It takes time. And patience. SO MUCH PATIENCE.

It's going to be somewhat of a downer post so bear with me:

If there's something I learned training for this marathon, it's that my aerobic endurance is quite low and I am not a "fast" runner by my definition. Of course, "fast" will always be a relative term to me: for some reason, I've always felt like the difference between a "fast," "average," and "just jogging" runner was sub-8 minutes per mile, 8-9:30/mi, and 9:30+/mi respectively. I have no idea where this notion came from... but according to my crazy mind, I've always just been... borderline.

During this training cycle, I've learned to accept, and even enjoy, "slowness"... for now. After adding intensity, though, I've come across a harsh reality. And look, I know that a lot of this is coming from the fact that I've never finished an actual marathon so I don't know exactly how hard it is and how it's going to feel at goal pace. Maybe the Berkeley Half knocked down my confidence a little and I need to actually race a half to get a better idea of where I'm at... but I know one certainty:

It takes time to become a fast runner. And a lot of effing consistency.

So, despite my sprinter mentality saying otherwise, I must remind myself that being "fast" is not what this marathon training cycle is about. It's been about building up my endurance and consistency. I may not be pulling out 8:00 paces on the regular but I am at least getting a feel for what it's going to take to get there.

In lieu of that, I am writing this because I have to be real with myself: adding in intensity (tempos and hill training) has been - well - it's hard for me to admit it but my joints don't seem to be taking it well. Man, I loved the feeling of a good hard hill workout. And I loooved tempo workouts. They felt good! But I could very well be on the way to injury if I keep trying to maintain the volume I built to during base building.

There is risk and reward with intensity... sigh, sigh, sigh...

I'll nix the hard workouts for a week and see how I feel next Saturday - maybe do a MAF test before then. Thank goodness I'll be traveling and enjoying life as it should be enjoyed in the meantime! Boston/New York, here we come!