Just Head Out

Sometimes you just have to get out the door and get started. I can't say I'm completely unmotivated at this point, but I guess I am a bit drained and grinding out runs more than in the recent past. I'm still very hungry and haven't missed a run in awhile. It's just that I seem to be taking longer and longer to get out the door. I think winter is just dragging on too long. At least that's what I hope for. Of course it is supposed to snow again tomorrow.

Throughout most of the fall, my legs had a lot of snap, I had a lot of energy and couldn't wait to head out the door (even at 6 AM). I've never put up this type of mileage before (50+ a week) and I think my body is struggling a little to adapt. I've also been sick of the gloomy weather. Today was in the low 40s with very little wind, but of course still very cloudy.

I was at least able to ditch the jacket. That's a big help and probably cuts 20 seconds per mile off of my time. Today called for a 10 mile progression run, after last night's hill repeats. I did eventually get out the door at around 3 PM.

I started off with four miles easy. I wasn't going very hard, but I was worried about how fast the pace was. My legs felt a little dead, but I kept on going. I ran out on West River Drive for a change and I think the different scenery was a help.

Once I hit mile 4, it was time to go. I went a bit harder, but wondered how I could sustain such a pace. That mile actually seemed too fast at 7:10. I just kept battling on though, mile by mile. Getting to Falls Bridge and heading back was a huge boost. I always continued to push and focus on the next mile. It's not always easy, but this method definitely works.

After the 7:10 mile, I laid down a blistering 6:52 mile. That was definitely too fast, or so I thought. I backed off and was still able to run mile after mile under 7 minutes. When I hit the final two miles, I really went for it. The second last mile was particularly fast at 6:48. With 5 straight miles under 7 minutes, I even impressed myself.

Hopefully, I'll only get faster as I get stronger and as it gets warmer. I really feel like I'm on target to qualify for Boston. This weekend has a hard long run that is supposed to be 10 miles that are a little slower than goal pace. I shouldn't have any problem with that. These 10 miles, with 4 being easy, were around goal pace.

I was less than enthusiastic coming into this run. I ran so well though, that it will be a big boost to my confidence. We'll have to see how things go. If I'm still feeling this way in a few weeks, I might have to adjust my schedule a little. I'm hoping the spring weather will provide a renewed energy. I'm also hoping that my body will adjust a little more to the mileage (since it doesn't increase much from here on out). Sometimes you just have to head out the door and get started. Today was definitely one of those days.

Tomorrow is an easy 6 miles with 10 hill sprints. I'd love to be able to get up very early and run it before work. That might be my only option if I want to complete the run. It is supposed to snow all day tomorrow.

10 miles - 1:12:38 (7:15 pace)