Guts

Sundays are my scheduled long days.  It's the day that I build my week up to.  Sundays are long, Tuesdays are rest, Wednesdays are crosstraining and strength.  Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are mixed with various time trials, intervals, tempo runs, extra rest days, hills, and whatever else my crazy mind can come up with.  So I went out with the intention of running 9 miles today.

 My longest training run so far has been 5 miles.  I didn't think 9 miles was too far of a reach.  I have been dealing with a bit of bubbly guts lately but I didn't think it would be any issue.  I was wrong.  I started feeling my bubbly guts at about mile 3.  Cardio wise I felt great.  My legs also felt great.  My guts did not.  I just told myself to get one more mile, one more mile, one more mile.  I made it to mile 7 and had to stop.  That was all my intestines and would allow.  But I averaged an 8 minute mile which is exactly what I want for the marathon.  If I do that, I'll finish in 3:30.  I would be very happy with that.  I'm starting to the get the mindset of not simply finishing but finishing well.  That inner competitive athlete that I have inside my soul is starting to get hungry and it wants a good time. 

On a related note, my wife Kate is training for her own races in the Triple Crown.  Today she went 4.5 miles and the Anthem 5K is 3 weeks away.  I see a great race out of her and so far I am very proud of her. 

Tomorrow I am going to focus my entry on nutrition and what has been helping me.  Be sure to check back in then.