Slow and steady may not win - but it'll get me across the line.

I used to worry a lot about how fast I was running - or how slow for that matter. Always worried what other people thought about me while I was going along - "Man, that girl might as well be walking" or "She calls that running?!?" So I would continually beat myself up and shoot for better times, no matter how much it hurt or how miserable I was. And in the end, I was never happy with my results and resented the whole idea of running and training.

Recently though, I've begun reading Hal Higdon's book "Marathon" and realize now that to get thru this first marathon, I don't need to worry about speed. I just need to worry about getting the miles in during this training period, and crossing the finish line in January.

Yes, it would be a lot easier on my body to run faster & therefore be off of the course in less time. But mentally for me right now, it's hard enough to simply run and control my breathing and posture (thanks to back problems and an ankle injury) - I don't think I could manage to focus on upping the speed too - I'd drive myself crazy.

I know that with time my pace will increase as I get more miles under my feet and get my body and lungs/heart used to the long distances. But right now that's just not my focus - my focus is getting thru all of the training runs, no matter how long as it takes - as long as I get from the start to finish without injury. Now all this doesn't mean that I'm just strolling along - I'm going at a conversational pace for me, but still pushing. Granted, my pace isn't going to be comfortable for other people - Ryan probably can't stand it, but he's nice enough to stay with me! Would probably drive some runners absolutely NUTS to go as slow as I do.

However, in my "old" age, I'm figuring out - it doesn't matter what other runners or other people think. All that matters is that I am happy with my progress and happy with the end result. (Although I will probably have to remind myself of this every now and then!)