running is mental

running mojo

=

back!


well kind of

i made myself run last night, despite dreading it all day

i was starving when i got home

but knew if i ate dinner, running would be but a distant memory

so i laced up my shoes, grabbed a handful of candy corn/peanuts (the best running fuel EV-R)

and i was out the door

the sun was still up, but the humidity had dropped compared to the weekend

i had mapped 5 miles around the neighborhood next to my own (it's bigger) using mapmyrun (and i was super paranoid of running on the "real" roads with the evening traffic)

but had told myself "maybe just get 3 in.  or maybe 4.  you don't HAVE to do 5"

and then i got in my zone and just thought about:

fall plans

how awesome certain songs are and how the right lyrics can just inspire you to run harder

if it's too early to get mums and pumpkins

who i'm going to choose for my football survival league week 1 (!!!)

suddenly i hear "1 mile" announced over my speakers

and i thought "that wasn't so bad"

and told myself "if you make it to the clubhouse you can take a walk break" (the clubhouse was roughly another mile)

i made it to the clubhouse, but instead of a walk break i told myself to try and make it to the downhill portion of my run

and i was there in no time

i zoned out some more - watching kids ride their bikes

thinking about how nice it will be when long sleeves are necessary for runs

and before i knew it "3 miles" chimed in over my headphones

i could cut off a portion of my run and head back home and i'd be right at 4 miles

but i was feeling good

at 7 o'clock most of my run was in the shade with the sun going down

and with the humidity down i wasn't feeling miserably sweaty

and honestly, i felt really guilty for missing my 5 miler (my longer run during the week)

so i kept going

just a loop back around towards the clubhouse and up another street - i always count down the mailboxes on this street starting at 10, i count them down as i run past

i was then heading up the last major hill climb before coasting downhill

i told myself i could walk part-way up the hill

but by the time i was halfway up the hill i decided it was just as easy to run to the top than it was to stop

and then i would run a short distance past my own neighborhood, before turning around and going into my neighborhood

one last victory lap around the pool and i was done!

5 miles (technically 5.25 including my warm up) done and on the books

95% of training for longer distances is making yourself run those miles you don't feel like doing

i know from experience, yesterday's 5 miler isn't going to make that much of a difference physically when it comes to running on race day or when it comes to completing my long runs on the weekend

but it makes a world of a difference mentally

being able to zone out, come up with things to think about, bribing yourself to make it to the next "milestone/pitstop" is what training is all about

and because i was able to beat those thoughts of quitting, stopping, cutting it short, not doing it all

made me that much more proud for finishing yesterday

and so i ate 2 mini reese's cups

yay! :)