One Week Post-Marathon

Today's 4-mile run, exactly one week after the marathon, felt pretty good. I kept a fairly even 9:06/M pace, but my perceived effort was much higher. I set the 9:00/M pace early, and I was breathing harder than I usually do at that pace. I still think it's going to take a few weeks to get past the fatigue of the marathon.

The good news is that nothing hurts. I do have some "awareness" or perhaps a twinge of "discomfort" in my upper legs--deep inside them in places I've never hurt before. This feels like tendons or something. Again, they don't hurt; I don't have a sense that anything is injured. It feels like recovery from stress, which would make perfect sense.

Do Something

My motto for the rest of the calendar year is going to be "do something." There are three races I want to do before the end of 2010, and in each one I want to earn a PB. I think of this as "something," as in "I want to finish in 23-something." The races are 3 weeks apart, and the first one isn't for 4 weeks. Perfect timing. I have run all three of these races.

• Grand Blanc Road Race (5K). 2010-11-20. This race takes place in my neighborhood, in the city where I am a City Councilman. Gotta run it! My current PB in the 5K is from this race, and I think I could have done better last year. I've also run my own DIY 5K course and done better. My best 5K time in a race is 25:40 (8:17/M) and I want to beat this by a good margin. GOAL: 23-something.
  
• Run Like the Dickens (10K). 2010-12-11. I three 10K races last year, including this one, and this was my worst time (56:01). My current PB in the 10K is 52:46 (8:30/M). That PB was set on a really hilly course. The problem with this race is the cold and the snow. For some reason, I just dragged in it last year. I want to improve significantly; this might not be the best race for a personal best, but I want to do it more than the Roseville 10K. GOAL: 51-something.
  
• New Year's Resolution Run (8K). 2010-12-31. The 8K is an odd distance, but it's kind of special for me because it was my first serious race (the 2009 8K Crim). There are only a few 8K races per year. My current PB for this distance (44:11 or 8:54/M) is from this race, where I shaved a measly 11 seconds off my previous 8K finish time. This race will also have the snow/cold issues. I ran this race in "screw shoes" last year because there was quite a bit of snow on the ground. I may do that again. GOAL: 39-something.

I think I should be over the marathon fatigue by these races. They are short enough where I can really give it my all. Again, here are the new PB goals:

• 5K - 23:59 - 7:43/M
  
• 8K - 39:59 - 8:02/M
  
• 10K - 51:59 - 8:21/M

I think these are doable for me with maximal effort. There is a chance, however, that I will fall short. In that sense, these are stretch goals. Which is fine.