It's a Mental Thing

First of all, I am amazed at how quickly my body has recovered. I no sooner had written my entry "Ow Ow Ow" when my legs really did feel better. I was able to walk all over the city of New York on Wednesday, tackling steps and everything! :)

So yesterday I went to Waterstones, which is basically the British version of Borders and I couldn't resist getting a book (on sale!) that was part of a series called "Teach Yourself To"...I picked up "Teach Yourself to Run a Marathon". I know, I know, I just ran a marathon, but that doesn't mean that I can't learn anything new. Besides, I am obsessed.

Already I am scoping out hills to practice repeats on in my neighborhood. Which brings me to today's title.
I started to feel a little anxious about the Hyde Park Blast. I mean, there are a TON of hills and it is usually sweltering that time of the year. I am just not used to running like that. But then I thought, 'you know, when I started marathon training, it was painful to run even 3 miles'. Also I remember amazing myself by saying that I was training mostly in the Hyde Park area. I mean my FAVORITE place to run is in Eden Park, which has no lack of hills. I decided that it is all a mental thing. (Well, not ALL). Because when you train properly, it is all up to you in your head, to get past whatever it is you are trying to get past.

On the day of the marathon, I was not asking myself if I could do 26 miles. I knew I could do it. The difficult part will be coming up with my own training program.

It starts tomorrow! 3.5 easy miles as part of my recovery (no sprints or repeats yet!)