A Thousand Miles // Taking Time

kara goucher
One-Mile Pace: 8:00
Long Run: 4 Miles
Weekly Mileage: 11 Miles

Wanna join me and share updates in the comments on your own progress?  Maybe even sign up for a race (even if it’s your first)?  It’s so much easier to stick to a plan when you have a community of support!

With running, as with most things in my life, I can be a little impatient.  So when I start a new training program, I can occasionally over-reach.  The problem is that I can rarely admit it, and usually my over-reach turns into a little bit of a disconnect between what I think I’m doing (what’s written on my plan) and what I’m actually doing (absolutely nothing like that).

For the past few months I’ve been running super low weekly mileage (only 2-3 miles at a time) in an effort to up my speed… and generally it’s worked.  I’m running at around an 8:30/mile average, which for me is pretty fast.  But now that I’m on my way to a faster pace – and about to sign up for a fall marathon – it’s time to start building my mileage up from those tiny little numbers at the top there.  So I put together a plan, and I’m on my way.  I’ll update you all on my progress toward the races we have planned (a Tough Mudder in June, a 15k in July, and a marathon in October – I might have to add a half marathon in there somewhere but we’ll see) using the numbers above (along with my rambling about my runs, of course) and hopefully you can all help me stay on track!

Of course, I suppose I do have to admit that my over-reaching has already begun.  I note my one-mile pace along with my distance because up until yesterday I really did think it was faster than 8 minutes.  I’d scheduled mile repeats at 7:41, but unless the distance of a mile has somehow changed along with daylight savings, I didn’t make it.  So… I’m stepping back and slowing down, taking my time, and (very reluctantly) changing up my training plan… for now.  But over the course of the next few months, I’m hoping to better that number along with the rest.

Running is a life-long journey, I’m told… and this is just a new chapter.  I’m hoping to make it a good one, and for that I guess I still have to start slow.

Photo (of my running girl-crush Kara Goucher) via.

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