Discipline Strikes Again - Napa Valley Marathon

Discipline pays off. I ran the Napa Valley Marathon on March 6th at a clip of 3:15:06, beating my previous PR time of 3:32:16 by 17 minutes and 8 seconds set in October of last year at Niagara falls. That was only 6 months ago, and this is definitely a dramatic improvement. Typically a 10 second per mile improvement is pretty solid. I improved my average time by 43 seconds per mile! I again attribute this to a combination of my change in running program as well as my highly improved diet.

The race was tough at stretches --- it did rain the first 8 or so miles, and there was a substantial headwind the entire way. I was very demoralized after 7 or so miles - my shoes were drenched, my face hurt, and I felt like I was fading. However, a lesson that I've learned throughout this discipline off is that the initial 'crappy feeling' of doing something tough often goes away and you would be surprised how far you can keep going once you get over the first major hump. That's what happened here --- I actually recovered, picked up the pace midway, and was passing people over the last (and toughest) miles.

Post marathon, I took my second break day since the discipline off started (a reminder of the rules --- we get 1 break day per month as a reward). My first break day was poorly planned and I totally wasted it, eating 6 cookies...and that was it. This time I made a point to have some of my favorite foods:

- 1.5 sonic hot dogs (they had one of these in napa!!!)

- tater tots

- a york peppermint patty

- sesame chicken + white rice

- an entire whole foods carrot cake (yes, the whole thing, by myself. I think I became mildly aroused while eating it...uh...)

- 5 slices of a small pizza

- popcorn

- a bowl of soup + bread (immediately after the marathon --- the napa race was really awesome and gave out food + massages + offered hot shower facilities post race)

It was an epic break day to say the least. Not having these foods everyday certainly makes me appreciate them that much more.

Now I'm back on the horse following the plan and hope to qualify for the Boston Marathon in my next race (San Diego Marathon in June).