nancipants
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2013
- Messages
- 4,400
I feel like I’m getting sick. My RHR has been higher than normal and I’ve been sleeping badly the past few days. Plus, I’ve had a headache since Friday. It could be allergies, it could be stress. (The situation with my mom is not tenable and I really don’t know what to do about it.) So, I’m crossing my fingers and toes that I don’t get sick.
This week, my main focus was stretching my left hip/quads/hamstrings. That whole area has been tight and bothering me while running. Not enough to stop a run, but enough to be annoying and keep me from doing my best. Thankfully, after a bunch of stretches, it’s been feeling a lot better. Not 100 percent, but enough to let me do my magic mile today. My body is reminding me to stretch and focus on strength training.
I’ve also been feeling discouraged mentally. I have big goals (for me) and kept wondering how I could ever reach them. I recognized this week that the aforementioned stress is probably affecting my motivating to run. It’s frustrating, because running helps with my stress levels, but the stress makes me not perform as well.
So I was excited but dreading my magic mile today. The workout was 1 mile warm up, magic mile, 3 miles easy. The “magic” number for a 2:30 half (my goal to get a runDisney proof of time) is a 9:30 mile. My previous fastest mile was 10:31, and my last magic half mile came out to 10:18 equivalent pace. I was really hoping I could break that elusive 10 minute mile. I started off way too fast, as usual - at one point I looked at my watch and it said 9:30 pace. I was like, yeah, that’s not sustainable! I was right. My 60/30 intervals started getting shorter and my breathing grew more and more labored. I really hope no one was around to hear me!
But when my watch FINALLY lapped, I heard 9:53, and I moan-screamed “I did it!!!” I was so happy and proud. I came home and finished the last two miles on the treadmill while watching the start of the NYC marathon. Then I texted Coach Twiggs my new time, and he responded with my new paces. Oh, right. New MM means faster paces. 
My current HM pace is 11:50, which equates to a 2:35 HM, which seems so fast to me??? But also that much closer to 2:30. I just ran 2:45, and I definitely pushed myself, but not as much as I could have. I have two HMs coming up, and I might push at the Orlando half to see how close I can get to 2:35. But I don’t want to push myself too hard that close to the Disney marathon, and my goal race is February 1, so maybe I’ll just practice the 60/30 ratio at an easier pace? I guess I can just ask Coach. 
This week, my main focus was stretching my left hip/quads/hamstrings. That whole area has been tight and bothering me while running. Not enough to stop a run, but enough to be annoying and keep me from doing my best. Thankfully, after a bunch of stretches, it’s been feeling a lot better. Not 100 percent, but enough to let me do my magic mile today. My body is reminding me to stretch and focus on strength training.
I’ve also been feeling discouraged mentally. I have big goals (for me) and kept wondering how I could ever reach them. I recognized this week that the aforementioned stress is probably affecting my motivating to run. It’s frustrating, because running helps with my stress levels, but the stress makes me not perform as well.
So I was excited but dreading my magic mile today. The workout was 1 mile warm up, magic mile, 3 miles easy. The “magic” number for a 2:30 half (my goal to get a runDisney proof of time) is a 9:30 mile. My previous fastest mile was 10:31, and my last magic half mile came out to 10:18 equivalent pace. I was really hoping I could break that elusive 10 minute mile. I started off way too fast, as usual - at one point I looked at my watch and it said 9:30 pace. I was like, yeah, that’s not sustainable! I was right. My 60/30 intervals started getting shorter and my breathing grew more and more labored. I really hope no one was around to hear me!
But when my watch FINALLY lapped, I heard 9:53, and I moan-screamed “I did it!!!” I was so happy and proud. I came home and finished the last two miles on the treadmill while watching the start of the NYC marathon. Then I texted Coach Twiggs my new time, and he responded with my new paces. Oh, right. New MM means faster paces. My current HM pace is 11:50, which equates to a 2:35 HM, which seems so fast to me??? But also that much closer to 2:30. I just ran 2:45, and I definitely pushed myself, but not as much as I could have. I have two HMs coming up, and I might push at the Orlando half to see how close I can get to 2:35. But I don’t want to push myself too hard that close to the Disney marathon, and my goal race is February 1, so maybe I’ll just practice the 60/30 ratio at an easier pace? I guess I can just ask Coach. 
Hope you feel better soon.
But I did it! The goal time for each 800 was 5:35 or 11:10 pace, and every one of them was faster - an average of 10:54 pace. 
) Of course, the cold weather we've had lately is transitioning back into warmer weather, ugh. I'm planning to run at a local park where I can use my car as an aid station so I can mimic the Disney marathon conditions, but there's like no shade at the park, so I might end up coming back to my neighborhood once it gets hot. We'll see, I guess!
