I’m back on track with training this week. And it feels good.

This week Bill and I were talking about what my next goal should be as I continue to train to shave off an hour from my marathon time in the Austin 2014 marathon. As you may remember, I narrowly failed to get my 10K down below and hour (my first benchmark) and also to complete my last half marathon in under 2:15 (actually, I’ve missed that mark twice). I was thinking that I wanted to run in the Windermere Marathon in Eastern Washington in May, but Bill was of the opinion I would be better off continuing to work toward making my time goal in a10k or half marathon rather than doing a full at this point. Here’s how our conversation went:

Bill: I think if you do a marathon, you’ll just run it at your usual pace at this point.

Cami: But I want to have a baseline to work from this year.

Bill: You have a baseline.

Cami: But I haven’t run a marathon all year.

Bill: (Frustrated with my logic.) Why don’t you ask your coach what you should do.

yes-no-maybeThis is a strategy Bill and I often use during a disagreement–we triangulate someone else in to resolve it. It’s effective because we get to stop arguing about who’s right–and we get to blame someone else if we’re not happy with the final outcome (sorry friends). So on Monday, I asked Coach Carol to take a side.

Cami: So Bill thinks I should keep working toward improving my time in the10K and the half marathon and I think I should run a full marathon. We agreed to ask you to weigh in.

Carol: Well, I hate to say it, but I’m going to have to vote with Bill on this one. We’ve got to throw him a bone now and again you know.

So it’s been decided. I won’t be running in the Windermere Marathon. Instead, I’ll be doing the Kirkland Half Marathon on May 12th and shooting (once again) for a sub 2:15. Bill has agreed to pace me and help me stay at a 10:00 pace. And actually, this decision is a relief because it’s helped me focus on my pace work with some clear intention. Here’s my training this week.

Sunday: 8 miles on the treadmill. It was raining and I’m in my stubborn part of the year when I stamp my feet and refuse to run in the pouring rain.

Monday: Speed work. 25 minutes of “ins and outs” (hard running on the straight part of the track, recovery on the turns).

Tuesday: 2 miles of walking the dog only.

Wednesday: Last day of Carol’s program. A total of 4 miles which included a warm up, a cool down, and a mile trial. I ran my fastest mile ever: 8:20!

Thursday: Pace work. 2 miles at a 9:30 pace (my 10K pace), repeated twice with a one minute recovery in between. Then another mile at my 10K pace. I was actually shooting for three two-mile repeats, but I couldn’t pull it off, so moving forward, I’m going to continue to work toward this benchmark until I achieve it.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday goal: Distance run. 11 miles at my half marathon pace (10:00/mile).

One thing I’m noticing as I’ve changed my training program this year is that my body feels stronger. I’ve dropped a couple of pounds–not because I’m trying to, just because my body is adjusting itself. And I’m more energetic in general. I’m enjoying the experiment, which I wasn’t sure would be the case.

How about you? How is your training going? What are your struggles? What are you learning?

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