Believe That You Can

Week 9 of half marathon training.

"Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself." 

-Josh Bingham

Last week wasn't the greatest.  I felt sluggish.  I felt like this task is insurmountable.  I started to feel defeated.  After spending some much needed time this weekend just relaxing and resting, I'm entering this week with a more upbeat mentality for two reasons.  #1:  I understand that it is now crunch time.  This is no longer something that is way off in the distance, several months away.  It is now 3 weeks away.  And counting.  So every run becomes that much more important.  Every meal becomes that much more crucial.  As I get closer, every decision I make has the potential to impact the end result.  I've come too far to screw up now.  #2:  I have really tried to reassess my running.  I have seen too much progress to feel frustrated by it.  I have tried to hard to feel like this training is bogging me down. I have spent the last couple weeks simply feeling warn out.  Tired.  Exhausted.  So instead of crossing each run off and treating each one like its a burden, I am trying to think of each run as a new opportunity - to get outside, enjoy spring, feel the buzz of the world around me, and feel rejuvenated.  I am realizing more and more that the physical aspects of running are actually the least important.  What it comes down to is your attitude.  What it comes down to is what you believe.



Monday - Rest
Push Ups
I'm trying to add a little bit to the regimen - push ups, abs, stretching, and yoga.


Tuesday - 3 Miles
3.20 miles - 29:19 - 9:09 pace
After a not so great last week, this was the run that I needed to start my new week.  The first mile felt great.  2nd mile felt normal.  3rd mile felt a lot stronger than usual - I normally taper off at the end and I start seeing close to 10:00.  Splits were 8:50, 9:23, 9:23.  I like going in the 5:30ishPM time frame because it's cool enough to not interfere with the run.  I just hate the traffic...


Wednesday - 5 Miles
5.15 miles - 50:16 - 9:45 pace
Right from the start I knew this was going to be a long run.  The first mile just felt awkward.  Usually I start getting into a little bit of a groove but today it was tough to find it.  The whole run I just felt kind of heavy - like I was trudging along through the whole thing.  The times of the first few miles surprised me - splits were 9:09, 9:32, 9:58, 10:08, 9:59.  I would like to see more under the 9:30 mark, but I usually have multiple over 10 when I start hitting 5+.  I am actually pretty happy with the time, but it just didn't feel that great.  Silver lining = I made it out for a Wednesday run after missing the last 2 - yessss!


Thursday - 3 Miles
3.12 miles - 27:21 - 8:45 pace
Last week, I was excited because I ran my first 3+ mile run under a 9:00 pace.  Here's #2.  The coolest part about this run is that I have never had a run where mile 1 is NOT the fastest.  I normally start out more quickly then slowly taper off as the run continues (see yesterday's - that's typical).  Today's first mile was my SLOWEST.  Splits were 9:03, 8:30, 8:44.  I don't know how it happened, but it's an amazing feeling.  Also, another thought that I've been having a lot recently - it took me almost an entire year of running to finally run a 5K below 30:00.  Now here I am and I can run sub 30 5Ks without even trying.  The progression has blown my mind.


Friday - Rest


Saturday - Cross
Rest
Gearing up for the big day tomorrow.


Sunday - 10 Miles
10.26 miles - 1:45:04 - 10:14 pace
The first double digit run of my life!  In fact, even my 8.3 from two weeks ago had a brief pause, so my longest distance of continuous running just jumped from 7.29 to 10.26.  I've been saying all along that this run was going to be the big test of my training.  Once I can hit double digits, then I'm not as worried about the 13.1.  This became true today, because even when I finished, I felt like I could keep going.  I am thankful that the temp, clouds, and wind helped me make this happen.  I felt amazing for the first 5 miles - took it at a pretty easy pace and just ran.  Thanks to the cooler temperature, barely anyone else was on the path - a welcomed change of pace from constantly dodging bikers, walkers, runners, etc.  Then, my knee started throbbing.  My good knee.  It was this piercing pain that hit with every step right around the knee cap, and I've never had this before.  Kept going.  The next few miles were tough, but manageable - had some sips of water and gatorade throughout this stretch, and the off and on pain of the knee was really frustrating.  Once I hit 8, I knew that I was going to make it to 10 - I still felt strong but just felt like I wanted it to be over.  The last mile felt the best out of the last few, and I started debating whether or not I should keep going.  I decided not to - I could have, but it would not have been pretty - I was really encouraged by this! With this run, I felt a lot of my doubts and fears release, and I felt proud of the fact that I just ran 10 miles :)