We have been following the training plan and actually in the previous few weeks I think that some of the training runs were mixed up a little bit. Then just as I was feeling really good about running - BAM...I hit a streak of not so great training runs.
Which caused a lot of self-doubt on my part. Maybe I am not supposed to run...I can't hardly call myself a runner if everything feels like such an effort. The last time I felt pretty good was our last 8 mile run and it felt like everything clicked and by golly I AM a runner. In the week following that run (which was all last week) I felt cra-pee. Short runs, not so short runs...nothing was good. So all the feel-goodness from that Sunday run went right out the door! This past Monday (Labor Day) we had a piddly 2 miler and you wouldn't think that it would be so bad, but I didn't feel good at all. It was maddening to me, because with that many training runs in a row that were not that great, I really wanted to feel like I wasn't a total loser.
Yesterday morning was entirely different! I don't know what happened, but I felt good the whole way! We took walking breaks at every mile which helped to keep my legs fresh. The route is what I refer to the 139th/149th Street loop - which is basically what it is - A loop. It can be a little boring, because it is predictable, so that was good for me this morning. No surprises which is good if I need to feel good about this running habit again. So, nothing out of the ordinary all the way to 10th Avenue (YESSSS!!!) Then we zig-zag our way through a neighborhood to 149th Street. The best part was running 149th Street from East to West...which is a slight down grade pretty much all the way from 4th Avenue to 14th Avenue. I really needed this route this morning! It really is a slight downhill, but I REALLY needed to feel like something was effortless...and this was it. AND - I actually made it down the weird hill past our friend's house and up the other side of that dip.
CRAZINESS!
In the end we killed it! The finish was awesome...once my watch chimed the 5th time I knew that I had made it to 5 miles! The .10 to the house would be a piece of cake, where last week it would have been a struggle.
SUCCESS!
What did I do differently? That is hard to say. I went to bed at a reasonable time, probably got to sleep between 9:00 and 9:30 last night. Melatonin helps and the fact that watching pretty much ANY show will lull me to sleep within 10-15 minutes. I know that nutrition is not a factor, but I am trying (again) to be more mindful and make better choices.
The whole getting stronger thing isn't going anywhere. I'll do Tabata if I feel that I need to do something extra. At least it comes up now and then.
Since I felt so great I'm going to share my numbers from this run - gotta love Nike+!
Time of Day: 5:05 A.M.
Distance: 5.10
Time: 1:05:15
Avg. Pace: 12:48
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