Breaking Through
35:00 – 3.62 miles
I had every excuse to not get up. Late night trying to get the kids to bed, then getting the kids back to bed, picking up the kitchen from dinner, put kids back to bed, catch new episode of How I Met Your Mother, put oldest child back to bed, and read the latest issue of Runner’s World. As you can see in the picture, it was -13 degrees outside. I already knew that I was not running outside, but I still had to step outside. All the thoughts running through my head ranged from car breaking down on the side of the road, hitting ice and sliding into a wall, and reenacting the scene from Home Alone where the car just spins in circle down the road.
Yet I was excited to get to the treadmill because today is speed day. This is an exciting workout for me as it’s about redefining what I think I can do. Yesterday’s pseudo long run left my hip flexors stiff. You find these on the side of your hips where your leg is inserted. Makes it pretty uncomfortable to walk or move with any kind of agility when this area is stiff.
The goal of the run was to just go faster then yesterday. My jog/warm-up was faster then the pace I set for 2 hours of running yesterday. I followed that with:
9 min/mile for 10 minutes
back down to 10 min/mile for 5 minutes
9 min/mile for 5 minutes
8:30 min/mile for 5 minutes
10 min/mile for 5 minutes
Was that my plan? Kind of. I honestly don’t make a set plan of exactly what I am going to do. Reason for that is I know things to change and that there are elements I can’t control. What I can control is saying that I will go faster then I did at the beginning. I will have negative splits. I don’t specifically say how long those time periods will be, so I am successful.
Much is the same in the rest of the world. Okay, scientists will disagree and NASA gets a bye, but they are probably not reading this. We are taught to create specific goals that can be measured. While this is great (and I have done it for years), it also provides a large opportunity for us to fail. Even if we succeed most of the time, society (business) seems to focus on the failures. It’s the “well you didn’t get that done” attitude that continues to hold us back.
Emily over at Unicorns on Rollerskates just completed her first marathon. I have tracked her training and questions on Twitter, and she is much more consistent then I am when it comes to training. Based on her blog recap, her race day experience was unlike any of her training. Cold, rainy, wet, leg cramps, stomach issues … these are not things one plans for. It wasn’t the race or time she was aiming for, but she still won. She went 26.2 miles on her feet! I know people that still shudder at driving in a car that distance. She did something that hundreds of millions can’t or haven’t imagined doing. That is something to be proud of and celebrate.
Every marathon I’ve run, including the ultramarathon, my 8 year old son always asks me: “Dad did you win?” My competitive side twinges a bit, but then answer with: “Anyone that exercises and can move on their feet for several hours wins because they get a longer life.”
Here’s to continually living longer.
