Wednesday, August 31, 2011

TGTRIO

TGTRIO - Thank god that run is over. Seriously. I knew from the very beginning it was going to be a struggle. I woke up a half hour later than I usually do, and as silly as that sounds, something that minor can throw my entire day off. The plan was to do 5 miles today - 5 miles doesn't scare me anymore. It's totally doable. But after waking up late, and seeing how overcast it was outside, I started debating over whether or not I really needed to run today. When that starts to happen, I think about what my wise friend, Tara, one of the people that has inspired me to run, told me once: You will always regret not running, but NEVER regret it when you do. (I'm paraphrasing...Tara, correct me if I just slaughtered what you said...). I knew if I didn't run, I would walk around all day feeling like I had let myself down, like I didn't get anything accomplished. So, on went the running clothes, shoes and hat, and all the gear I run with.

Since it rained last night, and due to rain off and on all day, the air was cool, but heavy. That always makes me feel like I'm carrying extra weight, and I really have to pay attention to breathing right. I started out and my legs felt tired as well. Ugh. I decided to shake things up a bit and divert a little from my usual route. I love running on the Monon Trail here in Indy. It's a beautiful wide, paved, wooded trail that goes all throughout Indy and the surrounding towns. As far as I know, it's all flat, which after living in hilly TN, is a nice change. But I need some hills. Just outside my  old neighborhood in TN, we had a hill that became known as "Sam Donald Hill" (Sam Donald was the road). In my head, it was also known as "that Mother F*%#ing Hill" - it was steep and seemed to be a neverending climb. Many times, the Hill broke me, and I would end a perfectly good run by having to walk up it, and then I would be angry. As time went on though, I learned to tell myself to just put one foot in front of the other, quit looking how far is left, and I would make it up the Hill. Running. And when I would reach the top, despite panting, fighting the urge to vomit, and feeling like all the blood in my body was in my head, I would let out a weak "Woot!" So, when I diverted from my usual run on the flat Monon Trail today, I took a road that seemed to be hilly. And it was. I found my "Mother F*%#ing Hill" out here in IN.

Happy to say, I did make it up the hills (there is a small hill, and a large one - the MoFo Hill), but my legs were screaming at me. I made the turn to head back to my neighborhood when I looked down at Garmin and wanted to cry...2.7 miles. NO!! I was sure I had run 3.7 miles - only 2.7?? Crap. I told myself I had to listen to my body and just take it easy the rest of the way. There were times I felt like I was walking a fast pace or doing a super slow jog, but when I checked Garmin, it said I was running a 8:53/mile. Huh? I would tell myself to slow down again...Garmin said 9:02/mile. Folks, I'm usually at a 9:22 to 9:30/mile pace. I ended up finishing 5 miles in 45:15 - I think that's the fastest 5 miles I've ever done. But I wasn't trying - remember, this run felt like a struggle! I don't know what was going on - sure, it's cool that I went faster than usual, but I honestly worry about doing that during the half and burning out quickly. Hmmm...I don't usually even watch my pace, I've never done speed drills and don't think I ever will. I mainly enjoy seeing how far I can go, and I'll check pace at the end of the run out of curiousity. I watched it this run to make myself take it easy. I guess my legs had a different plan!

Off to shower. And by the way...as tired as my legs are, as relieved as I am that the run is over, no regrets. Now, need to focus on getting my day back on schedule!

2 comments:

  1. Ah, shucks! You called me wise.

    I like TGTRIO. I'm tired. I've been getting up at 4:30 to run for the past four weeks. I'm dying here. I have a rest day tomorrow. Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You ARE wise, Tara. And I listen to all your advice...unless you were to advise me to also wake up at 4:30 and run. No. Can. Do.

    ReplyDelete