FIVE STARTING LINES

I have 5 races scheduled over the next 5 weekends. They are all VERY DIFFERENT:

-A flat 5K on the New Jersey course where I smoked a Personal Best 2 years ago.

-A cross country 5k (something I've never run) in hilly Van Courtland Park.

-A 4 miler tomorrow in Central Park. I've raced this a bunch of times so it will be great for a comparison.

-The famous Fifth Avenue Mile...a race I've run only once. I can't wait to measure my time now against the speedy time I hit years ago.

-Grete's Gallup. The perfect Central Park half marathon to assess my Marathon expectations and to compare with my good times of the last 2 years.

All this while I'm squeezing in 20 milers, other long runs and speed workouts as part of marathon training. Can I even hold up under this?

That, however, is not the question most on my mind, though, perhaps, it should be. I'm worried about my lack of consistent speed. I run a fast half, a fast mile, whatever, but the next one is slower and, by the end, my time is way up as is my heart rate. When I compare my current performances to earlier, similar workouts, my times are, generally, okay but not near my best.

Except for last week's half mile intervals which were very good.

On the other hand, the previous 3 times I've run MILE intervals I was so fatigued by the end that my last mile was over 7 minutes. That is comparitively POOR!!

So I don't know where I am. Am I held back by the uncomfortable summer weather, the training I missed while injured, aging, something else? Or am I, in fact, coming along fine to the point where I'm set to pop some good races? I don't really know.

The truth right now is that I'm hoping to run really fast but expecting not to. That's an uncomfortable position to be in. I'll certainly know more soon, but, till then, this is the uncertainty that I bring to Five Starting Lines.