Push It Real Good!

Spring has sprung, and with the sunshine (all five minutes of it) comes the desire for extra miles.  I haven't been running too far lately--three to four miles at a time during my midweek runs and six to eight miles on the Sunday long runs.  Work has been stressing me out, and I think I've developed an eye twitch that makes me look like Blofeld.

This is EXACTLY how I look after a staff meeting.

The solution?  Drink more.  No, I'm kidding.  The solution is to push myself more on my runs.  I've been trying to keep the pace under a ten minute mile, but some days are more difficult than others, especially when I can only run to a Leslie Sansone DVD (she never paces faster than a ten-minute mile, and usually it's a fifteen-minute mile).  One thing I really want to do is get back to the ten-miler-minimum on my long runs.  I also look forward to running Sand Run again, which isn't appealing at five o'clock in the morning but is super-appealing at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning.

I've got three half-marathons planned this year, and I want them all to be as fun as my first, the Akron Marathon.  In order for that to happen, I need to feel comfortable with a faster race pace.

Next Sunday is the Shamrock 15k, and I've only practiced the course once.  I'm trying to mentally prep myself for not even approaching a PR on the 15k.  My only other 15k was the Hot Chocolate in Columbus, which was  a very flat course.  I'm already beating myself up about it, which sort of defeats the purpose of entering the race in the first place.  Sunshine could make all the difference on this one.