Day 58 and trying easier.

It's a little eerie when I blog out all my feelings about how hard marathon training is and that I am vowing to try harder, to do this OR ELSE -- and then that evening I pick up the Whitsett book only to find the entire chapter for that week addresses EXACTLY what I'm going through, and introduces the concept of trying easier. 

Trying easier is basically to let up on yourself, to find the fun in training again and if it's not there, if maybe this marathon isn't the one you are meant to do, that's okay.  You need to not be so rigid that you break before you can bend.

All of which is difficult to remember at o'dark thirty, particularly when you're fairly certain your femur is a tad out of its socket.  I didn't run this morning, but I will after work, and I'm going to the chiropractor tomorrow afternoon to see about this hip problem.  And then I'm just going to take each day as it comes.  Can I do this marathon even if I don't follow the training program to the letter?  I think so, physically.  It's mentally that I am having problems -- where everyone has problems, really.  I think I will go back through the Whitsett book and refresh myself on the mental teachings it has to offer. 

I got my official five miler results this morning:  1:10:41.  I noticed as I was updating the sidebar that that is just about a minute slower than the Fanconi Anemia 8K, so considering the 8K is just a smidge less distance I give myself a "good job!" overall.  Especially remembering the hill of despair.  Oh, and I pulled a photo from the race:

Clearly, I had an itch.  Actually, I spotted the photog a fraction of a second later (she was up in a tree -- sneaky!), and realized there'd be a goofy pic of me scratching my head.  Oh well.  You can just barely see the neon pink in my shoes -- there were some other photos of me where it's sunnier and they are just glowing.  I absolutely love that Pearl Izumi jacket; the sleeves zip off, which I did about three minutes after this photo was taken when we got out of the woods and into the sun. 

Oh, and behind me in the white t-shirt, in the distance -- lady with a cane!  Who I found out this morning is 69.  69!  69 and she finished ten seconds behind me.  I really need to work on my mental training. 

I also snagged this photo for my mom:

I don't know him, but he looks A LOT like my stepdad.  Who needs to start exercising, particularly since he shattered his ankle a couple of years ago and he needs to rehab it.  I told her to pass it along to my stepdad, give him something to aim for.  I looked up this guy's age today, he's about 12 years younger than my stepdad but still.  He could do it. 

That's all I've got for now.  Have a great Tuesday!

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl