Training Week 2 completed yesterday with 13.5 miles underfoot! Wow, I’m so happy with that. My run last Monday taught me so much about the importance of the short run that follows the long run. I was soooo stiff when I woke up last Monday. I was a little worried about running when I was feeling so stiff. It’s crazy how much damage 5 miles did to me! But once I got outside and did my 1.5 miles, I felt just like normal again. The short run really works. I’m not 100% sure what was happening in my muscles, but they stretched and relaxed, and….I think they grew. Yea, grew. It was awesome.
Tuesday was my running day off, and well……that was the best !……Er, sorry…but running is hard and sometimes I have to make myself do it. Maybe that doesn’t go away, and that’s the bad news. But it’s work with a payday, for sure! Wednesday came along and it was only 2 miles. The surprise of the week was …… I couldn’t do it! WHAT? It’s just 2 miles for goodness sakes. Yeah well, it didn’t seem to matter. My breathing was labored and I couldn’t get it to settle down. I was suffering as I ran the neighborhood streets. I wasn’t pushing myself in any abnormal way. I just….couldn’t run. Humph! So, I decided to walk it. I kept trying to run, by doing intervals, but it was mostly a walk. Here is where my perfectionism started the drum beating in my mind and in my heart, and my fractured inner voice started whispering…….”pssst, Diane….you can’t do this Half Marathon thing……psst…. ” I had to shut that down but QUICK! I checked my pace on my gps app on my iPhone and it turns out my walk is more of a power walk anyway, and it was a respectable speed. So I shot back at my inner voice — “We did good! And besides, we’ll do better tomorrow.” Huh. Weird. Where’d that come from? I stood up for myself. Defended myself. Shut that inner voice down!! And set a goal to do better tomorrow. Then, there I was out there again on Thursday morning, doing my next 2 mile run. Guess what happened.?? Well, I just ran. Just did IT. Just like normal. As if Wednesday never happened. And there IT was. The lesson of Week 2. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. I think I learned that in elementary school, but it’s a life lesson worth relearning.
I ran on Thursday and Friday like Wednesday never happened. But the best part is….that Wednesday did happen. And rather than being an Epic Fail, Wednesday was a really powerful Power Walk and earned me street-cred toward my training miles AND some awesome Activity Points for Weight Watchers.
Saturday is another running day off. This week, I had to conduct an experiment. The question to be answered was this: If I follow my same route that I did last Sunday, which took me to ShopRite at the corner of Summerhill and Old Stage Rd in EB — how much further do I have to go to reach 6 .5 miles? 6.5 miles. God that sounds sooo far away. but really all I need is 3.25 miles, cuz it’s a round trip. So Peter and I piled into the truck and hit the odometer button, and off we went. The other weird perception that happens when you drive your running route is this……it seems sooooo long in the car. My husband Peter says, “uh Diane, it IS long, It just didn’t seem that long when you were running the local streets, circling and recircling the same route.” But it is a looong way to run 3.25 mies and then turn around and run back. That made me feel proud for a bout 60 seconds, then I started to get nervous…..I hope I can do this!
So we passed ShopRite and that was 2.5 miles. I only needed 3/4 of a mile more. We crossed the light and continued up Old Stage Rd. There is this little farm out on Old Stage Rd where they raise Alpaca. What’s an Alpaca? Well, it’s sort of like a smallish llama. I think they breed them for their wool. Anyway, my husband was joking me as we set out on our quest that I would have to run to Alpaca and Back! I was like, No WAY! That is All The Way Out There. No Way!!
Well —– Eat your words Diane —– your Sunday Long Run Quest is official —- it’s To Alpaca and Back! HAH!
Sunday was New Year’s Day. Another quiet morning. Warmish. About 40 degrees. I loaded up with my Vitacoco, some Strawberry Chomps, and my new Garmin GPS watch (Thanks Santa!). I was nervous, but feeling really good right at the start. Breathing and pace fell into place, and so then I knew — this one was going to be about endurance. I ran my little heart out — To Alpaca and Back! It was fun, exciting. I had to walk some, because Mother Earth has hills and they were kicking my butt. I had already decided that IF I had to walk, that it was OK. That I wasn’t going to discredit all my hard work just because I needed a break to, well….BREATHE!
I hit the white fence of the Alpaca farm and my Garmin buzzed, which was my signal to turn around. I didn’t get to see an Alpaca that day, cuz, DUH, they were sleeping. It was early on New Year’s Day — everybody was sleeping — except me. I was up…on my feet….learning.
What did I learn? Well. I learned that I can push myself to run 6.5 miles —— which is delightfully just about 1/2 of a Half Marathon. Yup. I learned that I am capable of 1/2 of my goal. COOL RUNNING!
Ciao for now……