Close Enough

After yesterday's pity party of a post I decided that I was putting too much pressure on myself in terms of time. It's summer. It's hot. The important part about marathon training is putting in the time on your feet. So, even though my training plan called for an 8 mile run with 3 miles at 9:05 for last night I decided I would just run 8 miles pace be damned.

I hooked up with two guys in my running group who were also planning to run at a nice, easy pace and we headed out. I'd never done the 8 miles with the running group before but thankfully the guys knew the route. And even though we were aiming for 10:20 miles, we ended up running just over 10 minute miles. Sure it wasn't what my plan originally called for, but I didn't care. It actually felt good and towards the end I even got a second wind. Much redemption for my horrible, evil, no good, very bad 12 miler! We'll just ignore the fact that we took a short cut and didn't quite go the full 8 miles. It was close enough.

And close enough is going to be my new motto for the rest of this training. Didn't quite hit my paces but got in the mileage? Close enough. Had to run slower than usual because of the heat? Close enough. You'll just have to remind me of that next time I have a bad run, okay? Sometimes I need a little smack upside the head to get me back on track.

Last night's company certainly helped things, too. During the run we talked about all kinds of things you only talk about on runs and that probably shouldn't be shared. Plus, after the run the group went out to dinner at a local Greek restaurant where we continued to have conversations only other runners have with one another. Nipple taping and chest shaving, anyone?

So, yeah, a newly redefined good run followed by a good meal and good company. Perfect? Close enough :-)

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Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 628 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 07/12/10 Up/Downhill: [+72/-72] Time: 06:36 PM Difficulty: 2.2 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 7.79 miles Time: 1:18:07 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 10' 02 /mi Calories: 921 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 43 -0' 19 6.2 +0.2 0 ft 2 10' 03 +0' 01 6.0 -0.0 -9 ft 3 9' 51 -0' 11 6.1 +0.1 +3 ft 4 9' 50 -0' 12 6.1 +0.1 +7 ft 5 9' 54 -0' 08 6.1 +0.1 -13 ft 6 10' 46 +0' 44 5.6 -0.4 +10 ft 7 9' 57 -0' 05 6.0 +0.0 +9 ft end 10' 04 +0' 02 6.0 -0.0 -6 ft Versus average of 10' 02 min/mile

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