Saturday August 7, 2010

Workout: Long Run - supposed to be 9 1/2 miles
Distance: 1.5 miles outside, 9 miles on treadmill
Weight: 127.4


I have a serious mental block going right now.  A really bad one.  Probably worse than it ever has been.  This is not just about running straight and not stopping to walk, this is about running at. all.


I mapped out a good 9 1/2 mile route for this morning.  I slept until 8.  I had a little bowl of granola with milk before I went out.  I griped about going and then walked out the door with the intention of running slowly.  And immediately I was unhappy and tired and wanted to stop, but I pushed through thinking that if I could get through a mile, I would get through the whole thing.  After I hit a mile, however, I just became overwhelmed at the enormity of the run.  The distance.  The route.  The time.  The hills.  The number of long runs I had left before the race.  How tired my legs already felt (probably not a good idea to do hard intervals the day before a long run).  Had the route not passed by my street at that point, I would have finished, but unfortunately, it was simply to easy to turn home and I did.  And I'm still mad at myself.


I sat for a few minutes and debated about whether I should finish on the treadmill or skip it altogether.  I also debated about whether or not I even wanted to run in this race.  And I checked other training plans to find out what their long runs would be for today.  Our previous plan (novice) would have been 6 miles.  The intermediate plan would have been 8.  So I wasn't too far off with my 9 1/2.


I finally decided to finish on the treadmill.  But I would run at an incline to make it a better workout.


So I ran 9 miles on the treadmill.  Most of it at a 2.5% incline.  A short time at 3% and a short time at 2%.


And I am tired.  And still discouraged.  I'm going to have to beg Cornbread or Michelle to run 10 with me next week to get me through it.