Trail Run Part 2

After tennis yesterday, Rob asked if we were going for another tempo run today.  I quickly answered 'no' and told him that I had planned on doing a longer run today instead.  I lied, well, sort of.  I mean, I don't really like lying...but, at the time, it was easier than to admit to him that I can only take one of his tempo runs every two weeks.  They really are a great way to condition, but they also kill me!  And, to be fair, I did run longer today than my run on Monday...so, it wasn't completely a lie, right?

I hit the trail again today, eager to punish myself with some of those long, drawn out hills I mentioned in my last trail post.  This time, I was paying closer attention and I noticed the long drawn out, consistently climbing hill that I was running up before reaching the turnaround point.  I kept telling myself not to think about the steady incline, get lost in the music!  Relax your shoulders and neck, keep putting one foot in front of the other!  That's pretty much how I was even able to keep going.  It wasn't that I was tired, it was more that I know that if I allow myself to focus on the hill, then my mind will continue down that dark path and keep going with the negativity...and that won't get me anywhere!  I have to keep infusing my thoughts with some sort of positive energy to keep my legs moving!  It works really well for me, which is all that matters! 

I kept the trail greetings simple today, no double wave/smile/what's up nod/thumbs up/double dream hands/whatever.  Just a simple little 'hey' and a brief smile.  I did have a brief music breakdown where I went full-on air drummer along with the music I was listening to.  I was running next to a busy road and thought it must have been pretty funny to the cars passing slowly by.  There weren't as many people on the trail today.  I did run into a guy on one of these recumbent bikes.  I passed him while I was on my way up the hill and he was on his way down, he was just cruising, lovin' life.  For a moment I thought, "Man, wish I were that guy!  He looks like he's having so much fun, just laying back and relaxing!" but I just kept jogging on persistently.

Picture a Florida Gators flag instead of the fish thingy

 BY THE NUMBERS:

Total Distance: 4 miles, at least!
Total Time: 57 minutes
Longest Run: 32 minutes

I tried mapping out the trail before my run today to make sure that I hit the 4 mile mark.  It's tough to do from the satellite maps available since the trail is largely tree-covered and the trail kind of disappears into them.  But, I mapped the distance via guesswork as well as I could and I think I may have actually run an extra half mile.  I won't count it though since I don't know for sure.  I did pretty well in the long run segment and pushed myself to go almost 2 minutes longer than last time.  It's all about steadily building, right?  That's my goal!  The only problem was, once I stopped to allow myself a little walking break, I had a whole lot of trouble restarting again.  It felt like my legs were lead and my right knee was a little stiff and painful.  So, though I did try to run again after about 5 minutes, I didn't make it very far and probably ended up walking the last 3/4 of a mile or so.  That part is disappointing, but I guess my overall goal is just to run as far/long consistently as I can so I don't have to worry about the issue of restarting and then getting discouraged when I'm tired and have difficulty. 

I'm happy with how things went today!  It was tough for me, but I made a bit more progress and that's just fine by me! 

Favorite Running Mix Song of the Day: Gwen Stefani, "What You Waiting For?"