Saturday, September 4, 2010

Why does running make me want to swear like a sailor?

Today's run was one of the most frustrating yet! And yes, during and after I wanted to swear like a sailor! I'm following the 5k walk/run training plan from Running for Mortals and darn it all, today they changed things up! Just when I was starting to feel strong and increasing my time and mileage...I feel like a beginner again. I struggled, I huffed, I puffed, I almost swore out loud, and frankly didn't enjoy it at all. As I think back over the run, I realize I made a three significant mistakes:

FIRST MISTAKE: My daughter, Sarah, had a slumber party last night to celebrate her 10th birthday, which is Sunday. Instead of getting up and running early like I usually do, I waited until everyone left and THEN I went! BIG mistake...the temp was cool, about 75 degrees to begin with, but good grief that sun was still HOT. Lesson learned...even when I have company, I need to get my butt out of bed and do my run EARLY, in the coolness of the morning, without the blazing sun beating down on me.

SECOND MISTAKE: My darling, supportive hubby suggested that we do the neighborhood trail. Foolishly I agreed. I've been curious about running on a trail, but today was NOT the day to try it. As I said in my last post, I can twist my ankle over thin air ...and now, I'm running on a dirt and leaf covered trail, with tree roots everywhere! Can you say stupid?!? Oh, and yes, let's not forget that I'm running LONGER now! Again, can you say REALLY STUPID?!? Lesson learned...stick to the streets, ESPECIALLY when your program is changing! Duh!

THIRD MISTAKE: Thursday and Friday's are supposed to be crosstraining days. I have been going to a place called 9 Round since March and it's what I do on those days. 9 Round is a boxing/kickboxing 30 minute high-intensity workout. Thursday, I worked upper body. Friday, I worked on lower body. As a result, my quads and calfs were sore and tight, which of course, made running a little harder at the beginning. Lesson learned...Thursday is lower body, Friday is upper body and make sure I'm stretching after EVERY workout...running or crosstraining.

Needless to say, I felt awful after today's run. Scott told me he was proud of me for sticking it out and finishing. That helped, because there were MANY times I wanted to just quit and didn't. So, not only was today a physical battle, but a mental one and I WAS victorious and didn't quit. While I've been working on this post, I've been texting with Bethany. I have to tell you, that my little sister is one great encourager! Bethany, being an encourager like that is most definitely a gift from God. She told me that I did awesome today and that I gave myself some new challenges and learned some lessons along the way and especially learned how many new things I can throw in on any given run. So, I am feeling better about things thanks to Scott and Bethany. BUT, it's not a run that I want to repeat. This one will go down as a learning experience. I will enjoy my day of rest tomorrow and be back out there Monday morning. This time I will go early and stick to the streets!!!

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