Again with the speed issue!!!

I did my run for today, and completed 21 miles. I’m gonna give myself a break on the .2 portion because I read my training schedule wrong and thought it was only 21, not like I gave up .2 from the finish line. But anyhow, my speed was a measly 5.1 mph. That simply is not gonna cut it! A speed of 5.1 mph gives me a marathon finish time of 5 hours, 8 minutes. Aaaargh!

Okay, so it’s only 8 minutes over 5 hours, but it’s still OVER 5 hours and I wanted to be UNDER 5 hours. Aaaaargh!

And, I really don’t think I lolligagged or did a bad job today. I had a very good run and hardly stopped ever. I did stop to take off my shirt and I stopped another time to go to the bathroom and I ate a banana. I think I had like one other stop as well, maybe 2, to walk, when I was getting very fatigued

Examining the GPS data, it looks like there were alot more stops than what I remember. I do recall that I got stopped for red lights from time to time and that I just let myself take the rest, so that could catch me back up a few minutes, but I may very well be slower without having had those little rests, I don’t know. In any event, I don’t think it was 8 minutes worth of waiting for lights to turn green, though, so if I wanna hit my goal, I’m still gonna have to step it up a little. I don’t like that, but I guess it’s what is.

I was looking forward to finishing today’s run and feeling victorious. I think it’s a shame to actually run 21 miles in a day and feel like you weren’t quite successful! At least I did it, and I came close to my time goal, so that’s good, and I do have to look at the fact that I’m still on track for easily shaving AN HOUR off my only other marathon time, so that’s gotta be seen as progress, if nothing else, but then again, I know I performed badly on that marathon, and that’s probably why I even agreed to do another one, in addition to having been enticed by the prospect of being a Marathon All-Star!

I did get my All-Star packet now, which includes VIP credentials for the Start and Finish line and some good parking and good seats at the concert, so that’s cool. I also get to dine with the elite athletes on the Friday before the run, and that should really be hilarious. Me, 40 Kenyans and Olympic medalists, and 9 other yahoos who wrote good essays to win the All-Star contest! I do look forward to meeting the other yahoos, though, I’m quite sure I’ve more in common with them than the folks with 4% body fat who will be running at THREE TIMES the speed I will be!