Almost 100

If you look over to my sidebar you'll notice that I'm almost to 100 running miles for the month of March. In all my two years of running, I've never even come close to running 100 miles in one month. I think the most I've ever run in a single month is 80, or somewhere around there.

So, I've got one more day left of March. Should I run the 8.7 miles and make it to 100? Or should I stick to my training schedule and run 3? I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, reaching 100 miles will be a major milestone. On the other hand, I did just run a 7-miler today, and I don't want to push myself and be thrown off schedule. In all reality, I will probably reach 100 miles next month. And the month after that (if I stick to my schedule).

WWYD? Push it? Or hold back?

In other good news, I also ran much faster today than I've run in a long time. Let's use my 7 miler from today and last Monday for comparison.

Last Monday I ran a 7-miler in 74:46. Which basically falls into the 10:00-10:20 minute miles I've been running lately. I've been slow for a good few weeks now and I haven't really made any progress in the speedier direction. Which frustrates me. To no end. I'm capable of running 9-minute miles and have even managed a sub-9:00 on a 5K once before.

I know it's impossible (at least for me) to jump from a 10:20 to a 9:00 in one week. Especially on a 7-miler. But I know I can run faster. I know I have it in me. Damn my stupid mind because it happens to think I can't possibly go faster than a 10:00.

I had a 7-miler on my training schedule tonight. My first three miles I ran at the usual pace. And then something just happened after that third mile. I told myself, "Well, Christy, if you want to run faster you're going to have run faster, dammit. Enough with the slow, comfortable pace. Kick it up a notch. What's the worse that could happen? You could pass out, but you won't die." Or something to that effect.

And so I did. Miles 4 and 5 I ran at a 9:30-ish pace, mile 6 at 9:20-ish pace, and mile 7 at a 9:15 pace. I finished in 68:43. Which for me, is amazing. I took off a full 6 minutes from my finish time. Six minutes! Hallelujah. And the best part? I felt like I could keep going. I felt like I could've run for a mile or two more. I'm pretty sure that was just the adrenaline kicking in, but who cares?! It felt great.

Mostly it just felt great to know that I do still have sub-10s in me. That I am more than capable of running just as fast or faster than I did last year at this same time. I've been getting pretty down on myself concerning my running speeds lately and I just didn't know what to do to kick it into gear. I guess my mind just needed an ass-kicking.

My husband once told me long before I even became a runner that, "Your body is much more capable than your mind thinks it is." That struck a chord with me then, and it still does now. How true it is! It's easy to lose sight of that simple truth. I was happy to rediscover it again today.