I wish I could say that I sprang out of bed full of excitement and raring to go, but I didn't. It took the gradual Sleep Cycle alarm and two of my own to convince myself that I did, in fact, want to run. I checked the weather (partially hoping for an excuse) and was greeted with "feels like 56" so I knew I had to go. I finally got out of bed, got ready, glanced at my training plan (which is covered in scratched out days and "HURT") and headed out the door. I decided to give myself a mile to see how things felt and if all was well I would run for my planned 50 minutes.
Now, I could lie and say it felt so awesome- that the scenery was beautiful, that conditions were great and that I was basking in the glory of finally running again but let's not sugarcoat it. It was rough, I felt SO slow. My legs were like lead thanks to a 15 mile bike ride on Sunday (oh, and those 2ish weeks of NOT running) and I was beating myself up for being out a shape and not going fast enough. The first 3 miles of my run were full of negative self talk and then I (finally) realized that I should back off. I was running. I got up, I hit the trail and I was on track to do at least 5 miles. Obviously some fitness was lost but it will come back!
Splits:
Mile 1: 9:12
Mile 2: 9:39 (ouch)
Mile 3: 9:22
Mile 4: 9:01 (as soon as the self hate stopped I sped up!)
Mile 5: 9:14
Mile 5 - 5.38: 9:17 (I was running around in a parking lot to get to 50 minutes because I did not time this well at all, haha)
Total: 5.38 in 50 minutes, avg pace 9:18
My foot is a little sore and I plan on going to the running store later to talk about my shoes because I think they are the problem, but my motivational messages were right. I did need it and I do feel better.
Breakfast:
Standard coffee + eggs
I'm feeling more like myself than I have in weeks and it is good to be back!
Sounds like a fun run! You will always feel better when it's done. and I'm longing for 56* again too.
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