What's MY MP?

I had an amazing run this morning with Katie. I am not sure whether it was the massive amounts of Iggy's bread I consumed the night before, or maybe Chris put some drugs in the chicken marinade, or it was the lava cake I shared with Chris....hm....but I felt amazing during the run.

The plan was to run 20 miles at 8:15, and, as Katie put it in the email she sent earlier in the week, "you are probably secretly hoping for 8:10". Yes, I was. But, not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be able to run 21 miles, with 20 at...7:58, and feeling great! The run was not easy, but I managed to eat 2.5 gels, drink a ton, and only started to feel the fatigue around mile 15. We ran pretty even splits, starting at 8:05 average, and pretty soon settling into 8:00 pace, for the majority of the miles, getting faster during the last 4 miles. Legs did not hurt at all! I had minimal nausea. The weather was beautiful and the air crisp. A perfect running day.

During the run, Katie asked me whether I still aim for a 3:30. "Not even a 3:25?" she said. And that got me thinking. You may remember my post about confidence as a runner. I have been thinking about that a lot. Certainly, it would be safe for me to run at an 8:00pace (3;30 marathon), and unless I have an off day, I absolutely know I can do that. I mean, running like this today, on tired legs and peak 46 miles (record for me) is proof enough. But who does a 20 miler @ MP-2 seconds average? I don't want to run a marathon comfortably; OK, I hope to be comfortable for 18 miles, like I was in Boston, but I actually want to feel the pain, and fight during the last few miles. It's not really about the actual marathon time that I care for (since I am already qualified for Boston). It's more about the journey, and mostly about working hard for something, struggling, feeling what's to be felt, and making it through. And doing all of these because I chose to, even though others may not understand.

So I am revising my marathon goal. I am going to run the first half at 8:00 pace, but then push the pace a bit, take some risks, and see what happens. I am not going to be afraid to see a sub 8 pace - I have the training under my belt and I am going to go for it.

So thank you Katie, for the run today. I certainly would not have dared to run as fast by myself. I really recommend running with people who are faster than you are (and nice about it!) because this is the sure way to become a faster runner, both physically and mentally.

Taper starts today. Baystate, I am ready for ya!