The mind is a wonderful thing

I haven't posted an update in almost a month. That's bad. That's bad because  I haven't really had any great runs in a month either. I'm kinda thinking that my hopes to run the half in October are dashed. I'm almost positive I'll be running the 10K instead. Not that I'm crushed about that or anything. The fact that I'm even out running is incredible in itself.

I went for a run at the campground... Sometime... This is the country road I was running on.




Then I came home and went for a run... Here...





But let me tell you about this run. It was my first long run in probably a month. We had crazy July heat. I hurt my foot. Then it rained. And I was lazy. I did manage to do a few runs on the treadmill, but it just isn't the same. I end up walking more than I run because I actually find it awkward to run on the treadmill.

Anyway, back to my story.

I left the house on my long run route. That route gives me the option to do a 3, 5 or 7 mile run depending on how I'm feeling. It was easy to pass the 3 mile turn. There is a fairly large hill on this route that I haven't conquered yet, but I will. It's an incline of 26 feet over 528 feet. 4.9% incline. About a third of a mile later there's another hill. 43 feet elevation over 897 feet. 4.7%. When I first started running this route, I wouldn't run either hill. Now I can "almost" easily run the second hill. I can't even tackle the first one. The inclines are virtually the same, and the first one is a shorter distance. Go figure.

I passed by the 5 mile turn and kept on going.

Another couple of hills over 1.15 miles at 3.2% incline. Can't run up that at all.

The last little bit of my run, I was jogging along and my mind kept saying, "OK, you've been running long enough" and I'd stop. Then the other side of my brain said "Hold it, you're not tired, keep running" so I did. This actually kept going on for the last mile or so. It was actually quite humorous, once I was finished.

The lesson that I learned over this run, is that I need to make sure my mind and body are working together for the common goal. That it's too easy to take the easy way out and let my mind rule the roost.

Aug 11

Total Miles: 7.13
Total Time: 1:41:06
Avg Pace: 14:10


Stats for August

Total Miles: 17.6
Total Time: 4:16:58
Average Pace: 14:49