Inner struggle

10 miles - (10:40 pace)

Total mileage this week = 21 miles

I woke up yesterday morning desperately trying to talk myself out of going for my run. My knee's hurting a bit, you'd better lay off. It was raining last night, it might rain on you when you're running. You've waited too long, it's going to be too hot. etc., etc., etc.

But, I'm to the point in my runs and training that if I miss a run, I beat myself up and feel like such a failure. So, again, I overcame the nagging laziness inside my head, put my running gear on and headed out to the trailhead.

Whew, it was a humid day. I usually carry two bottles of water on my belt and keep an extra big bottle of water in the car for when I get back. I burned through my two belt bottles by mile 8 and then downed the bottle in my car when I got back. My shorts, shirt and headband were so drenched with sweat (gross...I know) that I literally had to wring them out a bit before getting into the car. The rest of the day I was playing catch-up with my hydration.

I was struggling with my pace all week this week. For some reason my legs felt really tight for my runs and they just weren't loosening up for me. Plus we've had some ungodly humidity this week that the hurricane pushed up. It's like running through pea soup. So, I started out my run nice and slow, listening to the inner struggle between my brain and my legs. But my heart won out...it wanted to go on.

The first couple of miles were pretty slow. I had the attitude to just take it slow and easy today. I hit mile 2 and something just clicked. Everything aligned and it felt GREAT! I was cruising along at 9:30 to 10:00 pace for the next three miles and it wasn't a struggle. I felt like I was gliding over glass. My gate was smooth, my breathing was controlled, my shoulders were relaxed. I stopped at mile 5 to turn back, re-fuel and goo up. I think I'm stopping too long on my half-way points. It really messes up my rhythm for the journey back.

I managed to keep a really good pace until about mile 8. I ran out of water and my body just said, "OK - we can't keep this up. You need to slow down." I finished out mile 9 slowly and then had to run/walk the last mile. I was a little disappointed that I had to run/walk that last mile, but it got me thinking.... Two to three weeks ago I couldn't finish 8 miles without walking. Several weeks ago four miles felt like murder. Several weeks ago my average pace was 11:00. This week my overall average pace was 10:11. I'm sticking with it, completing my runs and making progress. That's an accomplishment to be proud of.

Today I Love: Looking at all the mileage I'm racking up on my weekly runs!