Fast Is the New Slow

I've had that moment that comes along very rarely, but when it happens, you feel like a rock star.

/begin brag/

After the marathon, I felt like all the run had gone out of me. No big deal, until I still felt that way four months later. My pace was ridiculously slow. The idea of marathon pace for a mere 3 miles was excruciating. I felt like I'd never get speed back.

I had stopped using my Garmin after the marathon, just running by feel while I recovered. My only reference for pace was the track workout. Where I had been able to consistently run 90-second quarters less than a year ago, I was now barely able to knock out a 1:40. Four months, and never got any faster.

I figured my tempo and long run paces had to be just as bad. In my mind, tempo=probably 20 seconds slower than marathon pace, and long run=9:30, maybe 9s. Ugh.

Last week I finally strapped on the Garmin to see just how bad it really was. Long run...

8s, minimum!!!! I had a hard time keeping it slower than 8s. But they still felt like I was barely moving, going way too easy, like I was doing 9s.

My tempo pace wasn't quite where it was prior to the marathon, but I was still doing strong 7:30s. The great feeling that came with my long run pace, my new "slow", was awesome.

Yay!

/end brag/