Half Way? Not so fast ….
I followed Coach Lee’s marathon plan as closely as I could throughout the race - sticking to the paces he suggested, and I am so grateful to have had his advice! Following his advice and his entire training plan throughout really made the difference, and helped me take more than 14 minutes off my finish time from my previous PR of 3:44:09.
When you think of a long-distance runner you think of endurance. Someone who runs a certain long distance over a length of time. But there is also a different type of endurance in running and that’s measured in consistency. It’s not about any single run but rather a series of various single runs, ran over and over again. Runners often refer to this as their “streak”.
OK, so I bring myself to the highlight of my race. I will spare the specifics and cut to the chase by saying as I approached the 6 mile mark my stomach had started to act up.
You know you are a runner when you fail to even grin at the word “Fartlek”. While it certainly sounds unappealing and maybe even funny, it actually is often one of the core routines in any running program. It’s actually a Swedish word that means “speed play”. So, it’s very applicable when it comes to running. But how and when to integrate speed play into one’s training sessions is the trick.
This past year was perhaps my most enjoyable year of running in my 58 years of running! Enjoyable as I was inspired by several individuals as well as my own running performance this past year. I ran eight races this year of varying distances from the 5K to the half marathon. Several of the longer races are considered very competitive on a regional and national basis. For the first time in my running career, I had a podium (top three) finish in my age group category too!
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