, what naturally comes next?  A little more goal setting.  In this case,  how long it takes me to finish.

I have set 4 hours as the secondary goal, with the primary being to finish.  (Actually, getting to the starting line healthy is my current goal).  There.  I said it.  4 hours.  Damn, that sounds like a long time.  It IS a long time.  And how did I arrive at 4 hours?  Rounding.  3:52 or 4:07 sounds so precise.  Four hours is nice and round.  And easy to remember.  It's the splits that are hard to remember.  A four hour marathon requires 26 miles at 9:09 (plus a fraction) per mile.  I'll let you figure out the splits.  But that's the goal - 4 hours.

Back to running slow.  My long runs should ostensibly be 45-90 seconds slower than race pace.  I used a large variable because I have read all kinds of figures and that is approximately where most of the experts tend to be.  If my desired race pace is 9:07, then my long runs should be between 10:00 and 10:45 per mile.  My problem is that when I run alone, I can't come close to running that slow.  And running with Slade? Fuggetaboutit.  He takes off like a bat. It's not an ego thing, rather it seems to be biological.  My body doesn't want to go that slow.  (Remember, Sara?).  Any suggestions from the three readers out there?  I'll take all the advice you have to give me.  As long as nobody tells me that 4 hours is too slow and it should be 3 hours.  I'm a sprinter, remember?

One other note.  I had a wonderful 30 minute call with my best friend from high school, Ridley Kinsey, earlier this week.  Ridley, it was great to talk to you and I am thrilled that we were able to reconnect.  If anyone reads, do yourself a favor and call a long lost friend.  You won't regret it.