So ... What's Next?

Sometime over the past few months, I decided (again) that I needed to do something different in my training.  This seems to be a pattern.  Previously, this would be the point where, after running a few big races, I fall into a burn-out or post race blues, try to get started again, then peter out.  Last time this happened I stopped running and pretty much everything else for almost 6 months.  Being active is not natural for me like so many others.  I'm not a type A personality, I'm not high strung.  I'm pretty laid back; I mosey when I walk, and I enjoy the quieter things in life.  I mean hell, I'm a massage therapist!  I spend most of my work day in a dark room with soft, relaxing music!  That being said, the more active I get, the shorter the burn-out lasts; the more social my running becomes, the less I slack off.  The less I slack off, well, just keep reading. 

Last March-ish, I was lucky enough to run in to an old "friend".  As we reacquainted ourselves, I learned she's a runner too.  Little did I know, she was a RUNNER.  This was right smack at the beginning of my "I'm not putting my running shoes back on!" phase.  Sometime around July, I was starting to miss being on the road, and my old running buddies were talking about the half marathon classes coming up so I decided to make amends with my Asics and start again.  It took a while - being that I started in the ass days of summer - to get my legs back .. but it didn't take long to remember why I stopped.  I was bored.  So I came up with a new goal, turned my old "friend" into a friend, and asked her to help me with a new training program.  (Those results can be found here.)

So here I am again.  Not bored, just .. well .. I have an itch.  I know one thing for sure.  I'm running my first full marathon in November - The Rock N Roll San Antonio.  (I ran my first half there the inaugural year, figured why not return to the 'scene of the crime'!  Plus, I grew up in SA and my parents still live there!) The real question - or answer - is how am I going to train for this??  Back to the first line of this entry, I have decided to switch it up a bit by running without my Galloway intervals.  I played around with the idea of doing some heart rate training, but that requires a level of patience that I don't have.  Plus, it isn't very fun.  Not being stuck to an interval and having the endurance to run continuous opens up many opportunities!  For example, my social running is growing!!  This is soo fun!!  I have a ton of new running friends and even though I'm slower than most of them, there are a few I can keep up with. This is exciting!!  But they don't run intervals.  So, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em :).  Another thing.  I respect the 26.2, but I want to make sure I'm prepared to look "her" in the face and say 'move b$tch, get out the way!'  So yes, I'll be running my first marathon with Galloway intervals, but I believe that building my endurance without them can only help my strength to get through all 26.   

Training for the full is going to be exciting!!  HOWEVER.  It's more of the same.  Long runs followed by more long runs.  I've done this before.  PLEASE DON'T TAKE THAT TO MEAN I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE EASY!!  But still, I want something else.  Something that I haven't done before.  Like trying to run a half marathon without the intervals ... faster than I did with the intervals.  Speed.  This is my itch.  The need for speed is nothing new to runners, and I don't claim to be the first to want this.  But I want it.  So much so that running an 11 minute PR in a 10k this weekend (at a 10:46 pace) didn't give me cause to celebrate in true victory fashion; rather, celebrating because I now have a better picture of where I'm starting from. 

And while we're talking about speed, let me break down the Galloway interval for you.  If it hadn't occurred to you before, doing a run/walk is deceiving when it comes to pace.  My PR at the New Year's day half - which I have yet to match in 2 half mary's since then - was run with roughly an 11min/mile and a 3:1 run/walk ratio.  That one minute walk should only add about 30-45 seconds to your pace.  I went back to my race report for that day and most of my run times are sitting right around or under 10:30.  In fact, most of them are below.  (yes, I'm about to steal a line from my own blog) In fact, on March 5th, during the Texas Independence Relay, I ran 6.03 miles in 1:03:28, which is pretty much a 10:30 pace.  Just think about that for a second ... let it marinate.

I'm not making any grand statements.  I will say, however, that there's a chance I can run faster than my brain is letting me.  That 10k didn't kill me.  My legs weren't waisted at the end.  Could I have run harder?  Yep, pretty sure I could .. and I'm pretty sure I will.