Melissa - Vain Triathlete

The localness of this race is purely the hight light. The race takes place at a bar that's been in existence since the 1970's. It's dark, big, has a bowling alley attached, and the bathrooms have not been updated. I was loving the full length mirrors surrounding the sinks and the 8 stalls which alleviated any possible line for the W Room. Today, I went for the kill. I wanted to win 1st Women OA. I knew I had a chance based on prior results. I also decided that I would suffer as much as possible to keep in line with the going belief that the more you suffer the faster you will go. I was not trying to vomit mind you. I just wanted to keep a fast pace and end strong. This technique has worked for me in the past and I like it.  The course was, well, flat BUT with long inclines.  People tend to leave out the word incline when trying to describe a course. When you running as fast as you can possibly run an incline feels like an effing mountain. Let's not forget that! ...

Not all runs go well. Instead of trying to forget about this critical run gone bad I rehashed it right here so that I can look back after this marathon to recount how my training went. Let me start off by saying that training had been going superbly until this past Saturday. I had an aggressive run planned thanks to coach. I was really looking forward to this run because I felt ready for it. I love to run long and I love to push myself. When I was "just a marathoner" I would always put in three 20 - 22 mile runs per marathon. This was standard. This time around is differnt. Up until this Saturday I had put in one 18 miler and one 20 miler making this 20 miler on Saturday rather important. The plan was to start out easy for 3 miles. Then pick up the pace to 8 mpm for 5 miles, then pick it up to 7:40s for 4 miles, then 7:30s for 4 more miles, then 7:15s for the remaining 4 miles. I did everything to make the run go as smoothly as possible. Off to bed early, healthy eating t...