I’m still on the mend from being sick over the past weekend. I’ve been feeling better during the day and able to finally breathe normally through my nose, but I am still very tired and mentally a little foggy. I have tried to write this post several times now but the energy to put the thought into it was just not there. I have run about 3 miles every evening since Monday and my endurance and speed are nearly non-existent. It’s frustrating to say the least, but I’m cutting myself some slack. I know it won’t be long until I’m back up to speed.
It looks like the Lost Dutchman Half Marathon this weekend is officially a no-go. I was going to wait and just register the morning of the race if I felt good enough, but I checked the website yesterday and it looks like the half marathon has sold out. I think that race must be getting more popular because I don’t remember that ever happening in year’s past. I’m pretty bummed, but at the same time, I was starting to think that I wasn’t going to be well enough to enjoy it anyways. Next year I guess.
.
I was reading Aron’s “
In My Head” post at
Runners Rambles about the thoughts that bounce around in her head about training goals and races and being afraid to blog about it because it all sounds kinda crazy. I can TOTALLY relate. Right now I have a couple of kinda crazy thoughts rolling around in my head about running. I’m half afraid to state them here because there is a good chance I may not follow through.
.
Ever since I read Lisa’s
exciting race report over at
Discovering the Meaning of Stonehenge (and congrats again to her for an amazing race and 3:57 finish!) I’ve been itching sign up for another full marathon. It’s been over a year now since
I’ve run a full. Sheila and I have talked quite a bit about running the Rock N Roll Marathon in San Diego at the beginning of June. That would give us almost exactly 16 weeks to train – PERFECT! On top of that, this is the best time of year in this part of the country to train because the days are starting to get a little longer again (I won’t have to run in the dark quite as much) and of course, the temps are just fantastic.
.
Aron directed me to the
McMillian online calculator, where if you plug in my half marathon PR, you will see that the predicted finish time for a marathon is exactly 3:40… my Boston qualifying time. WOW. Could that actually be possible? When I ran my last full and set my 3:58 PR, it seemed like I could not possibly run any faster than that. But maybe I can with the right training program?! Aron ran a 3:40 and her half PR is nearly the same as mine. But then, do I really want to pick a training program that has me running 40-60 miles a week? I’m not sure if I cab handle that. Maybe if I just stick with consistent speed workouts and tempo runs, I can still BQ on a plan that peaks between 40 and 50 miles per week. The
FIRST plan touts that IS possible with adequate cross training. Hmmmmmmmmm.
.
Other things I’ve been pondering… I have no idea how difficult the San Diego course is. The website has yet to post a map or elevation profile. I’m wondering if the course is changing this year (it’s possible because they added a half marathon). I have heard from a few people that it’s not exactly flat. Another idea I had was trying to talk Lisa into running it with me and Sheila and aiming for 3:50 – a BQ for her (Lisa, don’t you love how I put this out there without talking to you first, its called peer pressure LOL). That idea is probably more realistic, more fun, and then I could try to hit 3:40 at the Tucson Marathon in December 2010.
.
All these crazy crazy thoughts. And yet I do feel like I’m on the verge of committing to running the San Diego Rock n Roll, one way or another. I need something to look forward to… something positive to set my thoughts on. I’ve been spinning around with a lot of negative stuff lately and trying to get a handle on it. I loved Emilie’s
post over at
I Came To Run in which she talks about making your mind like Teflon, where you welcome the thoughts that come into your brain, but don’t allow them to stick. Instead, you let the thoughts slide off like they are hitting Teflon inside your brain. Ah, if only it were really that easy!
.
Speaking of which, I have a question to ask all of you… completely unrelated to running, but it involves the thoughts I am trying to run from. Have you ever been through a situation where someone you really cared about cuts you out of their life completely and suddenly? I know most people have gone through a bad breakup or two in their lives. Up until this point I’ve been pretty lucky, mostly because I didn’t seriously date a lot of people before I met Joe. I saw plenty of my college roommates and friends go through horrible breakups and I saw how painful it was for them. I have recently cut ties with one of my closest friends and I am completely heartbroken. It was more her decision than mine, and its a complex situation I can’t really get into. It’s been two weeks since we severed the friendship, and I still am constantly thinking about it and very sad. I’m wondering, how long does it take for things to start feeling better? Any tips or tricks for getting though this time? I am totally inexperienced in dealing with this type of thing! Thanks guys!
