Motivating Monday: On Pace

It's race week.
Which also means it's taper week.
Ugh.
I like tapering my miles (taper = lessening miles run week before race) because it means I'm getting ready for the big run. But I also dislike tapering because sometimes it makes me lose confidence in myself. I feel that by running less miles, my body is giving up on me and won't be able to run the full race come Saturday.
I know. It's a bunch of crock.
That's why this morning I'm putting up two pieces of motivation.
Because I need it.

Whether I PR or not, this is what I want to feel

Yesterday was my last scheduled long run. My plan said to hit 10 miles, which is often what beginner plans run too before a half-marathon. For a beginner, there's no reason to ever run 13 miles before the race because you don't want to push yourself too much, and it's sort of a given that if you can run 10, then you'll be able to hit 13. And yes, I'm still training from a beginner plan. Remember, I was burnt out last year and started running from nothing again? Therefore, I didn't want to jump in too much and hurt myself. 

I ran a  good pace. I stayed in a park close to my house and just ran laps because it blocked the wind and was a good, scenic place to run. 

I felt good people.

Good enough to run 11 miles instead of 10.

Even though once I hit that double digit mileage mark and I know I can finish the race, I often hit the wall at 10 because sometime I start too fast, or a I get caught up in the mesh of people. So, I wanted to push myself past it yesterday to prove that I wasn't going to let the wall get to me.

And you know what? At 11 miles, I stopped at 1 hour 36 minutes.

Which means I was running between 8:30 and 8:50 min/miles.

And it also means I'm on pace to PR at the race Saturday.

I'm ready. Saturday will be a PR, even if it's just in attitude

I may not hit 1:45 like I would like too, but I definitely know I can beat last year's time.  Since I'm running this race by myself, I'm going to try and stick with the 1:45 pace group, but their pace will be around 8:00-8:30 min/miles. I haven't been running that consistently but if I'm fueled, rested, and watered enough, I may be able to keep up.
Besides, running with others, as I'm learning, pushes me to paces I didn't know I could run.
Plus there's the whole endorphin high and race day excitement that will push me.

Here's to Monday people. It's a beautiful way to start race week.

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Seek peace. Choose joy. Find Strong. Live faith. Breathe Hope.