Well, it’s the last day of AREC training for the Long Beach Marathon. It was nice to have caught up with old friends and made new ones. Next Sunday, we get to find out what kind of individuals we are made out of as we set out to run the marathon or half marathon, after having trained for the past four months for it. A lot of first timers who have never run more than a few miles found out that they were capable of more than they thought. People who have run marathons before may be aiming for a personal record this time. Others may just run the race for fun. Most have made advances in their running and a few like me have had setbacks but still persevere and hope for the best.
Today’s run was eight miles for the marathoners and six miles for the half marathoners. I ran with Linda again and we decided to try to run eight miles non-stop at an easy effort, depending on how my tendons felt. I asked her a favor to hold me back if she saw me picking up the pace. Along the route we discussed what our strategy for next week’s race was going to be. How and when we drink, based on where the aid stations were positioned and what to do if those don’t coincide with our one minute walk breaks. We more or less settled the issue and arranged to meet at the AREC tent at least half an hour before the race started.
For some reason I felt drained and sluggish today while running eight miles. It seems that my body got used to the walk breaks that we usually take. I had the normal pain on my right ankle and some discomfort on my left knee, so my joints were thankful for the shorter run today. It was strange and funny to find out at the end of the run, that we ran the same pace for eight miles non-stop as we did on last Saturday’s twelve mile run/walk, and I was in lesser pain last week. This statistic speaks volumes about the advantages of the Jeff Galloway method. It’s certainly not for everyone, but it is working very well for me. I’m a convert. Now I have to keep my joints, tendons, and muscles healthy for next Sunday.
1 comment:
hi Noel, it is always a pleasure to run with you! About feeling drained and sluggish, maybe it's from managing your constant level of pain. I learned from 3 months of dealing with my hip/back problems plus the plantar fasciitis that the constant mental chatter of "ouch it hurts" and "I can keep going" is as exhausting as running all out, all the time. Rest well this week and have faith in the Galloway plan; we'll be ok on Sunday!
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