$1000 reached- Costume Training Run Thurs: No Crosby Jersey!

Wow. I honestly did not think we would so easily reach $1,000, even when some of you so desperately wanted to see me in a Pink Sidney Crosby jersey, but you did it and I thank you!.... SO! I will take my final training run Thursday in a costume- of my choice. (Unless by some crazy circumstance we reach $1,500 before Thursday.) its just as well though- There are no Pink Crosby Jerseys to be found. 2 websites advertise them, but do not have stock. I even posted a craig's list ad in Pittsburgh, with no dice.

Boy it really tore me up.  ...Thankfully I have THIS to wear during the race:

Ok, so running progress, 6 days until the race! Training is tapering/wrapping up and I am looking back on all the hard work. Oddly, its been more fun and easier than I expected. This experience reinforces one of my mantras: 

Work harder (and smarter) than you think you can, harder than you think you should have to and without the expectation of external reward.

Last week I panicked. I had not had a training run longer than 10 miles and I started to worry that I needed at least one 12 miler under my belt before the race. But It didn't happen. Once I resigned myself to the fact that it was not going to happen, I relaxed and things have been good!

I had my final 2 "hard" training runs this weekend, with some mixed results.

On Saturday I ran 4.5 miles, at a 7:45 to 8:45 minute per mile pace. Trust me, this is as fast as I have run since 2001. The idea was to do a speed workout, but I did not think I would hit a mile at 7:45. I certainly didn't mean to.

Sunday I ran 6.2 and tried to go out easy, but at the 4 mile point I was running 9:15 minute miles and getting tired quickly. I made myself slow down, but it looks like my comfort zone is 9:30. The question becomes whether I can possibly sustain that speed for 13.1 miles.

I plan to run a 10:00 pace for this half marathon and have not tried to push myself faster. In fact, the only reason I did speed workouts at all was to avoid injury. For me, the slower I run, the more messed up my bio-mechanics become. My natural running speed, where my stride and foot strike are bio mechanically correct is about an 8:45 mile. So I did the speed workouts to make sure I could easily run faster than my planned Half Marathon pace.The idea is to make your race pace comfortable. And to plan/prep for the mistake most rookies and even some vets make: letting the adrenaline of being in a race and energy of those around you push you to run faster than you normally would.

In a short race- 10k and under, being energized by the people around me is fine, because I can run 6 miles too fast and finish the race. Sure I might puke my brains out at mile 5, but I can finish. You cannot go into a half marathon and expect to finish if you run it too fast...but speed training helps in case you end up doing it anyway.

Trouble is, I've had too much success in my speed workouts and now what feel comfortable for me for 4-6 miles is faster than 10 minute miles, but I doubt I can keep that up for 13 miles.

There are worse problems to have eh?  

I'll stop by again to post some costume photos after Thursday's run, and then I am off to Monterey for the race!

Carry On all and thank you for your support!