Thursday, July 21, 2011

Week 5/17 HM Training - Run #2 10K + 9 striders


10K @1:09:00
Avg. Pace 6:54/km
Treadmill

Today was not a great day, but thanks to a boring treadmill, "thrillmill," it ended on a better note ... :)

Without getting into all the non-running-related reasons, it just wasn't a great day and I was in a bit of a funky mood. It didn't help that today was the hottest day on record to date - 48 degrees C with the humidex - and as anyone under the heat 'dome' will attest to, the air was truly thick and hot. Way too gross and a health concern. And a great reason not to run today ...

Yesterday, I had a lingering migraine that just wouldn't go away. It wasn't the kind of migraine that makes someone lie down in a dark, silent room, but it was consistent enough to make me realize that I couldn't do it today. Skipping my run contributed, in part, to my funky mood today. After a few weeks of altering my training schedule to accommodate a wedding, a trip out of town, and then a 5K race, I really wanted/needed this week to follow my training plan perfectly. Instead, I only had Run #1 for the week under my belt before I was making alterations ... again. :(

So I was already on my slippery slope to funky ground today when it was compounded by every day things-that-go-wrong-as-part-of-life, but always seem to happen all at the same time. :( And because of the record-setting day of heat and humidity, it was looking like I would be skipping scheduled Run #3, too. My ego is already been feeling bruised by how much my pace appears to have decreased over the last month; the thought of heading outside and struggling to run in pea soup thick air made me feel worse. And when you're feeling funky, there's just little to no motivation. :(

So it was quite the mental game between early morning and early evening, working on motivating myself to go to the gym to use the treadmill instead. I have not been a huge fan of the treadmill in the past (very boring and the time ticks by soooo slowly) so it was hard to work up some enthusiasm for jumping on one when I was feeling so funky. :(

I'm writing about this because getting to the gym for a 10K run this evening really was a great accomplishment. It shows a subtle, but significant, change to me. It reflects how much more dedicated I am to my daily runs compared to last year. When I trained for a half marathon last summer and fall, I scheduled four runs per week with three rest days, but there were multiple weeks when I only ran three days because it was too hot, I was too tired, etc. This year, even when it is rainy or humid and hot, or when I am feeling tired, I still head out the door to run. I now become anxious (in a good way, not in an obsessed way!) if I miss a run. It's on days like this that I notice my improved commitment level.

There's further proof of this, too. When I arrived at the gym and set myself up on the only treadmill that has been altered to show pace and mileage in kilometres instead of miles, I realized that I had forgotten my headphones. A treadmill is terribly boring as it is with music or TV entertainment - I can't imagine using it without! :( But that's what I did - if I drove home, I wouldn't return. Instead, I ended up being the lone treadmill user without Apple white buds in my ears. That shows how 'hardcore' I am, right? :)

The first 15 minutes were brutal. My pace was great, actually 30 seconds/km faster than what I have been doing outside these days, but time was going by sooooooo sloooowly. I played counting games in my head, sang songs from my running workout playlist in my head, and tried to find a silent TV screen that would distract me. Ugh! I contemplated quitting at the 5K mark multiple times just to save myself from the repetitiveness and boredom. :( The action that saved me was remembering that I had 6 striders to get done. The act of concentrating on running these striders, and even adding more, is what got me through the final 5K. It also helped to speed up the TM to push my pace an additional 15 seconds faster which made me focus more on what I was doing. I also threw in some imagination and fantasized that I was running my half marathon in Niagara Falls. :)

But the best part is that my funky mood was lifted by the time my TM workout ended. :) Being able to run faster lifted my spirits and gave me an ego boost. Getting another training run done also made me feel better. My day's stresses no longer felt as overwhelming either.

Tomorrow is a rest day, but I plan to go to Kundalini yoga for the first time in two weeks. I missed last Wednesday because I was out of town, last Friday because I was in a 5K race, and then my migraine prevented me from going yet again last night. :( I have an 8K with 6 striders Saturday morning and then ..... drum roll please ..... I am scheduled to run 19.5K / 12 miles Sunday morning. Eeeeeek!

2 comments:

  1. I'm impressed! If running is 90%+ mental, this run was a huge success! You pushed through some tough mental conditions.

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  2. Thanks for support. :) It really was a sucky day - LOL!

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