Trust the Plan

That was the mantra from the running podcast today - trust the plan! When you're in the middle of training for a race and you don't feel at the top of your game, or it's a grind, or you just don't feel like you're getting to where you want to be, that's the time you need to trust the plan you put together at the beginning. I hope I can remember that in a few weeks.

The other thing I remember from this podcast (RunRunLive!) was that you can't improve yourself without challenging yourself and changing your comfort level. I think that's true, which is why I'm gunning for a 3:30 time in the Memphis marathon this year. I'm going to get my virtual running buddy under four hours in Des Moines and then I'm trying to get to the 3:30 level about six weeks later. The conventional wisdom (i.e., the charts in Runner's World) say that I'm not a good candidate to run that fast based on my previous times. Sounds like a challenge to me.

Looks like I forgot to post my run from Saturday. There wasn't much to post about anyway. I got out the door a little later than I planned for an 8-miler that ended up being 5 miles. I blamed the heat and humidity, but really I just wussed out. Let's just put that one behind us and move on, shall we?

Today's was much better. The temperature and humidity were off the charts again, but I waited until almost 8 o'clock to get out the door. I ran 6 miles with the sun going down in the west and it went much better. I saw about a dozen people running this morning as I drove through the neighborhood on my way to work, a stark contrast to the two other people I saw this evening. Anyway, I kept the pace at about 10 minutes/mile and survived. I don't like running this late in the evening, but 'tis the season. The wife and oldest daughter have a triathlon this weekend and I have to go to Tulsa to pick up the boy from my parents, so getting in my planned 10-miler will be a challenge. But it's all a challenge, isn't it?