Today's run was a morning run done in four laps around a hiking trail at a local park. I was running within feet of myself the whole trip but the GPS tells a very different story. I swear, I was running loops. The only loop that's different is on the very right top part of the nose of the loop where I ran around the other side of my car the first time.
After my last run I was very discouraged because my time and distance weren't at all what I wanted them to be. Part of the problem was a brutal hill at the front of the run that killed me. I refused to stop and walk either up the hill or after and I never felt like I got my lungs or legs back and that was in the first kilometer! Lesson learned, no more monster hills in first kilometer. Not yet anyway. Maybe after some hill training, but not yet. It's too discouraging. I guess I was due for a discouraging run though. I've been riding pretty high lately.
I think part of the problem was that so far I haven't had to really push and those longer runs, 25 minutes are really harder than the other runs, they're steady, no walk breaks like the previous runs. This is different for me... harder. And I was a little sore the next two days of recovery. The important part though was that, the next time I was due to run, another 25 minute run with no breaks, I didn't skip it. I didn't pretend I was too injured and put it off. I ran slightly slower out of the gate to make sure if I was hurt I wouldn't make it worse, and I ran loops instead of an out and back in case I was too hurt to continue I'd be nearer the car. So I did it smart, but I did it. That's important to me.
It's important from a "get back on the horse" point of view, and it's important because today's run was better. I did 4.25km in 25 minutes. That's my best one yet. It doesn't look as good as the previous day's run, but the previous day included the cool down at the end of the run so it looks further than it is/was.
Glad I ran today. I had some power oatmeal for breakfast and made too much. That stuff really grows when you add water! I'll dig up the recipe if I can find it. It wasn't bad but there was just so MUCH of it that my run started late because it took forever to eat it all.
