Yesterday I set out for my tempo run, & as usual, it was an early morning endeavor. I knew the weather would be dreary, but I was prepared {or so I thought!} to just push on through. I had to get the twins to preschool on time, so I only had an hour to get the miles in.
As I opened the garage door, I saw the rain coming down sideways. Great. I then felt a wind gust even before I ventured out of the safely of the warm-ish garage. Super great. Oh well, time to pull up my big girl panties & get going!
The first 2 miles were slated to be “easy”. As pretty as living surrounded by bodies of water is, it really isn’t that much fun for running. Sure, it provides “wind-training”, but after weeks of this “wind-training”, I have become O.V.E.R. it. Especially as I was practically blown right into the roadway while crossing over one of the local bridges. I guess that was rather kind of Mother Nature to not gust me towards the other direction—going overboard into the frigid water!
Once my watch dinged that the 2 easy miles were complete, it was time for the 4 tempo miles to begin. I promptly picked up the pace & slowly worked my heart rate up to the 169bpm goal. “Oh wind, thanks for sticking around – did you need a workout too?!” A mile into the tempo part of the run, the mental lashings began.
Therein lays my point of this post. I am not being negative; merely wishing to hear what crosses everyone else’s mind during mentally tough miles. Please, INDULGE ME! This is a fun post! Here are some of the thoughts I had—see I AM NOT superhuman, as a co-worker recently referred to me as!
“Maybe I can just pause my watch & walk the miles.”
“Will my coach notice if I just drop the tempo miles from 4 of them, to just 3 of them?”
“If I roll my ankle on that gumball, Scott {my hubby} will have to come pick me up. That’s a good excuse to end the run, right?”
“What the hell am I doing?”
“I better have some tailwind when I head back the other way, to make up for all of this headwind I’m experiencing!!”
“You don’t get sick from freezing rain, right? Wait, I CANNOT afford to get sick. Okay, it’s settled, I’m going to just head back home.”
“Is it time for my easy cool-down mile yet?!”
“Why did that crazy person just honk at me? Is my shoe dragging a piece of TP? Oh, hmm, I bet it’s because I am the crazy person in this scenario.”
“Am I being chased?”
“What all errands do I need to run today?”
“Oh look, another coo-coo runner. Hello, Good Morning!”
“What?! That’s all of the tailwind I get rewarded with???”
“That dog better be on a leash!”
“99 Problems? Yeah, I have a few problems too Ariana! This run so needs to be over.”
And just like that, well not really just like that, but it was finally over. Many other thoughts had crossed my mind—too many to recall. But, the only thought I had as I returned home, smiling of course, with another 7 miles logged, was….
“Dang, I am SO proud of myself for not quitting or doing any of the other obscene things that crossed my mind. I’m a bada$$ mother runner!”
So, when you are dreading completing a run, always remember:
That weather sucked. I had to reschedule my runs in. Which is tough with a 9 month old. Good work.
Thanks Steve! Yes, trying to fit in running around infant & toddler scheduling is like a fulltime job! Good for you, to reschedule! 🙂