Pros and Cons

This morning the Team ran 75 minutes starting from La Mesa Park, looping the gorgeous Douglas Preserve trail, then heading to grassy Shoreline Park and finally turning around at Leadbetter Beach. It was an absolutely gorgeous day...I could literally feel spring in the air : ) It's funny to see how all my girls are pairing off. Now that the runs are getting longer, they're starting to figure out their pace and seek out others that are similar. That meant I ran with my roommate Jordan today : ) Heading back to La Mesa was a good mile and a half of a steady incline and we totally killed it!























We ran a total of 7 miles at an average pace of 10:40, with 5 strides thrown in toward the end. Even though the idea of kicking up the pace in the middle of a long run seems a little unappealing, it's actually kind of nice - it reminds my legs that they still have some energy and what it feels like to move fast. I wasn't completely pain free today, but it was manageable. Mainly some pain with my shins and a little soreness behind my right knee, nothing too bad though. After training I had to hurry home and get ready for work. Maybe it was being on my feet for so long, but my legs were not happy at work! And for some reason, my lower back was really sore, too. But this is probably just me being slightly neurotic.

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing my last long run of taper before LA. I don't want to overdo anything a week before the marathon, so I'm just going to do an easy 10 miler. Since I didn't run last Sunday, I'm looking forward to finally getting to test out my new iFitness fuel belt! Also, I finished Born to Run (ah-mazing!) so I'll be doing my reviews tomorrow. Keep an eye out!

Finally, I've been debating something for a while and although I think I've made my decision, I'd love to hear any other opinions/advice. Basically, I'm trying to decide whether or not, as a mentor I should run the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon that my TNT girls are training for in June (not officially with the Team).

Pros:
- I'm going to be training with them anyway, and it would be a shame to waste all those long runs, especially the 20 miler...
- I think the experience of running a race as a "pacer" for someone else, motivating them and using your experience to help them get to the finish line would be incredibly rewarding (and helpful to them)...
- I  could still see most of the girls finish (as long as they're not running ahead of me!)

Cons:
- I told myself I was taking a marathon break after LA!
- Although I could run with a few of my girls, I wouldn't be able to run with all 9 of them...
- It's expensive ($115)! 

I think you can probably tell which way I'm leaning. The girls will still have a lot of support along the course via our coaches, other mentors, their parents, friends, etc. I wouldn't be "racing" it, and I know a couple girls I've asked would like the support throughout the race. I'm not going to register just yet, but I'm thinking marathon no. 4 may be in the works... : ) Let me know what you think!