Weekly mileage and that stupid 1/10 of a mile track.

Remember how throughout the half marathon last Saturday, I repeatedly told myself to run a smart race so that I could come back the next week and run my scheduled 16 mile training run?  Yeah, that didn't happen. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still proud of how I did in the half marathon.  It was a PR and I felt like I could've gone for another 2 miles.  BUT, I was well rested for the half marathon.  I ran 6 miles 4 days before the half marathon and then didn't touch any running shoes until race day.  However, this week, I ran 8 miles on Tuesday, three days after the half marathon and then attempted the 16 miles on the 1/10 of a mile track at the SERF yesterday.

I started out the attempted 16 miler pretty well.  I was slow.  I stopped every 25 laps or where I thought a water stop might be on race day for a sip of water.  The first 5.5 miles went by easily that way.  The next 4 were harder.  At about mile 9.5, I stopped running on that damn track, and decided I'd finish on the treadmill.  But 2 miles later, I didn't think I could do another 4 miles.  I was feeling nauseous and had absolutely no motivation to keep pushing.  I was just done.

My longest long run to date is only 13 miles.  At least, my mileage for the week is 32.  I really wish I'd just kept jogging for another couple of miles after Saturday's race.  I'd feel better about how my training run went yesterday.

I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up for a spring marathon.  Why didn't I sign up for one in June, or at least late May?  Didn't I anticipate that my period every month would result in a week with low mileage?  Or that there are many spring races that I want to do?  Why does this seem so much harder?   What am I doing trying to following a training schedule?  I didn't follow one for the half marathon and that worked out quite well.  I ran when my body said it was ready.  I didn't run when it told me it needed rest.  Now, things ache.  My right hip bothers me.  My left kneecap feels all loose and unstable.  I feel on the verge of serious injury.

At the forefront of my mind is the idea that I should perhaps switch races on May 5.  Do the half marathon instead of the full marathon.  I could try for another PR.  I think that's just my disappointment in my training thus far speaking.  Though I can't manage to get past 13 miles.  I could run 13 miles in two hours, and have a little less than 5 hours to walk the remaining 13 and still make the 7 hour cutoff.  Would I rather finish a marathon where I walked half or it and finish with an abysmal time or would I rather run a half marathon really well?  Would I feel as accomplished or as proud of my performance if I walked nearly half of a marathon?