Well, that's all just great you may say...woot! ...well yes and no. The BAD news is that it took me a pathetic EIGHTY MINUTES to finish it! Yep, you read that right. I don't know WHAT is going on. Last weekend I did three miles outside maintaining perfect pace - finished like I could do another mile - it was a beautiful thing. Today? Well, the numbers tell the story.
First, I had to take numerous walk breaks in the first 2 miles. Couldn't get my groove, the blasted Garmin doing all the crazy pace jumping on me. By the end of 2 miles I had talked myself in to doing 3.3 miles, which would be a nice little 10% increase over last week, and just call it a day. I was SO frustrated. I kept thinking, WHY am I so slow? WHY was I able to run 12 minute miles back in October, and I have been getting progressively slower since? Then more negative self talk....at this rate it will take me all freakin DAY to run a 1/2 marathon. My Garmin is not reliable...I am not progressing, blah blah blah blah.
Then for some reason it got a little better and the pace picked up and I cranked out the 4 miles - I was DETERMINED to get 4 miles in the running log. But DAMN was it a hard one. It was not that 'slow easy enjoyable' run, THAT is for sure. But, I did it, AND, my body kept going for 80 minutes - THAT is something. But puhLEEZE, 80 minutes? Too much walking? I can WALK faster than my shuffle jog for Pete's sake ;-) It appears this way anyway. I don't know. I am hoping like anything this was just a Bad Run day. But sometimes you just know up front whether it's going to be good right? I usually do. Today was gonna be good - I felt it. And it ended up not so good. Next weekend I have 5 miles....I just don't know if it's in me yet! I'll be on the stupid treadmill all afternoon if I have another day like today! :-)
Well enough whining now...I really am happy that I stuck it out and didn't quit. I just hope I didn't make a mistake by staying on for 80 minutes. I hope that next week's long run is better. In fact I hope ALL of the runs are better this week because this week was not so great all around! I suspect my broken sleep and general sluggishness, on-the-verge-of-getting-sick-ness, emotional turmoil and too many M&M's took it's toll on me. I will keep going and power through all ups and downs, THAT is for sure!
On a better note....all of my running friends...You.Must.Get.This.Book. (Beachie, your wife will LOVE it and so will you! You will be just as excited to be a spectator as she will be running!) I am SO enjoying every moment of this book - goosebump moments in every chapter.
A Race Like No Other: 26.2 miles through the streets of New York by Liz Robbins
Get thee to Amazon and order today, trust me...you will love this book!
6 comments:
Everyone has rough days dont fear my fellow runner blogger, you are not alone!
I got out of my running groove the whole month of december (BIG MISTAKE) and now i have to get my ass back in gear. Its rough. I ran a 6miler tonight and it killed me. Now im exhausted. Why oh WHY did i take pretty much a month off? What on EARTH was i thinking? IDIOT! (not you,me) :)
If you would like some text encouragement, email me and ill send you my number! Shosh and i text all the time and sometimes her pick-me-up makes my day!
It will get better, i promise. Your still my inspiration
XO <3
**awesome** on the 4 miler.
and I dont even know nicole and Id say YES to the texts :)
it is the little things like that which keep me going for sure.
Great job getting through the 4 miles. Congrats.
Just remember as you grow as a runner to learn to listen to your body and know when to push or when to ease up. Sometimes you have to ditch the log (and the proscribed miles) and just do the distance that your body lets you, other times you push through it and perservere. Well done, homefry!!
Cyndi: You rock. Don't know what else to say. As I am *trying* to even make it through three miles, I think of you and your perseverance. I'm glad you posted this!
YOU RAN 4 MILES WOOT WOOT....don't let the time get to you as we talked about. :-) When was the last time you ran 4 miles??? Never so let's celebrate that rather than focus on the time.
We both have 5 milers coming up this week. I have to do mine on Thursday morning since I will be away but we're in this together...don't forget that.
I am so proud of you. Keep it up and just chalk that run up to a bad day.
Hugs and love from NY
XOXO
Hi Cyndi, just catching up. Wow, I can't believe you kept pushing through for 80 minutes. I think that's more of an accomplishment than getting in the 4 miles (although that is great, too).
You're right, some days are just bad run days. Don't worry too much about it. And the broken sleep and m&m's could definitely play a part in that (I can always tell when I've had too much sugar, because I run like crap- guaranteed).
On a separate note, I used Smart Coach for my half training plan, too, and my long runs were supposed to be just over 11:00 miles- which felt too slow. So most of the time I averaged around 10:00-10:30, including my warm-up and cool-down. So if it doesn't feel natural to go as slow as 14:38, I think you'll be okay to go faster, as long as it feels good for your body. The main point is not to push it too hard, so that you don't get too tired at the end of the run, and to have a slower pace than your other runs during the week. So I say, if it feels okay to go a bit faster, go for it!
I think you're doing great!!!
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