Work and travel have kept me from blogging lately. I’m still running. I’m still planning to run the Blue Nose Half Marathon. But my ambitions for the race have changed. The thing about working a bit too much and being on the road is that it plays havoc with the kind of consistent routines I rely on to run well – for one, my eating has gone to pot. Well, I can’t really complain – I’m eating great. But that means I’m putting on a few pounds – and a few pounds translates to slower times. That’s just the way it is. I’m not making the kind of choices about food that would allow me to lose the weight I need to in order to run my best. I just don’t have the motivation this time.
I’m also not hitting all my workouts – and I didn’t get to talk to Cliff before I started travelling (he was stuck in Boston after the marathon – there’s a story waiting to be told there), so I didn’t get a sense of what I should be doing in the lead up to the race. No big deal. I’ll just do my best on the day – what else is there?
So now I’m thinking a 1:16 is way out of reach. I do hope to run under 1:20, though. That translates to 3:47/k or 6:06/mile. I’ve been able to do somewhat comfortable miles at this pace, so it might be possible – but the course is a tough one, so I’m not holding my breath.
The race is in 15 days. Normally, I would be intensely focused on everything to do with the race, but I haven’t been able to focus with the kind of intensity I’d like. I haven’t even studied or run on the course. Again, this is just life, so there’s no reason to get worked up.
What this means, though, is I should be able to run the race with the kind of joy my racing lacked last season. I’m going to leave the watch at home and just pace by feel. I’m really looking forward to the freedom of that. There’s no reason for a non-elite runner like me to get so worked up about splits and so forth. I take racing seriously... but it still needs to be for joy.
So that’s where things stand. I’m going to run my hardest, but it may not be my best. Who knows, though – maybe being well fed and rested will pay off with a fast time. We’ll see in two weeks!
