just be consistent

14 miles . . .
20 minute warm up
6 X 1000m at 3:24 with 1 minute recovery

6 X strides with full recovery

3.6 mile cool down

something didn't quite work out today at all. the warm up was slow, a struggle to work up to pace. the tempo work was sporadic. i couldn't ever get into a groove. i kept wavering between two seconds faster to two seconds slower than pace every 200m. only one (i believe it was the third one?) did i really feel in the zone. it wasn't necessarily overly difficult. i ended up averaging 3:23:94 which is crazy close to my time. but there is a way to hit your pace that feels right. the strides felt sloppy and forced. the cool down, i felt dizzy and light headed at first. after that i started to notice all of my little sore places. primarily my left inner thigh and hip/hip flexor.

but i completed it. that is all i can say. i carried with me the words of someone i met on the track today. she said that she was a willamette alumni but hadn't used the track before. she usually does her speed work at south high school (that would be torture). afraid of the rain that is supposed to start this afternoon and end sometime next year, she went with the morning workout. she has done quite a few marathons and half marathons. she asked if i was a student. most people do when i run there. great thing about ethnic is that you always look young. before we parted ways she said 'just be consistent.' this is the secret to running that everyone knows but few people practice. consistency. stay on it. through the good and the bad, the easy days and the hard days, hold on for dear life, don't ever talk about your training by starting with the words 'i was going to . . . but.'

i need the long term perspective to help me through the next rough mile.