Grateful for the Fear of Failure

The training gods were not with me this morning. A late wake up meant rushing to meet up for an early morning run. Thoughts of bagging the run, altogether, came on strong. But alas, that fear of failure...fear of letting someone down, fear of not giving it a "true" effort meant I couldn't give in — I had to make it happen.

What was an iron clad training schedule for the marathon has turned into more of a free-form effort of making sure I get in at least 4 strong workouts or more per week. The combination of swimming, running, lifting, spinning and riding has given me some much needed variation on the workout, but it has also left me feeling a little "too relaxed." The success of a killer crank ride with Spence a few weeks ago was enough to light a fire, a breakthrough swim workout complete with time trial stoked the engine, this morning it was the battling of adversity which I'm hoping goes even further towards righting this ship.

An unusual weekday run with Spence was just what was needed. After battling the adversity and thought of throwing in the towel this morning we met early. Headed out for what turned out to be a burner of a workout. Ever since Spence ran the half marathon he has been pushing for more speed on his runs, while I have been content to simply put in the miles. A challenging burst a few times a week has been the extent of my speed work. This morning I was met with the improvement that can be attained in a few short months — Spence's improvement. He was pushing the pace the entire time and even though I was feeling the pain, I was also feeling the sense of accomplishment (made even sweeter because I hadn't given in to the adversity of making it happen.) Three of the miles were done sub- 9 minute miles and we wrapped up with an average of right at 9:00/mile.

On another note...has it really been a full month since I've posted last? Thanks to all who have emailed wondering if I had dropped off the face of the earth. In some sense, I have. Work environment has been challenging, time-consuming and has meant an extra busy travel schedule. But I am great, family is great, more to come!

Workout stats:
4 miles
9:03/mile pace