Turkey? Before Thanskgiving

Sports always came easy for me. Always. As a child, everyone would tell me how good I was at whatever sport I chose to participate in, and it was what kept me going. It felt good. Six months ago, when I made the decision (I'm still deciding whether it was smart or very stupid!) to run a half marathon in January, I found a sport which came extremely difficult for me. It has been an uphill battle all the way.

With just about two months to go until the Miami Half Marathon, I have hit this extreme wall. I think it is a mental block. I can't get beyond 6 miles on my long runs. I can run up to 6 miles, but about the time I hit the turn around point or where I know a 6 mile run would be in the middle, I start to go downhill. The last two days, I have realized that I am running too fast. Yesterday I did a 3.5 miler in 8:44 minute miles, which is WAY faster than I should be. It didn't feel that fast; AT ALL. Then today, I did 5.8 miles, my long run, which should be close to race pace of 10:15ish at 9:49 and that was with 2 1 minute walk breaks, which means I was running much faster when I was actually running. I have no ability to pace myself.

So, this week, I am going to spend some time planning out pacing for my runs and trying to actually hit those marks. Maybe getting faster means I should lower my expectations, but until I can get beyond this 6 mile block, I think I need to slow down and actually run the mileage. Amidst my trip home to Michigan, Thanksgiving, and all the rest this week, that is going to be my goal. If I am going to do this, then I am going to do it full throttle. I don't do things half assed. Ever.

On a totally separate note, when I was coming up the street, almost home, I had to take a slight detour into my complex. Never in a million years did I expect to see what I saw; three wild turkeys, smack in the middle of the sidewalk on my way home. It was crazy. They were looking a little scary, so after stopping for about 15 seconds to see if they'd move, I decided it was safer to make a right turn and take the cut through. I guess it is almost Thanksgiving after all. They were probably safer there than elsewhere.