WOW what a run! The first half was like my best run ever. My breathing was absolute tops and my legs weren't sluggish AT ALL! I was super excited!!! ...sooooo I overdid it. BOO!!! I just felt like going fast because I was just gliding along! But I ALSO mixed in a TON of hills and I think that THIS isn't the point where I can mix fast AND hills. So then the second half of my run was completely brutal. My breathing has never been so labored!! I felt like I was either going to trip from exhaustion, pass out, or throw up!! GUH!!! But I just slowed it waaaaay down and kept pushing on. I couldn't help but smile to myself every so often because the pain was so bad...like "jeez this is a nightmare!"...funny huh? ;) But then the FUNNIER part is that ever since the run ended, I've felt like a half million dollars! My recovery time is seriously like 30 seconds for legs and maybe a minute and a half or so for lungs...then I'm golden. I feel totally great right now like that was the best run of my life! WEIRD!!! I don't know what's up, but I'll take it!
What is kinda bumming me out is my mile time. It's pretty much right under 12 minute miles and I feel like I'm never going to knock that down. I know I probably will though...it'll just take time. I can't let it psyche me into running too fast though. I know I keep saying that ;) I just have to keep it slow at the beginning, even if I feel like going faster. If I keep it slow, it'll give me more juice for the end of the run...rather than huffing and puffing and dragging my ass that whole last mile! I just need to SEE it to believe it, that's all. So I promise, my next run I will seriously slow it way down at the beginning and see where that gets me. Maybe it'll help to take a break from the hills too.
PS Run is star'd twice due to the drastic difference between first and second half!
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1 month ago
Hey, Katesi, this might not be what you want to hear, OR it might be encouraging...but 12 min. miles were pretty standard with me throughout most of my running career. I was never thrilled about that, but what matters more than speed is consistency. Just keep it up at any speed and you will benefit in many ways!
ReplyDeleteNo you're right...Mandsi also said last night that I just need to focus on the distance part, rather than speed, as that is the most important part of the goal. I don't really need to be fast. I'm not in this to win races. So I just gotta calm down ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else that the distance and time spent running is more important than the speed. The next time you get the feeling while running that everything is effortless try and sustain it for as long as possible rather than speeding up.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to experience what has kept me running all these years (the first half). The second half is the price you pay to experience the first half.