Running the Extra Mile

     Training can start to seem more like a chore than fun when the mileage keeps building.  I've had to gradually devote more and more time to training and it does get frustrating.  Primarily, trying to keep motivated during the long runs.  Keeping the motivation up from week to week has been stressful.  Especially when there is no clear results from the training.  I've had nothing to compare myself too for over 3 months now.  I have only done the single 5k race at the beginning of the year and my next race is still a week away.  The time in between has moved far too slow.  But there is a good lesson I learned from this.

I will definitely plan to run at least 1 race per month for the remainder of the year.  Even if I'm not going all out, it will still keep me focused on a temporary short-term goal.  Plus, I will have a race event to gauge my performance against other individuals in my age range.  This was an issue for me when I first started running. I had no concept of how well I was doing until I ran my first road race.  After I ran a few, I was able to setup some goals for the next race.  I may not be a speed demon anymore, but I want to feel comfortable running at a good pace for extended periods.  I designed my training around this and set the goal of completing 70 miles at the World's toughest Mudder.  Assuming I have been training correctly, the next few weeks should be a breeze.

Overall, I feel strong going into the beginning of the race season.  I have the 10 mile trail run at County Line Orchard in a week, then two half-marathons in the following two weeks.  It's an abrupt start, but I feel that I have prepared well for it.  I'm doing a 19 mile training run this weekend.  It will be the farthest I have gone in a single run.  I've been keeping at an 8 minute per mile pace so far with little difficulty.  The experimentation with Gu packets and the like has been fruitful.  I don't bonk anymore during a long or hard run.  It's been a lot of work trying to get ready for the World's Toughest Mudder.  I'll know in a little over a month whether or not my training has paid off when I try to qualify at the Chicago Tough Mudder.  I know that 3 years ago, I would have thought I could never have even tried to do something like this.  But that is why I live by my old Blacksmith Master's words:

Nothing is impossible.  It just takes longer.