The 20 Delta....

Okay, so I am only getting slightly timelier with my postings. The goal is to have them done by Sunday, however, I had a rather soul destroying week of unpleasant discoveries resulting in the 20 delta.

First, the known factor:  my personal record for a full marathon is Four (4!) hours.

My qualification time for Boston is 3 hours 40 minutes (3:40), thus, my first 20 delta. I’ve known this for quite some time and realize that a 20 minute improvement over 26.2 miles is quite the endeavor.  But, I know it’s possible and many women have accomplished it.  And I’ve also known to accomplish this time I must run 8 minutes 43 seconds per mile for the entire distance.

Well, here comes the surprise. It was revealed to me by a devilishly handsome man with the marvels of an iPhone at his fingertips that I in fact need to run an 8 minute 23 second pace to reach the 3:40 goal!!

Ummm.. WTF!! So for months, no wait, years, I’ve been reaching for the wrong goal. It’s not even a faster goal…but another 20 Delta faster!  Seriously, I am not even sure where I came up with the idea that I needed to run an 8:43, perhaps it was for a different race. I seriously have no clue.

I am clearly not a mathematician, but I can’t believe I made this mistake! I know I’ve been running pretty consistently under an 8:43 mpm, but it was still quite a shock. Mostly the disappointment lies in the fact that I am going to have to take speed work seriously and that I don’t have as much in the speed bank as I thought. The fact is that I somehow tricked myself into thinking that this upcoming qualification race in New River was going to relatively easy. This is a misconception that is better to be cleared up sooner rather than later to avoid further disappointment.

However, I am ok with the idea that I may be running another marathon in the autumn to be sure to make this a BQ year.

Saturdays run, was just average. The temperature was much more mild, but I ran significantly slower than last week’s 13-miler. I was still within my 60-90 second threshold, but I couldn’t help to feel a little disappointed. This could be, because I was running with a partner for the majority of the run and we were having a good ole’ catch up chat. Although the run itself went relatively well, the recovery was not so great. It seems that I didn’t refuel quick enough and my blood sugars got way to low and I slipped into the ‘over-hungry sickness.’ Really, really unpleasant, I did manage to recover though and am happy that this week is a taper week. I look forward to running round the Belgian countryside this weekend!

The 20-Delta=a little black cloud;  Low-blood sugar=nauseating; BQ Qualification=2011; Over-coming the 20 Delta=imminent

"My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy"

John Bryant, Trustee of the London Marathon, author, journalist and former elite athlete uttered those words. I’m thinking, when you are an elite athlete, you probably don’t have too much trouble fitting in your physical training…

…if only yours truly was that lucky. It seems I don’t have enough hours in the day to work in all of my running. Oddly enough, it’s not the Saturday long runs I’m struggling with, but my during the week running.

First, I am now obligated to do Army Physical Training with my small group of Soldiers so I now spend 0630-0730 exercising with them. My time for running and my own fitness goals is forced to take a back burner during this hour. I can manage the shorter runs with them, but there is no way I can force my Soldiers to run more than 6 miles in the allotted hour for physical training, we simply don't have enough time, nor can I force my goals on them. 

I can only really squeeze in a 6-miler doing my lunch break.

After work....well, first of all it’s dark and I’m tired. But mostly, this week I’m dog-sitting and this is taking up a lot of my time too.

I never imagined that the long runs would be the easy thing to factor in. Unbelievable.

Speaking of long run, last Saturday’s 13-miler went exceptionally well. In fact, it seemed to take no time at all. I’m guessing it’s because I have so much to think about these days. My move is always in the foremost of my mind, moving back to the U.S. is a big deal for me, and it’s never far from my thoughts. It astonishes me the amount of change that is happening to me personally. It seems that every aspect of my personal life is in an upheaval. I’m really glad that I came up with this physical goal, so I feel like I am endeavoring on something I can actually manage. Especially since (knock wood) the training seems to be going well. Not only are the distances cranking out with relative ease, I’m managing my paces well too. This is a first-ever for me and I’m pretty excited about it….

…Now, it’s just a matter of staying healthy and injury free…

In summation: Busy weeks=not that much fun; Dog-sitting=fun, but a lot of responsibility; Moving=Intimidating; Personal life=a little sketchy; Running=Reliable; Late weekly blogs=grrr; This blog=a little lame; Next week's Blog=hopefully better