after the latest long

so it's been a few weeks now that i've managed to run with the pacemakers. very interesting it's been. i'm certainly among the slowest, if not THE slowest, so i don't really hang out with them very much. mostly i follow their route, and at the end there are one or two who might talk to me. but still, having a defined route to follow, knowing that at the end there'll be others who've done the same, not bad.

so this week's was 15+ and i have to say, i felt far better at the end than the first two. the first one i remember being pretty dead most of the second half, actually, doing lots of walking. part of that was lack of fuel, but not only, i'm sure. the second week i ran with them, i was so frustrated at the convoluted route...i guess if i was running with the group it wouldn't have mattered, but being all by myself, i kept having to stop to look at where i was, where i was supposed to be, so it didn't feel right at all. this week, it was through familiar territory, i had the new water pack, a couple of granola bars, and all in all did a million times better, running pretty much the whole way. ok, up northern from falls to cold spring beat me, but c'mon!

i have to pull myself back to reality on days like that. i did the half-marathon distance in less than 2:30 this time (2:26). i know, some will finish the entire marathon in that time, but for me, who came into this thinking ok, i just want to finish, 7 hrs is plenty but maybe i can try for 6ish, now i'm thinking 5, or to be honest, remembering lw and that 446...hmm... if i do that i'll probably kill myself so need to ground back to thinking just finish.

i don't know what to do about time. i seem to jog at 10 minute miles. the reason i'm slower in aggregate is that i have to stop periodically. all those years on the couch, the thyroid, and yes, all that smoking, i do have to remember are dragging. but i'd rather be doing 8's and resting than 10's. oh well, maybe the goal for this year is to finish, for next year is to finish and not walk so much, and for year three is to run a bit faster. do i have the patience for that? who knows. feels like a decent plan tho. (nyc in 2010, chi in 2011?). don't get too far ahead. let's just get to this one without any more injuries, get thru it, and then see what happens. yeah, good plan. ok, another day.

btw, bmsamson on garmin connect, mapmyfitness. if anyone does stumble by and wants to check out my progress, there it is...