1.10.09

So as I was saying, it rained hard this morning and I obviously couldn't run. I wouldn't have even if it wasn't though. The wedding went great. I stayed at the groom's house last night and he was pretty nervous, and rightly so. It's a huge day! We didn't stay up to late talking, but I was already dead tired from the rehearsal (April was in it, I was just there for...moral support). The rehearsal lasted an hour and half. I've never heard of such a thing, but then again I'm not catholic and they do things kind of different.

I'm not going to debate about it, but I will state my opinion that although some of the traditions are interesting, I think they can lose meaning by simply becoming traditions. Kind of like your job. When you first start you are happy and everything is new and interesting, then before you know it you are stamping out the same old thing everyday with no real zeal or enthusiasm, it becomes a chore and you are simply doing the action without meaning. NOW let me get this straight, I'm not putting down anything Catholic, I'm just saying for ME it would become boring and I wouldn't be able to apply the meaning that is implied by the action. If it works for some people then that is awesome and I am happy for them, it's simply not for me. I am an artist and I don't like repetition. I like things that are new, fresh, exciting, and different than I've seen.

Okay I kind of went of on a tangent there, but hey it's my blog so I can do what I want. Alright the wedding went great! It was awesome and Jessica and Bobby really enjoyed being in the moment. I kept telling Bobby to take it all in, and to remember as much as he could because in a year or five or twenty, it's hard to remember such a special day. They commissioned me to do a caricature for their wedding. I had no boundaries for it and was only giving the suggestion of "a fishing theme". I am going to post my artwork at my art blog after I finish this up.

We made it back home in time for me to run outside. I've been doing a good job of staying off the treadmill lately :-) I maybe went a little faster than I had planned to go, but each time I passed the house it was an even 20 minutes, pretty much dead on, so I know I was keeping a consistent pace. That is good and bad - I know have to run almost 4 loops instead of 3. Wait, is that good or bad?...

I'm actually feeling really fast now, but I would rather have more miles. I really haven't been running the medium-longer distances that I was running and so my goal for the next month is to really get those quality 13-15 milers in. That means nearly 2 hours of running, but I know it will help me tremendously for my marathon. I know I have some speed to build, but I really want to push "the wall" back as far as possible. If I can push it to 23 or 24, I know I can break through it. I'm not sure what it is about that distance, but once I'm within 2-3 miles, something just clicks and says "3 miles is so short". I don't know if I will hit my time goal. As I said before it is a gold goal, something that I believe will take a perfect day, perfect planning, perfect conditions, and a perfect race to achieve. My silver goal is 2:50. I'm 90% confident I could run that, and my bronze is below 3 hours. Yes it's my first marathon, but I truly believe I'm capable of it.

Here is some data for thought:
Basically what I did was use Mcmillan's calculator and applied it to my past results to get my % of improvement. Then I used that % to predict my future race, based on my most recent 5k. (I know it's not 100% or anything, but it gives me an idea of what is possible) Honestly I think it really under-rates my personal drive and capabilities.

(nov 2007)
20:47 predicts: 1:36:04 half, 3:22:37 marathon

(apr 2008)
1:36:04. I actually ran a 1:30:26 - 6:54 pace = 5minute 38 seconds difference
(5.8% difference due to 4 mths training)

adjust time predicts: 3:10:43 - 7:17 pace
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(nov 2008)
18:35 predicts: 1:25:54 half. 3:01:10 marathon

(apr 2009)
*1:25:54 x 5.8% = 4 min 55 sec difference = 1:21:00
(*assumed half time is accurate and % training improvement is constant)

adjusted time predicts: 2:50:50 - 6:32 pace


Now factor in 2 things ONE- I 'm training more than ever before and TWO- I'll be doing major quality speedwork this cycle. Those are the two big things I have going for me and I really believe they are going to push my times faster than I can forsee or predict. Okay enough babble for one day. I'm hungry and it's time for some eats. Later friends.

4:30pm. home. 45 degrees, wet and splashy.
1:12:07, bf 1023