This Weekend

JB, Mitzi, Alison and Lisa ran their long mileage on Friday morning. I ran the mileage on Saturday morning in the 20+ mph winds. According to our schedule, this week our long run was 5 miles. We've been running for at least 2 years now and 5 miles is a debatable "long" run, but the Master schedule says that and we will not stray from the Master. It's like our Bible during our training. So, whatever it says, we do!

On Sunday, we ran our first run for this week at 4 miles. It was such a great day outside, almost a little hot for a November run. Wearing shorts and short sleeves in November is pretty amazing and we loved it! It was a faster pace than what we are used to, but we have to remember that putting our bodies into a little bit of shock by running faster during these shorter distances will help with our long distance training. Allowing our lungs to expand, our endurance to increase and our legs to get sore and tired will help us for the long haul that is 26 miles. JB and I finished at an 8:56 pace and I would've slowed down much more in the end if JB wasn't there. Alison also ran faster than she's ever run at about a 9:06 pace. We all ran faster and that's what counts. All 3 of us have good and bad days and we flip flop between who finishes first, second and third, but if we didn't have each other, we wouldn't be quite as successful.

So the debate of the day..how fast do we want to run this marathon in? It is our first "rodeo" in the longer distance, so what should our goal be? Is there really a right or wrong answer? Goals generally change as often as we want them to. So, our goal this week may change over the course of a few weeks or months and that is OK. One clear thing that needs to be established is that goals have to be challenging. You have to set your goal to be one that you can meet, but will have to be met with some degree of difficulty. So our next mission is what is that goal? Should it be just "to finish" since it is our first one? Or should we set our time goal to be one that pushes us to the brink? I lean towards the latter because who is guaranteed another race? No one is guaranteed another day or another race, so why not run as well as you can the first time? Isn't this just one more parallel to life? Live today as if it's your last, and run your marathon as good and as fast as you can just in case it's your last. :)

Quote for the day: "A winner is someone who sets their goals, commits themselves to those goals and then pursues their goals with all the ability that is given to them. That requires someone who believes in themselves, who will make self sacrifices, work hard, and maintain the determination to perform at the best of their ability." 

- C. Leeman Bennett