17 miles and a little perspective

Today's 17 miler was not my best run. It is unfortunate too, as it was great running weather and one of my favorite training routes; we drove out to Hopkinton and ran in to Mile 17 in Newton. It's so nice to run a point-to-point route. I wish my legs had agreed with me. I swear I was carrying an elephant on my back. Or at least a small child.

Every mile was work. The first 12 miles were supposed to be run at a "comfortable" pace. That definition was totally subjective, and reflected in my actual pace. But surprisingly the last 5 were supposed to be run at 8:00-8:10 pace and I hit it! Or my Garmin was just being nice to me.

Actually, this was not my best week. That's an exaggeration. It was my worst week training for this marathon so far. I think I'm still feeling the effects of essentially racing 16.6 miles last weekend. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

The amazing thing is, even thought my runs this week have not been as enjoyable as I would like, they are still faster than those runs 2 and 3 years ago. Not to pat myself on the back, but that's pretty amazing. At least I'm amazed.

And not that I'd like to repeat this week again, but if I had to, at least I know what I'm now able to do is still way beyond what I honestly thought I was capable of a few years ago.

Running in Wellesley with Brenna