Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Mashed Potatoes Gave Me False Hope

So after my successful treadmill experience on Wednesday night I figured maybe I could hit the great outdoors of the Cleveland suburbs for a quick 4 mile run after work the following night.

It started off with my Foreman not working until about .4 miles into the run and my face a little chilled from the windy and cold temperatures (man, I hate winter). I turned right to go up Mayfield and the wind was a little bit stronger until I turned right again on to S. Green and then it was outta control. It was blowing the snow up off the ground that had fallen earlier in the day. The roads were a little bit icy too, but thankfully I had donned my new sweet Inov-8 312 GTX shoes and was coasting along until about 2.5 miles when I started to peter out. Damn, I always get tired somewhere no matter what I do it seems. I usually blame it on my IDA now, but it just could be that I suck at coaching myself....... nah :) I knew 2 nights of hard running would be a leap. I started out good thinking the mashed pototatoes and liver I had eaten had fueled me for another great run, but I was tricked! So, I slowed my pace to keep it comfortable and tried to focus on the quiet night.

I have always been more of a night owl. I even did my long runs for my marathon training at night, and when I say at night I mean 20 mile run starts at 11:00 pm and ends around 3:00am. This night it was about 11:30, but a helluva lot colder. Brrrrr!!!

I have only found 2 positives for winter running.
1 - Winter running builds mental toughness
2 - Summer running is appreciated so much more

Anyway, I am rambling. I turned down my street and puttered in feeling refreshed and glad I had dragged my butt outside to run.

The walrus keeps telling me my training is going well and I am going to have a great season now that I am healthy and controlling my IDA and managing my weight, but I sometimes wonder if he is just giving me more false hope. What if I don't break that 8 min/mile barrier? I watch my friends break their knee caps, give birth and fight there way back to PR's. I don't even know what I am fighting sometimes. Is there just a slow virus/bacteria out there infecting my cells?

No comments: