To be fair, the official start of marathon training could have begun at any point I said that it began. I was easing into the official 16 weeks start by continuing to do longer runs as well as starting to do the speed work (see previous posts). But I decided that today was the official start to Baystate marathon training. The start was a 10 mile run and my training plan suggested the pace would be 9:22, but I kept mine just under 9:00 (literally, 8:59). The run was VERY humid and felt a little bit like a battle, but it got done. Through a lot of it I did keep thinking "holy cow I have to run how much farther and how much faster?!?" I think that mental battle will continue pretty much through this entire training until I'm at the start line and see how Baystate turns out. I am trying to follow the plan and like so many other people who probably question how on earth will I be able to race when I do long runs that I struggle through and a pace slower than the race. But people much smarter than me and much more involved in running have determined that this can be the best approach so I will take it as it is and I will continue to push through for another 16 weeks.
One thing I will say is when I started out the run I was able to mentally zone out so that 10 miles didn't seem quite as daunting of a number as it once did. That's not to say that the run wasn't very difficult at times and I wasn't very much looking forward to the end of it but mentally I feel like I was able to wrap my head around the distance and now it's just a matter of wrapping my head around the discomfort. I also ate the same breakfast that I'm used to and will for the next two weeks, but I know I'lol need to pay better attention in the coming weeks and probably adjust my sleep schedule/pre-race time. In weeks time the plan calls for 14 miles which will be the longest consecutive run that I've actually ever done and it'll only get longer from there!
*So I'll Play My Part
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