It's tough navigating the thin line between giving time for recovery and readiness for action.
Last week, before my bike accident, I set some interim goals to help give some semblance of structure to my marathon training as the wheels started to come off. 1.) Practice the nutrition and 2.) test out new gear.
There is a mantra in the running world that says, "nothing new or race day" There is good wisdom in this because a new pair of shorts or shirt or socks might rub the wrong way and create an added layer of discomfort over the 26.2 mile course. With this in mind. I decided to dress for success with a new singlet and shorts that arrived a few weeks ago. I decided to leave my new race shoes at home today and go with a tried and true pair so I wasn't making too many changes all at once as I worked to get back up to speed.
Today it is a blistering 50 degrees out making the new outfit idea for the conditions. It is wild to think over the course of this training cycle my body experienced at 40 degree temperature fluctuation. A combination of the weather and not running substantially over the past few weeks (and I did just brake my face for what ever that's worth) made hitting goal marathon pace pretty tough. Not impossible, but questionable whether or not it could be sustained. Although not always the most accurate, my heart rate averaged around 170 where a few weeks ago it 160 WHILE going 10secs/mile faster.
This is where the flash backs to Bayshore Marathon 2024 kicked in where I trained through the summer and then race day proved to be about 20 degrees warmer than any training session I did. Things ended, but no where close to ending well.
Back to dressing for success. The new kit worked as expected. My legs may have blinded oncoming traffic, but there is a particular abandonment of self consciousness that leaves the room when aiming for a big goal or even just a bunch of small incremental ones.
Mentally, 7 miles at goal marathon pace did some good today. Although feeling a little more winded than I would have liked, all things considered it provided some encouragement that whether I decided to go for the marathon distance, step down and aim for a half and do it as a fun run, or just cheer a friend on, I still have some moxie in the tank. The glass of determination is half full.
