LICKING MY WOUNDS

Racing is a hell of a lot more enjoyable when I can manage my expectations more reasonably. For example, had I told Eric that I was planning on running sub-19 yesterday, rather than 18:10, I would have been fine with my 18:44 result. Well, maybe not “fine” given that it was 52 seconds slower than last year’s race, but you get the idea.

I guess my main problem is that my 18:10 prediction didn’t really have any merit based on my recent training. Now that I’ve looked back at last year’s training, I see months of solid mileage, tempo runs, and intervals. It’s no wonder I didn’t run nearly as fast this year.

Probably what bothers me the most is how I proceeded to run 18:44. Normally, pacing in my strong suit. Instead, I ran like a high school freshman in his first race; 5:42, 6:07, 6:15, :40.

Really, 6:15? Heck, I averaged 6:16 pace for a half marathon last year.

I have a lot of work to do. Luckily Daniels’ marathon program focuses on the last 18 weeks leading up to the race. Right now we’re 19 weeks out from TCM. So I have 1 week to lick my wounds before getting down to business.

Finally, I've always said I should try to finish a season stronger than I started it. I guess I'm in a perfect position to make that happen. If I run any slower than yesterday, I may take up gymnastics or ice skating.

And just so you don’t think every 5K in the Twin Cities in won in 20 minutes, like the results I posted last week, here are the results for men and women.

Quote of the day;

“It’s not gymnastics or ice skating, you know.” – Emil Zatopek, when questioned about his agonized expression while racing