Data Driven

The old saying is that couples begin to resemble one another once they have been married a long time. I'm not sure Joe and I are starting to resemble each other in looks. But I can say for certain, he is making a spreadsheet queen out of me. I keep spreadsheets on lots of stuff. One of the things I like to look at is my race performance. Today I took a few minutes to "drill down" as Joe would say into yesterday's run. And yes, my assessment of my performance is validated in the split times for every mile. Mile 12 was indeed horrendous! And mile 13 wasn't much better.

But here is the encouraging news. Last year, I did better than 25% of the participants overall (men and women, all ages). This year, I did better than 35%. That's a nice jump. Out of the women in the race, last year I did better than 43% and this year 45%. Not as big a jump, but still a move in the right direction. The biggest jump was in my age group. I had hoped to finish in the top half of women ages 45-49. Last year I was better than 33% of them. This year I reached 48%. That is the biggest jump and I am happy with that.

Overall pace was 33 seconds faster than last year. Even though I was 3-4 pounds heavier than last year. Imagine if we wired my mouth shut for a while, I'd be in the top half for sure!!!

Feeling pretty good today, considering how lousy I felt in mile 12. Just a little sore, and the feet got beat up more than usual. Those purple sneakers are awesome to look at, but I will be happy to be rid of them. Hopefully later this week. In my experience, Mizunos feel great at first but break down way too fast. I think I may go back to the Sauconys. Dr. Steve and Dr. Holly have recommended a particular pair, I hope I like the way they feel. At this point, I'd do whatever they tell me...if they told me to put stones in my shoes and run, I probably would!

Recovery swim this morning was delightful. I truly love, love, love it. I think I figured something out this morning during a 3x300 set that I'll need to run by my beloved coaches. I sure would like to be taking time off of my swims like I am taking time off of my runs! If I didn't hate being under the water so much, I'd consider synchronized swimming as a new hobby...for everyone telling me how great I look...looking good is lovely, but I'd rather be fast darn it!

Alas, my (small) lunch is finished, back to work I go. For those of you keeping count, I'm down to one spring book left. I had hoped to access the photos from yesterday as well during lunch, but haven't managed that yet. As usual, I always think I can get more done that what is realistic. I need an assistant!!!!