Cutting It Short

So I finally got up early and completed my run in the AM.  I started at 10 AM.  I had to make sure to do this today because it is supposed to be very hot this afternoon.  Tomorrow is going to be even worse.  I haven't run South Mountain in Emmaus in awhile, so I opted to head there.  The LVRR family hike that I signed up to lead is going to be there soon.  I was actually hoping to explore more of the trail than I have in the past, but it didn't quite work out that way.

I started off on the long and flat section before climbing the mountain.  I like doing this because it gives me close to a mile to warmup.  Early on, my wound bothered me more than it has recently.  Perhaps it wasn't the wound, but just the muscle near it.  Either way, it was a struggle early on and that was a sign of things to come.

I felt better as I hit the main trail.  I was warmed up at that point.  Although it was still hot, the temperature was actually perfect.  I started on the trail.  It is flat for a little while, but then there's a pretty steep section.  It took quite a bit out of me.  Jill wrote about running there and said to just keep going right at every intersection.  I did that, but somehow I ended up at a grassy section.  I was running past some people at that point and I think I missed the main trail.  I then went back down and found the right path.  I was near lost or anything, just made some wrong turns.

There was another section that went nowhere and I had to backtrack.  The most frustrating thing is that I just didn't feel sharp.  I had no energy and the ascending beat me up pretty good.  Rather than try to push through it, I decided it was wiser to just listen to my body and cut the run short.  I just didn't have it today.

I ran back down the mountain.  I ran through some of the water crossings this time and it felt good to get my feet wet.  When I got Apline Street I decided to go on the other part of the orange loop.  I ran there for about a quarter mile before turning around.

I felt very lethargic on the flat stone portion on the way back.  The last three quarters of a mile seemed to take forever.  I wanted to walk a little so I turned around with about a tenth of a mile left and ran back out away from my car briefly.  As I was finishing, I heard a train.  I thought it would be cool to run alongside of it.  Unfortunately it was only the engine and they were just fixing the tracks I guess.

I commented yesterday that I need more short days.  Today wasn't exactly what I hoped for, but it was a short day that I probably needed.  In the end, I only ran three miles.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that I ran last night or just my body not used to being up early.  Either way, it was better to just accept it and recover.  The most frustrating part is that I drove all the way to Emmaus for such a short run. 

Tomorrow is going to be a tough group run at Trexler.  Hopefully I will be stronger.  If not, maybe I'll take some more time off before the Quadzilla.  I'm going to an auto race two hours away tonight and I'll have to get up early tomorrow to run.  That will be difficult, but I'll manage it.

I was talking with my mom about coming to see my upcoming races.  She said she doesn't like to go because I'm not up front.  The problem is whenever she's come I was in comeback mode and not at my best.  The only time she's ever seen me run when I was in great shape was my second marathon.  Obviously with a big group at a marathon, I'm not going to be right up front.  She's missed a lot of my 5ks, like the one where I took 3rd overall when I lived in Philly and ran an 18:40.

She commented that I'm just not as talented as the people it front of me.  I had to explain that it isn't that at all, it's more that they've been able to train more and more consistently then me.  Sure, some of them are more talented, but not many.  It takes 5-7 years to peak and I've only been able to put a good year together at a time.  My mom's comments are definitely motivation to show her how good I actually am and will be.  Not that I really need any more motivation, but it certainly provides some.

3 miles - 34:02 (11:21 pace)