Focus. Focus. Focus.

Previous Run:
February 16th,
10:05 am
Wore: Sugoi. sports bra, thigh socks, cotton/spandex shorts, wicking tank, sweatshirt
Temp: 23 degrees
Distance: 3ish miles

Grrr...the plan on Saturday was for 7 miles. Ran with Dagan, and couldn't get my mind right. Distracted. We ran in the park and ended up running alongside the Cherry Blossom (or some kind of blossom) 10 mile Fun Run that was taking place at the same time.

Perhaps at a later point in my running life, 10 miles will seem like a thing to do for fun - like making crepes, going to the beach. But right now, the whole thing seems like an oxymoron twisting in on itself.

From the beginning, my legs felt heavy. My left knee was tight. I was feeling woozy (yes, that's a technical term), and I realized pretty quickly that my long run is not the occasion to catch up with a good friend who just so happens to run too. Multi-tasking usually results in not being able to really focus on anything, so I wasn't having fun on the run, and I wasn't really having fun with my friend.

After a few miles, my body refused to fall into its natural groove. I was having a hard time tuning out the Fun Runners with the race staff yelling, "C'mon!!! You can do it!!. Plus, my friend's steady stream of wittcisms kept pulling me away from finding my Machine Moment. Plus, I was feeling a little light-headed and found myself alternating between running and walking to get it together again. That's when I realized I had to make a choice.

I decided to bench the run. Instead, we went out for brunch at Cheryl's Global Soul. The poached eggs over salmon hash with hollandaise is highly recommended.

This wasn't my best running moment by far, but I do think I learned a few things:
1. Get enough sleep. I can no longer indulge in my 4-5 hours a night tendencies and expect to have the juice to keep going on long runs.

2. Run with people with similar goals and skill levels. People say this all the time, but it's true. Running with someone who's about at my pace and also focused on completing a marathon is a completely different experience from running with someone who is way way faster than I am and just out for a casual run. If your vibe doesn't fit with your partner's, the whole thing just starts to suck for all involved.

3. Be driven, but don't knock yourself out if something doesn't quite go the way you planned along the way. I was pretty disappointed at first after stopping the run, but I realized that I probably needed the rest, had to look at my nutrition schedule, work on my mental training, and accept that most of my training would have to be solo, if I wanted to be able to finish my marathon. I also think I made a mistake trying to push my speed on Thursday. No need to force it.

So I woke up today, and spent some time reading from the Marathon Rookie E-book to get a sense of what I could change. Then I mapped some runs on FavoritRun.com.

I'm not missing any more long runs.