Fast Recovery &Thinking About Race Day

Following all my previous runs of longer than 8 miles I was always hurting the following bad quite a bit. The muscle soreness felt good, but was always making itself well known. I know this was because I was going distances that I had not previously gone so I knew to expect it.

Well, today I woke up, somewhat expecting that same soreness, but I had no signs of putting in 12 miles yesterday. I guess that I am starting to reap the benefits of the miles I am putting in and the distances I am putting in. Since this was 12 miles, and I have done 13, and 14 on other occasions, this is telling me that my legs are starting to get used to these distances. I am sure on race day that will all change :) but that is to be expected.

I am really starting to think about race day a lot more now. I want to push myself but I don't want to overdo it at the beginning and cause myself to pay for it in the end. I really don't know what to do, it is different than any smaller race where if you mess up and go out to hard you only have to pay for it for a few miles, nothing like 13.1. I really would like to hit the sub 2 hours, but I am trying to keep myself convinced that this is my first, and just crossing the finish line will be a great reward itself.

5 comments:

  1. That's encouraging on the lack of soreness. I know I am always questioning whether or not I am getting stronger so, it's nice to have some reinforcement like you experienced this past weekend.

    I am in the same quandary in running my first marathon in terms of my goal and how fast to go out. Part of me says to stay conservative and just try and finish it in a respectable time and another part of me says to "go for it" and try and sub-4 hour it. I don't know. May not know till that morning.

    The weather conditions will be the largest determinant for my goals though. Keep up the great work Tim!

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  2. It's always great to wake up the day after a long run and wonder why ya aren't sore:) Great job, Tim!

    When I ran my first half, I only wanted to finish. I just wanted to get the 13.1 under my belt and then worry about times. As I was finishing up the last 4 miles, I realized I could sub 2 and that kicked into gear for me. So I didn't make any timing decisions until 10 miles into the race:) Just go out and have a great time!

    You're doing great and I can't wait to see how well you do!

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  3. I think you're in slightly different position to most people running their first Half marathon as you have covered the distance before in training. You therefore know that you can get the distance ... question is 'at what pace?' .... I tend to agree with 'mar' ... set out to enjoy the race and the atmosphere and go steady and then see how you feel after 8-10 miles.

    You're putting in the hard work so it should pay off on race day. Can't wait to see what you do.

    Keep on blogging

    Mike

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  4. Yea, I have to just be happy of where I am and happy for the lack of soreness.

    I am going to figure out where I need to be to hit the sub 2, but will go out to just plain enjoy myself. I know I can do it, like Mike mentioned, so I can just go out and enjoy myself.

    I just want to make sure I am at a pace where I don't put myself out of the sub 2 range early on, but also not over do it.

    Thanks all for the encouraging words!

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  5. That's encouraging on the lack of soreness. I know I am always questioning whether or not I am getting stronger so, it's nice to have some reinforcement like you experienced this past weekend.

    I am in the same quandary in running my first marathon in terms of my goal and how fast to go out. Part of me says to stay conservative and just try and finish it in a respectable time and another part of me says to "go for it" and try and sub-4 hour it. I don't know. May not know till that morning.

    The weather conditions will be the largest determinant for my goals though. Keep up the great work Tim!

    ReplyDelete