Change in Plans

Last summer I announced that I would run a 4:45 marathon this January at the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Arizona Marathon (PFCRNRAZ). For the most part, my training went well. However, the last couple of months, the wheels seem to have fallen off. My long runs are hit and miss. For example, two weeks ago I did an OK 20 mile run, last week was a very good 15 mile run, but yesterday was a terrible 20 mile run. Also, my speedwork has been off and on. I had the great Yasso 800 workout a couple of weeks ago, but last week I could only manage 3.5 miles at marathon pace for my tempo run.

So, where does this leave me? I could try for the 4:45 and fail miserably. I could try for a PR (4:58:22 or faster). Or, in light of my big, huge, monster goal for 2010, I could treat this as a training run. I have my first 50 mile race on the schedule for March 27th, and I don't want to burn myself out for that. Soooooo, what my plan is as of this minute is to hang out with the 5:30 pace group, treat this as a training run, not do a taper, and most importantly, spend some quality family time.

As far as keeping you guys posted with my training...like I said, my 20 mile run was terrible. The first 5 miles were fine, but then I had to slow down. I managed the slower pace for about 10 miles, but for the last 5 miles, I had to mix in a lot of walking. The 20 miles took me 4:26 for a 13:18 pace. Today I did an easy 45 minute run on the hotel treadmill. I covered 3.83 miles for an 11:45 pace.