Base Building

First long run of the season yesterday - 8 miles. Planned on only 3-4, and when I arrived at the Norton training location my "coach" planned on 7. By the time it was all said and done we got roped into 8 miles total, which was fine by me. It was a crisp, sunny morning and some snow had fallen the night before. There were some icy patches along the way, but the route made up for it with mostly flat terrain and good company. I had 3 Ironman veterans running with me, who have a collective total of at least 8 IM races under their belt, so I took the opportunity to bend their ear about training and racing for the "beast." The 8 miles didn't feel like that distance since there was either talking or listening the entire route, and my running mates kept me going when I wanted to slow down. I averaged a 10:24 pace, which is great for me considering this is normally my race-pace. Jeff (aka Coach) told me later on at the Landshark Social that this just proves that my race pace is faster than I think, and I need to be running it that way. I can see I'm gonna get no slack with this guy - and that's okay. Did an easy 30 minute spin on the bike this morning, where I set up my Garmin 920xt so I know exactly how fast and how many miles I'm doing. I'm a bit of a numbers nerd so I like knowing this information. Plus, with the cadence sensor, I can see that I'm averaging 64 rpm, which is where I'm supposed to be - giving me a little bit of hope that I'm doing things right. Anyway, a little sore this morning from yesterday's run, but I guess I better get used to that. Carlos, one of my running mates yesterday, told me that during training, even if I am so tired that I can't manage the planned training day, to at least get out and do a 1-2 hour walk. I'm thinking that's a good idea. I already feel better after doing that bike ride than I would if I just meandered around the house all day with sore legs and abs from yesterday's run. Today I'll be looking into the training plan once again, and seeing where the plan falls if I just start the full IM training on time, and incorporate Muncie into that, instead of doing BOTH plans and beginning full IM training 6 weeks in. Hopefully it will be enough, coupled with my current base-building training, to get me to Muncie's finish line.