Week Nine - Mindset

Mileage (miles per workout): 4 - 7 - 4 - 14

I thought I had evolved into a morning runner.  I was feeling good about getting up and getting out the door.  That changed quickly.  As soon as the weather cooled off a bit so did my enthusiasm for waking up in the morning.  I became spoiled with all the great weather this last week.  Now the perfect day would have a high of 60 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and a slight breeze.  Now it wasn’t my idea of the perfect day but I’ll take what I can get.

It was almost worse running the shorter days than the longer one.  It took between two and three miles to warm up and by the time I was warm the run was almost over.  I couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm until the weekend run.  I hardly remembered some of the run because I was concentrating on running, putting one foot in front of the other, when I realized I was almost halfway done.  The same thing happened in mile 13.  I looked up and saw the intersection a half mile from the end of my run and could hardly believe my eyes.  Only then did I have time to think about my knees feeling sore and my legs protesting to the exercise.

I looked at 14 miles from a different perspective this week.  Instead of thoughts of it being a single 14 mile run, I approached it as two seven mile runs.  Seven miles was the length of my medium runs.  I could do seven miles.  As the end of the first run I stopped momentarily to stretch my arms, neck and legs and to rehydrate then started running again.  The momentary pause gave me time to rededicate myself and become reinspired to run.  When I headed back out again it felt as if I had just started with the added benefit of not having to warm-up.  I got into the groove quickly.

Did you realize, as I just had, that I ran 14 miles?  One more mile than a half marathon.  So now I know I can run a half marathon, the next big distance would be the actual marathon.  I’m starting to become anxious about it.  I really wish I could just run the thing and get it over with.  All this waiting and training just makes the pressure build.  Let the countdown begin.

Things I learned this week:

First: Training routes don’t always go downhill.  But I can use this to my advantage.  Hills don’t allow you to see what is coming until you are at the top.  When I see the next stretch as being downhill, I gain a mental edge because it’s all downhill from there.

Next: Moisture wicking fabrics not only keep your cooler but help you from resembling a waterlogged cat.

Last:  Water is the elixir of life.  Running when you are well-hydrated makes a big difference.  My apartment is beginning to look like a water bottle graveyard that is slowly spreading to my car.

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