10-Miler on Sat., Oh yeah, that!

At some point in January, a wise man convinced me to sign up for the first ever Charlotte 10 Miler. Today, that man became a fool thinking that my motivation level is still high enough to accept the 10 mile challenge with open arms. The adrenaline rush I had when clicking the register button is a far cry from the rush I am experiencing this week.

I put a lot more effort into the Winter Challenge (WC) than I realized. In the week following the race, my mind said GO, but the body said NO. That's usually a sign that I've ramped up too quickly. Particularly on the running front. Without a lot of miles under my belt, I pushed through three 10+ mile runs leading into the WC. In my excitement, I forgot to listen to my body and everything else that I learned many years ago. There is a general rule NOT TO EXCEED your weekly mileage by more than 10%. Anybody in any kind of formal or informal running/training program will tell you that. A simple Google search ("how to increase running mileage without injury") will tell you the same EXACT thing. I even told my wife of the RULE a few weeks ago, but did I follow my own advice? NO. Rules don't apply to me, but fortunately rules do apply to my ailing body and it's telling me to slow down. So, that's exactly what I did last week.

After a few dismal runs (one outside, one inside) I knew that I needed to back off a little in order to survive the upcoming 10-Miler. I just don't want to suffer during the race. I don't mind suffering in training. I love it , in fact. While I wanted to push it in the Winter Challenge, I'm going to have to adopt a more conservative strategy in the 10-Miler. So, as usual, I have a few goals. for the 10 Miler, they are:

1. Finish in 1hr 30min - This is a pretty realistic finish time based on my prior training runs. This is what I love about my data. I know that if I try to run any faster I'll blow up, so that leads me to goal #2
2. Pace myself - I really need to stay on 8:30 miles to make goal #1 a reality. Road races tend to make you go out like you've been shot out of a cannon. I've made that mistake so many times. That's why I always wear my Garmin. It doesn't lie and keeps me from making a fool out of myself by running 7:30's with people who "look" like they should be slower than me. 

The weather this week has been great with one exception...the mornings have been cold. This Saturday, umm, well yeah 29degF. With a potential sub30 start, it's going to be a factor in this race. 

I'm a little disappointed that I'm not 100% for this race, but that's reality. I'm tapering this week for moderate greatness on Saturday. If by tapering you mean pigging out in Charleston and sampling many delicious micro-brews, then YES. Tapering.

By the way, I love Coach Troy of Spinervals. Here's a sampling of his motivation over the past several weeks.

"While you were sleeping in, I was working out."

"When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on FIRE."

"Either you run the day or the day runs you". -Jim Rohn

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory" - Mahatma Gandhi

Rock on Coach Troy!

If you want to seriously improve your performance, buy some of his training videos. I didn't know what I was capable of until I followed a few of his plans.