Training and 10 Miler Prerace Thoughts

So, it has been almost three months since my appendectomy and about two months since I started running again. I have pretty much stuck to my initial plan for getting from the couch to the 10 Miler. Each week I have been stepping up my weekly mileage, as well as increasing the length of my weekly long run. The only planned run I missed was when we had a surprise trip to Blacksburg to watch a Tech game. I didn’t get my long run in that week and it caused my weekly total to dip for that week (week 36 in the graph below).

Weekly Running Totals (weeks 26-38 of 2013)

Overall, I am very pleased with my progress. I have not tried to push my pace too much during these runs though. I was more concerned with getting miles in and now on my tempo. So going into the Virginia 10 Miler this weekend, I am going to run comfortably. I am not going to try and beat my last years’ time of 1:26:05. I would like to finish in less than 2 hours. But other than that, my main goal is to finish!

If you are not familiar with the route of the 10 Miler, the first 1 ½ miles is downhill. It is very easy to overdo it early. Since last year was my first time running this race, I made this mistake of starting to fast. I am going to try very hard to start slowly. I am going to use my watch to make myself slow down for the first few miles, when my adrenaline is making me run faster than I know I should. Hopefully, by setting a slow pace early, I will have much more fuel in the tank at the end. I really would like to attack the last 1 ½ mile hill to the finish.

No matter my finishing time on Saturday, I am very happy with my current running ability. It is hard to believe that just a few months ago; Anna had to help me out of bed in order for me to go to the bathroom. I remember taking those short walks down the hospital hallway, pulling my I.V. cart along beside me. These walks, just days after my surgery, would leave me lightheaded and completely drained. So when I cross that finish line on Saturday, I am not going to be concerned about my time. I am going to smile and thank God that he has blessed me with a healthy body again.