I'm the type of person who needs to have clearly defined goals to work towards so I can have that feeling of accomplishment when I reach them. That's why marathon training was mentally relatively easy for me to get into. Physically it was really demanding, but having a set schedule helped me to stay focused.
Right after "the big run" I decided that I was going to try to start working on getting faster. I set myself up a six week schedule that would gradually increase my distances from 0 miles on marathon week back up to 30+ miles per week.
Well I decided that I was going to try run all of these as fast as I could in a bid to increase my speed. The resulting runs were indeed faster, but also started to cause me more pain. I was really starting to dread lacing up my shoes everyday and got to a point where it just wasn't fun.
This week I've tried to put the focus back on enjoying the run and not trying to out do myself everytime I step out the door. It's been far more enjoyable.
Side note: Here's a great little article with some hamstring strengthening exercises. I'm going to try to work these into my regiment and see if I can ease some of the difficulties that I have with my right hamstring. http://bit.ly/hamstrings1
