Here I Go Again

Training for the Country Music Marathon starts next week. I'll be using an abbreviated 12 week training schedule from Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas. I'm happy to have my buddy Justin Hulsman joining me for training runs, accountability, and the race. If he doesn't break 3 hours, I'll be disappointed because I KNOW he's capable. Me, if I PR, I'll have done something beyond my expectations.

I've been working way long hours and squeezing in time to run has been a challenge. I haven't even checked Facebook since Tuesday! So if you've sent me a message on Facebook, don't be offended. I just haven't had the time.

Anyway... On a whim I decided to do a tempo run today. I did a 4.5 mile warm up in the dark. Then I did 3 miles at tempo pace. I actually extended this to 20 minutes because 3 miles was just over 19:30 and tempo runs should be at least 20 minutes. Then I did a 1.75 mile jog home to put me at just shy of 10 miles total.

1. 6:32
2. 6:32
3. 6:32

Wow. That was surprisingly consistent! I'm thinking my tempo pace should be about 6:35 right now based on race results. Today felt harder than it should have. I've read (either from Pfitzinger or Daniels, I can't remember which) that your body learns what tempo pace feels like and it becomes somewhat repeatable. I'm guessing that's true.

One thing became obvious to me today. I got lazy and out of shape quickly. I've never read the following quote anywhere, but I'm rarely original, so I probably did and I'm just forgetting my source. I kept repeating this today, "Laziness creates more work for later." I have more work to do getting ready for CMM because I've been lazy. Well, I better get busy.