Training is.........fun??

I certainly understand that if you want to get results, you have to work on it. For some people things do not come easy, that is a fact. I would not say that getting to a good point in running has been hard for me, I haven't had to train everyday to get to an 8 minute mile. I have been lucky enough to get to a good, competitive speed while only running every other day. However it is my inner drive, my self competitiveness that has put me to a point that when I do plateau it gets frustrating for me. To be honest, I will never be winning any big races. I haven't been running long enough and started way to late to be able to come in a top 5 for any of the events I run. I try to set a goal and then get to that goal. The first goal for the first Half Marathon was pretty simple, finish with out stopping. I was hoping to get under 1:45 for the race, but that wasn't really anything I cared to much about. Finishing the race in 1:38 was something of a shock for me that I didn't not expect. The problem with that is that now I want to beat it, which brings me to this point in my training. My next event is October 20th which is less than two weeks away. I have/had a plan to get to a point where I was running 13 miles with two weeks to go, and then throttle down to have my body rested and ready for the race. It is in Hanover NH and I do not know the course at all, but I know there are plenty of hills in that area. I expect this to be a tougher and more interesting course and race. I guess I will just have to hit it with my best effort and see what happens. I did get my 13 in on last Sunday, which was a good one. I tried to do it near race speed and ended up finishing in 1:39.10, which is a pace of just about 7:36/mile. I would be extremely happy if I can finish this half with a pace of 7:35 and getting just under 1:39 for the race. At this point I think I am ready, I ended up with 4 runs last week for a total of just over 36 miles. I plan on getting two 8 mile runs in this week at a slower pace. I got my first one in today (Tuesday), finishing just under an 8 minute mile. It was a very hard run, as my legs were still fairly tired after the 13 miles on Sunday. It took me nearly 5 miles to just get things loose enough to get a good stride going....which goes back to original premise of am I having fun or just working hard. I guess, at the end of the day, a little hard work helps for a fun day when the race comes!