How to know your'e ready

I'll be honest.

I've been a little nervous about the short recovery time between completing the Boston marathon and starting training for The Light at the End of the Tunnel in July.

The fact that my calf cramped up so badly during Boston that I could still feel it the next day made me hesitant to start training this week. I thought it might be smarter to wait another week and not put too much stress on it before it was fully healed.

But...when in question...both feet in!

Right?

Tonight was my first night of Speed Work in 3 weeks.

I followed #5 as arranged to meet some friends to train with. I even managed to talk someone new to join me!

                                               Meet Dave of Dave's Running Adventure!

We run pretty close to the same pace, and we both are training to get better. What more can you ask for in a training buddy?

Oh? You want to talk running too?  DONE! We're both running geeks:)

Today's workout is week 10 (out of a normal 16 week program).

6 X 800 meters (1:30 recovery)

At the end of my training cycle for Boston I texted Running Buddy Randy and told him I thought it was time to be uncomfortable again. I was enjoying hitting all my pace goals and it was even more fun to exceed them. But I was playing it safe because I KNEW I was going to be able to make my goals every run.

You just can't get better without being uncomfortable and challenging yourself.

So, I've upped my game. I'm training for my next PR of a 3:35 marathon.

Did I say I wasn't sure how fresh my legs are right now?

To play it safe I used Chrissy's compression boots today during lunch:) AMAZING!

My pace goal tonight was 3:17 elapsed time for each 800 meters.

 3:18, 3:15, 3:14, 3:16, 3:18, 3:17

I just might be ready:)

I have to say, I'm pretty darn happy about these numbers. I had resigned myself to having this be a "throw away" workout. But I went in planning on doing my best, and not stressing about it if I didn't hit my goals and it all came together.

BOOM!

I have to say it was pretty nice to have a training partner out there making sure I didn't slack on those last couple of Repeats.

The awesome sunny weather didn't hurt either. Which just goes to show...NEVER decide whether or not to run when it's pouring rain at 1:30 in the afternoon. The weather is always different by 6pm.