"now that you have finished a Marathon, what's next?"
Just as the high of running a Marathon starts to wear off, you do start to ask yourself that same question. What am I going to do next; this can't be it, can it? To answer myself, yes I have been kicking around some ideas. I have thought about working on my 5K times, placing in my age group is something I really want to accomplish and I am almost there, completing an accent, trying a 14er, becoming a half fanatic. All of these would be tougher than a Marathon and I like pushing myself to do tougher things. As of today, I have committed to doing the Rock Canyon Half Marathon on December 3rd with my friend Kim.
The Rock Canyon Half Marathon will be a challenge within it's self. Pueblo is 45 miles south on Colorado Springs, even though it is at a lower altitude, Pueblo can experience cold weather. This time of year, there is little to no snow, however in December, temperature averages can range from 49°F and 18°F. The trail will be an out and back and settles in the "banana belt" this means usually when it is snowing around the area, the trail tends to stay dry.
So, that being said, it can get COLD. I don't mind running in the cold, as long as I am prepared for it. Today, makes day one of getting ready for this run, I will not have to train as hard for this run since I am all geared up from the Marathon, I will just tapper up a little and then back down, I am planning to run at least 20 miles a week and 30 being the max that I hit. Today marks day one of training, so away we go again.
Today's run felt ready even though it was cold, but guess I should start getting used to that. I also run better in the cold, since I have been training in the hot summer days. I decided that I would stick to the outlined Half Marathon training guide a little better than I did the Marathon. Today, I did an easy four miles. I ran at my goal pace for two miles then, I ran a little harder for 5 minutes, then back down to my goal pace for five and repeat for the last two miles. I was happy to see that I had negative splits at the end of my run.This is what my splits looked like:
At mile 1 I like to walk a quarter to get my legs warmed up and then I start my run, so this will typically be slower. However, for there on out, I steadily got faster. I will defiantly have to incorporate the leg work into my routine. You know something I discovered. When I was running faster, I did breath deeper, and when I slowed down, my breathing became faster? I have yet to figure this part out. If any of you know why let me know.
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