Ah HA!

Hal Higdon is THE MAN! I might have a bit of an old man crush on him.
I used his training schedule for my 1/2 marathon and love it so I thought I'd stick with him for the full. I've been reading his book MARATHON: The Ultimate Training Guide in preparation for the St George Marathon in October. Until the moment I finished my first 1/2 marathon, I never thought I'd have the courage or ability to train for and complete a full marathon. My confidence still waivers so I need every bit of help I can get. This book has been a revelation! Seriously!

They say to start slow. I always figured that since I'm the world's slowest runner that running as fast as I can is still considered "slow" compared to most people. So this rule doesn't apply to me right? WRONG!

Hal Says:

" If there is one difference between fast runners and those who finish back in the pack, it's that the fast runners seem to have no qualms about running slowly. They're not embarrassed about it. One year at the Boston Marathon when I was in town appearing at the expo. not running the race, I went out the day before the race for an easy job of a few miles along the Charles River. Returning, I arrived at a pedestrian bridge across Storrow Drive at the precise moment as did two Kenyan runners. I had seen them at a press conference the day before, so I smiled and nodded, and they smiled back. After we crossed the bridge and continued to jog up a side street toward out hotels, I realized I was jogging faster than they were. In fact, I had to slow my pace to avoid embarrassing myself by passing them. The following day I say them on TV at the front of the lead pack. If runners capable of sub-2:10 marathons are not embarrassed to jog very slowly, you should not be, either.

...the goal is to perform well in important races, not in every daily workout."

Guess what. I'm not a fast runner. Guess what. That's OK! There are plenty of runners out there who aren't "fast" either. And that's OK! It's finally time to stop comparing myself to others.

So, I thought I'd give it a shot. Normally when I do a 3-miler I'll start at 9:30, get exhausted after mile 1, walk for a while, run slowly for a bit and then walk some more and end up averaging 12:00. This week I've slowed my starting pace to a comfortable 10:30 and it has been amazing how much longer I can run without getting too tired. Running comfortably at the beginning allows me to push myself towards the end of the run. My last 3 runs I've done negative splits and finish under 31:30 for the total 3 miles. Awesome! It has taken me an entire year of running to figure out that "starting slow" means staring slow FOR ME. And ya know? They are right!