It's All Relative

Saturday's run was just 15 miles. I realize how crazy it is that I think of it as "just 15 miles". It was over in a flash, or so it felt. It was the coolest morning for a run so far and though I was shivering at the beginning, it was perfect once the sun came out. I couldn't believe when we got to the halfway turn around. We ran at a very good pace and I had to slow down from the head of the pack towards the end. I think it took me just over 2 hours -- which is great considering my Half Marathon PR is just shy of 1:53. I definitely won't be running the full at this pace though. I can't sustain it for that long.

This brings me to the idea that 15 miles seems short. When I started training in June, I was pretty nervous. The longest I had ever run was 13.1 miles. I knew my goal was a marathon and so I'd have to get to 26.2, but the idea seemed so untangible. In my mind, anything more than about 15 miles seemd out of reach. But each week we would increase the long run by a mile or two. Before I knew it, I was facing a 17 mile run, a 19 mile run, and ultimately a 21 mile run. These seemed doable! And I did them.

This reminds me of something we talk a TON about in my education classes -- scaffolding and the zone of proximal development. The ZPD is the area between what a student can do by themselves and what they can't yet attain. Teachers should meet students in this zone and scaffold (provide incremental supports) to lead them into the area that was once unattainable. Thus this becomes their new ZPD and the process continues.

To me this is just like marathon training. You start in your "ZPD" and "scaffold" your way into longer runs that once seemed out of reach. You did 15, why not 17? It's only 2 more. All of a sudden, your running further than you ever thought you could! All of a sudden, 26.2 is so close you can almost feel it. But not quite yet, there's still lots of work to be done!

Anyways, that about sums up my thoughts in a nutshell. 15 miles is short if you think of it in relation to the fact that I did 21 miles the weekend before. It's all relative. I could elaborate but I like to be short, sweet, and to the point. 15 miles on Saturday was a great run, and to be honest it was almost over too fast. I actually forced myself to slow down a bit on the last mile and a half or so just so I could enjoy it and savor the last little bit. Crazy maybe?

Sunday was a rest day. M/T/W/Th are hour long runs. Friday rest. Saturday just 12 miles. I will be out of town this weekend, so I'm glad I'm not missing the next 20+ miler!

33 days till the Rock!