Less Than Two Weeks Left to Get it in Gear!

Hit the streets in my neighborhood today for a long run (10 miles); it had been three weeks since I had done one of those and I was seriously questioning whether I should attempt the 15K Mastodon Challenge on May 10.  A week ago I ran 5 miles; it took me 58 minutes (when a year ago I could do it in 49) and my right foot was unbelievably sore for days afterwards so I hadn't run again.  Should I drop down to the 5K?  Should I drop out?

I was so excitedly looking forward to my training plan when I put it together in January.  But the winter weather got me down and I ended up running many fewer times than scheduled in January and February.  I made up for it by doing combo runs, i.e., incorporating another workout (most often a hill workout) into my long run.  It made the long runs harder than they were supposed to be, but at least I got the miles in. 

Then at the end of February I went on vacation and left my heart and my psyche in Key West.  I can't even list all the scheduled runs I missed in March and April.  Well, actually I could, but it would be boring.  Here is a picture of my training plan for March 2 - April 19.  I know you can't see the details, but of particular note is how many days have a typed workout listed and no handwritten notation.  Those are the workouts I skipped.  The circled ones with arrows connecting them are combos I did.



The best laid plans . . .


The plan was based on a half-marathon plan, so where you see 14-18 miles listed for long runs, I only did 10-12.  And it was a mistake to put together a 4-run per week plan.  That's not feasible with my work schedule; it should have only been a 3-run per week plan.

All that aside, the good news today is that I ran the first 5 miles, same route as last week, a little faster this time:  55:30 instead of 58:00.  The difference?  New shoes, and walk breaks!  I hadn't realized how worn my shoes were because I didn't think I had run that much, but my husband reminded me that even though I hadn't run many times most of my runs were long.  Since I'm just a "Hobby Runner," I don't track my shoe-mileage, but I decided to switch to the new pair.  I had hoped to do the race this year without walk breaks, but based on today's results I'm thinking maybe not.  I tried to mimic last year's race, where I ran the first two miles before I settled into my run/walk intervals.  My run intervals are a little longer now.  I was pushing myself for the first five miles, so after I turned around to do the loop in reverse, I slowed way down.  Today's goal was a 105 to 120-minute effort, and I was just shy of 10 miles when I hit 120 minutes.  Below is today's route, and the race route.  On today's, I've marked where I was at the time it took me to finish the race last year.



Today's Run - about 8.3 miles at 1:36:32



2013 Mastodon Challenge - 9.3 miles in 1:36:32

Definitely slower than last year, but I'm dragging around about 12 extra  pounds so between that and my lackadaisical training, I guess that's not surprising.  But today convinced me not to drop out, or drop down to the 5K.  I'm going for 15K!  I know that's not a big deal to my friends who are marathoners and ironmen, but it is for me! 

So my plan for the next 12 days is to do all the remaining runs on my training schedule, as written - no combos, no more makeups. And I'm going to try to eat better than I have been so far this year, especially since I'm starting a 28-day diet challenge on May 1.  More about that another time.  For now, here is a video I found of elephants running - closest things we have to mastodons these days!