There is a saying in my house that started being said in the evenings when it came time to take the pups out for their before-bed walk. Mike starts to get the dogs leashed up and then says, “want to come walk the dogs with me?” To which I began responding, “I’d rather not.” Of course “I’d rather not” really means, “I’ve already decided not to so don’t ask me again.” It’s become a pretty commonplace saying for a few months now and no one is surprised when those words come out of my mouth (To be clear I do keep the house tidy and cook dinner every night so I don't feel like I'm being a total jerk for not going with him).
I was surprised, however, when those words popped into my head during my run yesterday. About 2 miles into my 7 mile tempo run I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. At least, it wasn’t going to happen the way I wanted it to. It wasn’t going to be another rock star run. It was hot out, hotter than I had anticipated. The humidity wasn’t helping either. As I started running slower and slower, I began to feel worse and worse, and then those three words popped into my head. The conversation in my head then went something like this: “What? What do I mean I’d rather not? I love running! There’s no way I’d rather be doing anything else right now!”
The truth is that running isn’t fun all the time. Actually it probably isn’t fun most of the time. Ask any runner if they “love” running and they probably won’t give you a straight “yes or no” answer.
Running is painful and challenging, both mentally and physically. Yet we put ourselves in situations where we are running miles and miles every week. Personally I would say that I do love running, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it all the time. It would be impossible to do that. You can’t expect to go out for every run and feel awesome and motivated. It doesn’t make you any less of a runner. Sometimes you just don’t want to be running. Sometimes you’d rather not.
The question is whether you fall to the “I’d rather not’s” or, well, not. I’m taking full advantage of the fact that at this time in my life I will complete my weekly mileage no matter what (barring injury). I hold myself accountable to my training plan. It doesn’t matter if I’m not enjoying myself. Suck it up! I can’t say that in the future I’ll have this kind of personal discipline, but for now it works!
So my 7 mile tempo run became a “don’t force the pace, just complete it” kind of run. I ran pretty much the same path and the same distance as Tuesday’s run, but sometimes your mentally and/or physically just aren’t up to the challenge. I did make myself run an extra mile repeat this morning as redemption for yesterday. That’ll teach me a lesson!
Yesterday: 7.15 miles at 8:48 pace
This morning: 2 x 2 mile repeats at 8:00 pace
This weekend I'm headed to NYC to find my wedding dress! I've also got a 16+ mile run on Sunday's schedule, which I will do with my sister. The last time we ran together was in July for Midnight Madness, which was so much fun! I'm excited to run in New York. Running is a great way to see new parts of any city. Should be a great weekend!
I was surprised, however, when those words popped into my head during my run yesterday. About 2 miles into my 7 mile tempo run I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. At least, it wasn’t going to happen the way I wanted it to. It wasn’t going to be another rock star run. It was hot out, hotter than I had anticipated. The humidity wasn’t helping either. As I started running slower and slower, I began to feel worse and worse, and then those three words popped into my head. The conversation in my head then went something like this: “What? What do I mean I’d rather not? I love running! There’s no way I’d rather be doing anything else right now!”
The truth is that running isn’t fun all the time. Actually it probably isn’t fun most of the time. Ask any runner if they “love” running and they probably won’t give you a straight “yes or no” answer.
Running is painful and challenging, both mentally and physically. Yet we put ourselves in situations where we are running miles and miles every week. Personally I would say that I do love running, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it all the time. It would be impossible to do that. You can’t expect to go out for every run and feel awesome and motivated. It doesn’t make you any less of a runner. Sometimes you just don’t want to be running. Sometimes you’d rather not.
The question is whether you fall to the “I’d rather not’s” or, well, not. I’m taking full advantage of the fact that at this time in my life I will complete my weekly mileage no matter what (barring injury). I hold myself accountable to my training plan. It doesn’t matter if I’m not enjoying myself. Suck it up! I can’t say that in the future I’ll have this kind of personal discipline, but for now it works!
So my 7 mile tempo run became a “don’t force the pace, just complete it” kind of run. I ran pretty much the same path and the same distance as Tuesday’s run, but sometimes your mentally and/or physically just aren’t up to the challenge. I did make myself run an extra mile repeat this morning as redemption for yesterday. That’ll teach me a lesson!
Yesterday: 7.15 miles at 8:48 pace
This morning: 2 x 2 mile repeats at 8:00 pace
This weekend I'm headed to NYC to find my wedding dress! I've also got a 16+ mile run on Sunday's schedule, which I will do with my sister. The last time we ran together was in July for Midnight Madness, which was so much fun! I'm excited to run in New York. Running is a great way to see new parts of any city. Should be a great weekend!
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| Caitlin and I running Midnight Madness |
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