On Fox 5 NY, some skinny weatherwoman who looked about 26 years old predicted thunderstorms this evening. The last time I ignored a similar prediction, I ended up bagging my whole run home as cats, dogs and small lizards fell out of the sky. Today, I was uber-determined to run home no matter the precipitation.
Lucky for me, I didn’t have to tough it out like the elites during the final miles of this year’s Flora London Marathon. Instead, I was cooled by sprinkles of rain that tapered off by the time I made it home. Ah. It was a perfect recovery run, after yesterday’s 11-mile slog through the Long Island humidity (more on that later). I ran a zoned-out 9:42-pace (3.5M in 33:57 minutes), with my hamstrings achey from the strength workout I’d done on Saturday.
Yes, that’s right. I did squats, side-squats, lunges, planks, crunches and push-ups instead of my planned 5-miler. I was still a little pooped from that darn relay, I think, and I know I need to get stronger to get faster, so i gave myself a pass on the running. I know for a fact that my core needs some serious bolstering if I’m going to be able to hold a decent form for most of my 26.2 miles in November, at a 10-minute per mile pace (compared to the 10:34’s I ran at Disney this January). The plan is to do strength training on my rest days, and to keep the excercises simple, and just increase reps as needed. Since I hate them so much, I figure less is more here, if I’m aiming for consistency.
During my run home from work today, I listened to an episode of the Dump Runners Club, in which Matt told us about ways to get out of our Comfort Zone. I am definitely getting close to the CZ, and so the timing of the topic was auspicious for me. His podcast reminded me that I am doing some things correctly to get out of the CZ: doubles, fast finish runs, participating in races. But, I know there’s more I can do: track workouts, tempo runs, fartleks, deliberate hill training (instead of that which I get trucking over my bridge a few times a week). Now that it’s officially time to start training for New York, I’m on it. Get me out of the Comfort Zone!
(I’m getting excited for November 2nd. Am I the only one already with Butterflies?)
Pigtails Flying 
Dude, my life is butterflies. You’re so not alone on the jitters train 😉
Right now, early Nov represents nervousness and anticipation. But thats more because of the election that the marathon.