Race Pace?

DATE: 20-Nov-07
MILES: 4.13
TIME: 48:49
PACE: 11:50
AHR (average heart rate): 158 (very happy with this)
ROUTE: From Leota middle school in Woodinville
NUTRITION: na
COMMENTS: Miles went by fairly fast. It was a different feeling than when I project a finish time of a mapped out distance. I tend to watch the minutes slowly tick by. I do not know if this is actually a good pace for the 1/2 on Sunday. It might be fast. I dunno. I felt really good.

I worked on my motivational paragrah this run. My own mantra. I repeated this as a chant and kept pace with it:

I am a marathoner
I love to run
35 miles a week
My mind is strong
It keeps getting stronger
My body is strong
It keeps getting stronger
I never stop

I struggle with the negative spin of the last line. I suspect that it will change.

I played with the middle lines... swapped out words. My form is strong, it keeps getting stronger. My legs, my core, my thighs or calves... my focus, determination, memory, concentration.

I also worked the hills saying the following:

I love hills
I run them strong
I carry my momentum over the top
Hills make me faster
I love hills

I did manage to run up every hill AND carry the momentum over the top!

The momentum idea was something I read in "Running for Dummies". Truthfully, when I read it I didn't get it. What momentum? Momentum is the downhill speed you gain on a bike! Not what you have as you crest a hill on foot!

My typical approach to hills: I am, admittedly, driven to the top of a hill. I will often sprint uphill. One of two things typically happens, tho, as I approach the crest. I promise myself the reward of walking at the top. And I do just that, walk. Sometimes, I don't always make it to the top before I slow way down or walk. There's a defeated feeling to both of those scenarios. It's almost like I am afraid to finish strong, or try to. Finishlines sometimes feel the same way to me. Like it's the enemy and not my friend. A nagging "what if I can't" thought pulls me backwards.

This run I chanted about carrying the momentum up and over the hill to the downhill. What happened surprised me. I made it to the top, I didn't stop, I didn't slow, I kept my momentum going over the crest, and I recovered nicely on the downhill without slowing to a walk! I will build on that good experience!

This is a long entry for 4 miles. But these are learning miles. I have never really worked at the psycological side of training. My gut knew a few years ago that I must stop saying, "I hate running!" I never went as far, tho, as to say, "I love running". I figured I would start saying that when I loved to run. Ha! Been in limbo for a while.

I am a marathoner
I love to run
35 miles a week
My mind is strong
It keeps getting stronger
My body is strong
It keeps getting stronger
I never stop

~ Nancy the Marathoner.

Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
...those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.