18 second PR

I'm going to remind myself over and over again that Saturday was a PR in the hopes that it prevents me from bitching and complaining too much.  I missed my goal of a sub-2 hour half but came in with a PR of 2:03:26.  Ready for my excuses?

1.  I didn't do enough, cliche and said by most runners grumbling about a missed time goal, but true.  The 3 day a week plan worked to get me to the start and finish but just wasn't enough.  Lesson learned - going back to 4/5 days a week of running or 25/30 miles per week.  One of the biggest issues with planning to only run 3 days is that if you miss a day now you are down to only 2 days which doesn't work well at all.  If you plan to run 5 and miss a run, no worries you still have 4 remaining.

2.  My life got in the way.  Blame the kid, husband, work, dogs, friends (yes, friends), family...all of it.  Over the summer running and training were not negotiable and I need to go back to this mindset.  Playdates will be on the run from now on, bring your jogging stroller!  In addition to this cycling and swimming are going to be reintroduced and also not cancelled for more exciting offers.

3.  The mile 11 hissy fit.  Things were going swimmingly until I hit the hills at mile 6/7 and then things slowed down.  I had built enough of a cushion to recover from this and I knew it was going to be tight. Due to negative self talk and poor math skills I thought I blew it at mile 11 and had a fit.  Swore, kicked at nothing, looked around for a cab to bring me back to the finish.  Had this not happened I don't think I would have come in under 2 but would have been closer.  If having the garmin to monitor my mile splits wasn't so helpful I'd consider running without for the next one but it help to reign me in the first few miles.

4.  Speed work/hills - The dreadmill really doesn't cut it.  I should go back to track but the club is going indoors and I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to shell out $180 for a 2nd gym membership that doesn't offer free babysitting.  In addition to the fact that workouts are early mornings and I'm still working evenings.  So stuck with the dreadmill and need to think about spicing it up, maybe longer workouts?  Also need to go back to Lincoln Woods at least every other week, got way to comfortable with flat bike path running.

Give me a week and I'll be back with a plan, current sights are on The Hyannis Half Feb of 2013.  All whining aside this was a BEAUTIFUL course, really one of the prettiest I've ever run.  Super well managed and race weekend was a highlight of STAYCATION!

30 minutes of easy spinning tonight.