Back in the Swing of Things (and getting my ass kicked)

Saturday was my first long workout since January. The two hour bike wasn't bad. The first 4 miles of the run weren't bad. I was trucking along, with various TriGirls and Maramarc folks for company at intervals along the way. Since it was supposed to be a negative split run, I tried to kick it in for the second half, and ended up totally bonking. I finished the 6 miles in 1:04, with mile 5 taking over 13 minutes. In chatting with coach Mark post run, he helped me realize that the Shamrock half marathon (in 4 weeks) will be a stretch for me, given that I've been sidelined since my surgery on January 16th. But he did help strategize how to approach the rest of my runs so I can at least show up confident that I can complete the distance. First and foremost, I need to build my next two long runs by 2 miles each time, patiently (read SLOWLY) banging out the first few miles to be able to kick it in for those last 2 and finish strong. Secondly, my midweek runs will be very important for building strength and intensity. Half-mile repeats, here I come. With hard work and perseverence, I'm hoping that this will put me in a good position to really race the Monument Ave 10k. I want to beat my 52:30 time from last year!