I have a slight problem.
I signed up for a half marathon in October, certain that the distance was more agreeable than training for a full marathon.
I mapped out the training plan today, and it appears that, um.... there isn't enough running.
Of course, there's enough running to prepare me to run 13.1 miles. But the miles don't seem like enough to satisfy my desire to run. Plus I have this pesky goal of achieving 2,022 miles this year, and I'm slightly behind. So, just a 9 mile long run? No mini-long run in the middle of the week? That's not even hard anymore.*
*I'm sure I will disagree with that assessment when I'm in the middle of it.
Hindsight
I should have known this was a possibility.
Every time I conquered a new distance - my first 5k, my first 10k, my first half marathon - it took all the wind out of my sails for training for the shorter distances. What's the point, when clearly I can run that far on a random Saturday?
I thought the marathon would be different because it's, well, a marathon. The half marathon is such an achievement by itself that it seemed impossible to think of it as easy.
That was before I realized I was running a half marathon every weekend for the last few months. So, I've ruined another distance for myself.
A New Plan
But, I've already signed up for this half marathon with a friend. I've paid the money. I can't back out now.
I was pondering this issue while running on the treadmill a few nights ago. I intended to run six miles at a ten minute pace. I found myself consistently bumping up the speed. Starting at 6 mph (10 minute miles), then after 20 minutes I bumped it up to 6.2, then 6.4, and finally 6.6 (8:49) for the final ten minutes.
I could run an 8-minute mile half marathon, I decided.
And with that, I found a new way to regret signing up for the half.
Speed
The received wisdom among runners is that many people can go out and run a marathon if they really want to. But it takes true training and skill to run fast. A fast 5k is harder than a "just want to finish" marathon.
Can I actually run 13 8-minute miles? In a row? My PR for the half marathon is 1:59:40, which is just north of a 9-minute mile pace (9:08 to be exact). That was five years ago. Improving my mile time by a whole minute is a lot, and would cut over ten minutes off my previous PR. To the non-runners out there, that probably sounds ridiculous, but there is a significant difference between an 8-minute and a 9-minute mile, and that's compounded the longer you run.
This might be a Bad Idea
After getting off the treadmill and the endorphines wore off, the thought crossed my mind,
Can I even run a single 8 minute mile?
I'm pretty sure I can. I might be miserable.
Before Covid, I overheard some guys at work talking about going for a run. I asked if I could join them. They agreed. They proceeded to run 8-minute miles (this was their jogging pace). I kept up for 3 miles, although towards the end I slowed down and met them back at the office.
Based on that experience, I think I could run a couple 8 minute miles today. I'm much fitter than I was when I randomly joined these guys for a run. I mean, I wasn't out of shape then, but I wasn't training for a marathon or cross training at that point either!
The Goal
However, the thought has come into existence and has been entertained long enough to stick. While training for my marathon, a coworker asked if I thought he could run a 21 minute 5k. After some back and forth to assess if that was indeed realistic, I told him to go for it. What was the worst that would happen? He'd still finish fast. He ended up running a 24 minute 5k and finishing second overall in his race.
So, I'm going to take my own advice and try. I may end up failing in the sense that I don't make the 8-minute mile time (1 hour 44 minutes 52 seconds). But I bet I PR.
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