Jogging

Well today was supposed to be an off day, but I decided to start training for the NJMP 10K. I mapped out my marathon training schedule and realized it won't start until the end of July. Therefore, I figured I'd train for the 10K first. I made today's route an easy 20 minute jog. I used the Schuykill Banks loop.

Everything started out perfectly. There was a guy right in front of me going at a very slow pace. I let him lead and just followed his slow pace for the first quarter of the run. It was nice and easy. Later on, the guy increased his pace and then ran up the stairs.

While I wasn't working hard at this slow pace, it was a little tough on my leg than a normal run. I'm not sure if it's the different angle of impact of my feet with the ground or more steps being taken or a combination of both. The leg was a little sore, but still wasn't too bad.

The second I continued on the slow, easy pace. I decided to at least push myself for the final two and a half minutes. I finished hard uphill by increasing my stride. That must've pissed off the guy that I had just passed.

I felt like I was running about the pace that I started out at two months ago. That just shows how much progress I made. I pass people all the time that seem physically fit, but are running a slow pace about what I ran today. I really don't know how they can run that slow. I guess I've just always been trained to run fast.

It was good to get a rough schedule for the 10K and marathon training mapped out. One thing that's really surprising is the lack of miles even in the marathon. I always assumed that to run a marathon, you'd have to do a couple 10 mile runs a week. I guess elite athletes do that and hopefully in a few marathons down the road, I'll join that club. The novice schedule has a few tough weeks, but having a lot more shorter days in between long days will be a big help.

I've been thinking lately about what I'm going to do for a career. I've been seriously considering applying for a job at a running store. I think I'm going to do that in July. I also think I'd really like to get into coaching. Obviously I still have a lot to do learn in that aspect too. I found a volunteer program that allows you to coach kids. I might sign up for that. I figure with some experience in running and some good race results, I could have a chance of landing a HS assistant position at some point.

I'm either going to run alone tomorrow morning or take on the race with Bill and Karen tomorrow. It should be another pretty easy day though. I'm so full of energy now and I just need to stay patient. I think having a set training program will be a big help. I often felt stale in the past and I assume it was mainly because I didn't really know what I was doing when it came to training. I wasn't training properly back then and still put up some good results.