Feeling very different this week. Last week I had a pretty up and down week with my running. Tuesdays 50 minute run was difficult in the first 10 minutes.. and never really got easier. My gps watch that tracks my pace, mileage, time and has become my running bestie died. I forgot to charge it and it’s my fault but it made me hate the world. I felt so frustrated that I had to guess my running intervals with music and assume time- luckily I had my phone so I was sure I ran the exact 50 minutes- but I felt inconsistent and almost like a failure. as I got up a partial hill I saw an overweight mailman struggling to walk and I felt his pain.. I felt " why am I doing this when I don't feel up for it" ..He just looked like he did not want to walk and I felt like I did not want to run. It was like parking far away in a mall parking lot- just painful for no real reason... eventually I finished and I felt a little bit better. After my immediate debrief with Jeremiah he told me not every run when training is amazing and sometimes it just sucks- people who race all the time, sometimes not all races are amazing. So I dealt with acceptance and honored my body for doing what my mind was not able to do at the time.
The other difference this week was I choose to run Thursday instead of Friday because I have been running 3 days in a row and sandwiching my longest runs.. I felt I should be true to the training plan for now on and only run Thursday and not Friday- so I run Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. It made a big difference and I felt like I had a redemption run on Thursday. I ran the same route I did Tuesday but with smiles and attitude. I also worked on slowing down- they say runners have a hard time slowing down when a training day requires it and I have not been true to that either. I get so competitive with myself and sometimes just want to do above and beyond what is asked.. not thinking those experts know something I don't. Doing the run at a slightly slower pace felt amazing and humble. It also really let my body chill out for my max run of 2 hours and 25 minute run on Saturday.
And now we know almost why I feel like I already ran my Half Marathon- I ran 13.75 miles on Saturday in 2 hours and 25 minutes. I hit the half marathon at 2 hours 17 minutes. I had quite the experience. Especially after a change up in my training- this was my longest, most enduring and most accomplished run yet. But I feel strange that I ran further than I will in 2 weeks on race day. The confidence that I know I physically can run a half marathon is overwhelming. I woke up at 4:30am on Saturday because we had to fly out to Boston for my nieces birth- and I could hardly sleep as I was told my sister in law was in labor as I went to bed. I started my run when the sun came out at 7am and ran the path parallel to the Potomac on the Virginia side. Amazing scenery and felt such gratitude for life with the beauty and the excitement of meeting my niece. After 40 minutes I ran into new territory on the path. I had done part of the path before with Jeremiah, but I wanted to do my run on new territory so I could be more prepared for the race. I only had Vitamin water on me and no power carbs/sugar.. I didn't think it would be an issue since I ran 2 hours the week before without that... well it was an issue. After 2 hours I felt it- I felt it in my legs and just wanted it to be over. I felt overwhelmed about my recovery walk and wanted to just stop and lay down.. but I didn’t' I ran all the way and then did my recovery walk. The walk was the hardest part. I physically could not walk straight and I felt sick and dizzy. I got home and Jeremiah made me the most amazing protein shake of my life. I absorbed it like a cactus and rain... I felt like a new person. Jeremiah reminded me that runners need carbs WHILE they run such long distances.. they need to give it to their body for performance. I think knowing this lesson now will prepare for race day and gives me 2 weeks to play more with some refueling while performing. In the end I felt wait.. if I can run almost 14 miles.. why am I doing the race? The answer is clear- because its not about doing something once and being done with it, its following through and the journey to get to such a point of celebration. My goal is to run better – not necessarily time, but that would be nice, but to really have strong energy and such joy in my run. So maybe I ran over 13.1 miles but I am up for the challenge again and this time in an official race with thousands of others going through the same journey.
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