Running isn’t always about going fast. Sometimes in order to finish, you have to maintain a slow and steady pace.
Today was my “long” run. Since I took a little break from running after our last half-marathon, I’m a little out of shape, and am working my way back into things, so my weekly long run today was 4.12 miles, which I completed in 46:13. My running mantra was “short and steady starts the pace, short and steady wins the race.”
I know I could have pushed myself and tried to go longer, but in order to attain my goal of finishing a marathon in 2014, I don’t want to take any chances, so I’m taking all of my long runs seriously enough to go slow, no matter what the distance is. In the past, I’ve been known to start off too fast when running long distances, and it certainly never pays off. Although this was fine for me when trying to attain short term goals, it hasn’t worked out so well when trying to attain long-term (or long distance) goals.
Because I was running on the treadmill today (which I’ll be using to complete most of my winter training…running in any weather colder than 40 degrees severely affects my asthma), it was hard for me to keep track of my splits, but since my husband bought me a Garmin Forerunner 210 for my birthday, I’ll be including them in later runs.
Just to warn you, I am by no means a really fast runner, nor do I intend to be (although if it does eventually happen over time, I WON’T complain!). My main goal isn’t even to just finish my first 26.2, but to be able to continue running for a long time…and hopefully, to complete lots MORE marathons after finishing my first! As someone who is 30 and hasn’t yet completed a marathon, I feel like a late bloomer in the running world. The older you get, the more you have to worry about having knee problems (which is why it’s important to ice after long runs!), and attaining other injuries. Of course, all runners are susceptible to injury, which is why my new mantra is “Slow and steady sets the pace, slow and steady wins the race.” Because in the long run, you are winning if you start off slow, and finish strong…even if finishing strong means still running when you’re 70! -Lis
26.2 x 2 