HARDER THAN I THOUGHT (#)

Me right now.

I knew that I wouldn't pick up right where I left off, but I do have to say I'm surprised how hard it has been to get back to running. Last night at run group an 8:45 pace for a 10k on flat ground (summer route!) was very taxing. I was still a little beat from my long run the day before, but that was more muscular... my cardio still sucks and doesn't seem to have improved very much.

To be fair though, it was only my fifth run back. My first was five miles, the next two were three miles, and my fourth was ten miles. So that's only 21 miles... I can't expect to get back that quickly. Still it is a little frustrating because even my "distance" muscles have deteriorated. My ten mile run on Sunday was probably the hardest ten mile run I've ever done. Around mile 6.5 my legs started to get tired and remind me of the end of long marathon training runs. By the end of the run I felt like I do after a 16 or 18 mile run during marathon training.

Anyways, I've decided to scrap the Eugene Marathon this spring. Luckily I never signed up. I'd have only seven weekends after Shamrock and I can't even run 10 miles comfortably right now. I'm going to pay close attention to my legs and if I need to rest a little more after Shamrock I will. Everything will shift focus to staying fresh for my fall marathons now. Shamrock is this weekend and all hopes or even attempts at PRing I think are out the window. I'll be lucky and happy to beat my 2013 pace of 7:46/mile.