Today's run had me going 3.5 miles. That's not too long, but not as short as the "easy" 2.5 mile run on Mondays. I have really struggled since the knee injury with my pace. Since the 5k, it just seems like I am destined to be at an 11 minute mile during the training runs. That doesn't bode well since I am not running very far right now and as you add distance, you generally lose speed. At this rate, I might as well walk the marathon in September! Anywho, I really wanted to push myself today and since my body has been feeling pretty good post-acquisition of the knee brace, I went for it.
I was holding pretty close to a ten minute mile pace for the first mile and a half and then started to slow down on the second half of the run. I knew that finishing in 35 minutes was quickly slipping out of my grasp, so I promised I would really push it for the last mile. Somewhere about a half mile from the house, I could actually see the house and I started playing mind games. I was really tired and starting to wheeze a little. I started to think, "Who would be hurt if I just walked the last half mile." At that moment, I was reminded of what Daniel has said, "So much of this is mental." I realized that I am mostly fighting against my mind and not my body at this stage of training. My mind is a lot lazier than my physical body. My body could definitely finish up strong, but my mind was trying to quit.
In the end, I told my mind to shut up and pushed myself to finish in 36:01, that's about a 10:17 mile. I know that over the next couple months, fighting my mind will be the biggest battle. I am pretty healthy, so my body can make it to the April half-marathon. It's messages like that I need to keep repeating instead of "I can't."
1 comment:
It's a mental battle for me, too. Ninty-five percent of the time, when I stop, it's because my mind can't handle it, not my legs.
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