Bullseye

  Sometimes the little victories mean the most.

I’ve struggled with my speed work and marathon pace workouts but this morning I hit my mark.  And I could not be happier.  This small triumph has motivated me, encouraged me and simply has made me happy.

This morning the alarm went off at 4:15 am for my training run of 6 miles at marathon pace.  It can be difficult to get this old body up and moving faster this early so when I failed last week to hit the desired pace I was left feeling defeated.  But today was going to be different.  I felt it.

I made sure that I ate right all day yesterday.  Everything that went into my mouth had purpose, it was a clean healthy calorie.  Just as importantly as the food was hydration.  I drank plenty of water and had two cups of tea.  Before I went to bed last night I watched The Biggest Loser On Demand  and seeing Bob and Dolvett put the contestants through their first workouts was inspiring and of course just the kick in the pants that I needed.

So when I woke up this morning I was prepared physically, but more importantly I was mentally in the game.  I had a relaxed and positive mental attitude.  When I stepped outside I noticed it was snowing and I smiled.  It was perfect.  Off I went feeling strong, confident and comfortable.

I tried not to look at the Garmin too much, just a few checks to make sure I was at least some where near the goal pace.  Realistically, I am looking at a 4 hour marathon finish time so that puts my pace just around 9/min per mile.  To run today at an 8:50 pace was perfect.  All the pieces of the puzzle were joined and the result was a beautiful snapshot of a happy runner.

Proverbs 18:10 ~ The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.