Training and Soreness

I did a 3.5 mile run yesterday. I beat my best 3.5 mile pace by 30 seconds a mile! It was tough, and I really had to push through it, but I made it.

It was a bit of a miracle that I made it out there at all. Here in DC it's been unseasonably cold the last few days. We've had a ton of cloud cover, and non-stop drizzling. It was supposed to rain and even thunderstorm in spots last night, but I checked the radar, didn't see any T-storms and headed out.

I feel all hard-core and like a "real" runner when I run in bad weather. Kind of dorky, but true. So I think that thought helped buoy me along.

For the first time though I've gotten pretty sore after a run. My back aches a little, and my butt and hips are definitely more sore. I even did an extra stretching session after my shower to try to loosen up the kinks. They're still here today although not as bad.

I've got two miles to cover today, but I think I'm going to do them according to my HRM though. Just do a "normal" work out, for 2 miles. That may mean a mix of jogging and walking. What I don't want to do is do so many hard runs where I'm always pushing myself that I burn out before the race.

So my plan is: easy workout today, mid-tempo workout tomorrow, easy cross training on Sat, and then a very easy long run on Sunday. Like a 13 minute mile pace. Sunday is 6 miles so I'm going to need to slow down just to get it done without walking.

It's really hard for me to slow down though. I'm so competitive, even with myself that if I don't constantly beat my own times I feel bad. If I slow down--even for a long run--I feel bad. I need to remember that I want my muscles to build--not eat themselves because I'm constantly pushing them.

This race has been a mixed blessing, because I certainly wouldn't be doing this much running if I didn't have the race coming up, but I also feel like I should have registered earlier, and begun training earlier. As it is I think I'm going to finish the race in more than 2 hours. Which, obviously is not terrible, but I feel like I'm really pushing myself to get there. If I had more time maybe I could have built a better base and maybe I would be having a slightly easier time adding on distance.

I don't know.

I really hope I can get through 6 miles without walking. That would be great. And I'd really feel like I had a shot at finishing 10 miles in October.