So...it's been a while. So much for this blog serving as a document of my "comeback" from ultra-slogging to road racing speediness. The 30 second version of the story is that it has been a long, hard, rewarding process. I've trained harder than I have in at least a couple of years. Some workouts have gone great, others have been terrible. Most have been just another day at the office, plugging away slowly toward the goal.
The Olympic Trials Marathon is two weeks away, and I've come a long way. I feel very well prepared, with a few 140 mile weeks under my belt, and having done some very solid speed work and pace work along the way. I have no illusions about being anywhere near making the team, but I have my pride and my own goals.
Originally, my aim was to use the trials as a last shot at running a marathon PR (2:17:34). I will not rule that out as a possibility, and will certainly take a shot at it if I'm feeling good on race day. However, getting back to that level has proven more challenging than I anticipated. Most of my workouts do not suggest I'm ready to run that fast, but a couple of them do. At this point, I will have to surrender myself to the taper, be smart on race day, and take energy from the excitement of the day.
As a secondary goal (a back-up goal, as it were), running my best Trials time would give me a lot of satisfaction. In 2004, I overtrained (okay, I overtrained from 2002 to 2004!) and ran 2:26:59. In the last Trials in New York, I had run the PanAm Games Marathon fairly recently, so I went in with lower expectations and just wanting to put in a solid run. I ran 2:19:21 for 37th place on a course that was fairly challenging, though very much to my liking.
Perhaps more important than any objective time or place goals, I want to be able to run strong and enjoy the surroundings on the day. If my legs dictate that I can run strong at 5:12 pace, great. If they say 5:30 pace, then so be it. I want to run hard and finish strong regardless. At age 35, I have enough experience to know that it's not about the times and places...focus on the process and the results will come.
Aside from that, I'm very excited for the 4 women I coach who are running, and also to see how the races go up front. Any speculation on who our Olympic marathoners will be?
The Olympic Trials Marathon is two weeks away, and I've come a long way. I feel very well prepared, with a few 140 mile weeks under my belt, and having done some very solid speed work and pace work along the way. I have no illusions about being anywhere near making the team, but I have my pride and my own goals.
Originally, my aim was to use the trials as a last shot at running a marathon PR (2:17:34). I will not rule that out as a possibility, and will certainly take a shot at it if I'm feeling good on race day. However, getting back to that level has proven more challenging than I anticipated. Most of my workouts do not suggest I'm ready to run that fast, but a couple of them do. At this point, I will have to surrender myself to the taper, be smart on race day, and take energy from the excitement of the day.
As a secondary goal (a back-up goal, as it were), running my best Trials time would give me a lot of satisfaction. In 2004, I overtrained (okay, I overtrained from 2002 to 2004!) and ran 2:26:59. In the last Trials in New York, I had run the PanAm Games Marathon fairly recently, so I went in with lower expectations and just wanting to put in a solid run. I ran 2:19:21 for 37th place on a course that was fairly challenging, though very much to my liking.
Perhaps more important than any objective time or place goals, I want to be able to run strong and enjoy the surroundings on the day. If my legs dictate that I can run strong at 5:12 pace, great. If they say 5:30 pace, then so be it. I want to run hard and finish strong regardless. At age 35, I have enough experience to know that it's not about the times and places...focus on the process and the results will come.
Aside from that, I'm very excited for the 4 women I coach who are running, and also to see how the races go up front. Any speculation on who our Olympic marathoners will be?
