167 days to go....

It's been a while since my last post...(I feel like all my posts start this way) 
At the end of my last post I mentioned I hired coaches.

While this is costing me a small fortune I am thrilled with this decision!  I do ZERO thinking with this training/coaching..I just listen and do...so far, so good! ha ha 
I've completed 3 weeks of my 28 week training program. 
While I don't actually see my coaches often I do communicate with them on a fairly regular basis...mostly because I email them with a million questions!  (I've met with them once and they told me I ask the most questions out of anyone ha ha)

Here's how it goes...
I filled out a LENGTHY questionnaire about me as an athlete, my running past, my goals, etc.  They develop a training program based on my needs.  My ATP (athlete training plan) each week is posted to secure website.  If I need something altered I email them and they change it and we move on.  Apparently I'm to stick to the program and not make my own decisions about when changes need to happen and what those changes should be.  My schedule is based on recovery days.  My training also includes a prescribed strength component which I do about twice a week. Another major change with this training is what I run. For my two previous marathons I ran 4 days a week based on mileage. This program has me running for amounts of time. I will never run a 20 mile training run with this program. While it's new and I'm REALLY working on trusting this plan.   I like how it's going so far.  Every so many weeks we meet and they check things, make changes to my form, test my pace, etc.  For my first meeting they watched me run and gave me form tips.  I thought I was a good runner....apparently I'm wasting a lot of energy when I run.  I have an entirely new running form from head to toe. 
 
Introducing the new Kelly....
-My foot strike is now focused on landing on the forefront of my foot.
-My body lean was off and now I lean from my ankles, not my waist. 
-My knees go forward as opposed to up and my feet stay behind me. 
-My arms are held at a 90 degree angle with my hands by my waist, AND they stay at my sides as opposed to crossing in front.  I keep my shoulder back like I'm trying to pinch them together.
-My cadence has been altered also....my target cadence is 180 (aka each foot hits the ground 90 times in a minute)  I have a much shorter stride now. 
-The biggest change is that they currently have me running MUCH slower.  Apparently I have to learn to run slow to learn to run fast....I get it but I don't get it at the same time.  I'm having a VERY hard time with this.  At this point in my training, I should be running about an 11 minute mile, but I just can't get that slow.  Combining needing to slow down and all the aforementioned changes (including each foot hitting the ground 90 times a minute) I am mentally and physically drained at the end of each run.  (I can't listen to my ipod when I run because it's too distracting when I'm trying to listen to the metronome tap out when my feet should be hitting the ground)

At my next meeting with my coaches I will be timed on runs to see a good pace to set me out with.  I'm looking forward to getting a quicker pace but I know once they have me doing speed drills I will miss these days where my biggest problem is not being about to run slow enough ha ha

"We all have dreams, in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort."
- Jesse Owens