Reclamation

October 8th, 2010:  Very glad to report the Sunday morning tragedy didn’t de-rail me.  It easily could have, because diabetes can get you down.  Why bother trying to run an ultra-marathon when training for a half marathon almost killed you?  I chalk it up to lessons learned and cross my fingers that the pitfalls shared in this blog will insulate others from committing similar mistakes.

Ran the six miles I should have done Sunday on Monday with angst at my back and completed the run at an 8 minute pace.  Quite encouraging!

Wednesday’s run was a disappointing 8:20 pace for a forty minute run and today I barely cracked nine minutes for the fifty minute run.  It is disconcerting because I have dismissed using the heart rate monitor to set the pace: my running is now guided by my internal sense of pace as in the old days.  It feels like I’ve been pounding quicker than the results imply, but my measuring of miles could be off.  Game plan now is to not dwell on the pace I compute, but to strive to do my best and rely upon the belief that I am improving.

Saw my doctor today because he was supposed to clip my stitches, but he wanted to leave them in for a few more days.  Did I share how badly I banged myself up last weekend?  It was still an encouraging talk as I got to relate the positive vibe I feel about improving my pace.  Doc strategized with me, sharing there are many hills at the beginning of the Battleship Half Marathon and stressing that I shouldn’t wear myself out with a quick pace over the first miles.

Hmmmm, I don’t really have a strategy since this my first long run, though I will probably opt for a slower pace across the initial five miles and adjust as seems fit after that.  Have I shared how exciting this is?  I forgot how inspiring these runs are – when you are putting out and somebody clearly much older blows by you it motivates you to do better and astonishes how fit others are!

As game day nears I confess to getting a little tense, but usually dismiss it by acknowledging the competition is only a personal obsession.  This is just the first step and the training routine is relatively relaxed when compared against how I will need to crank things up when training for the full marathon begins.