16-From Saturday's Run

WHAT I DID

I was out of town all weekend so my schedule got a little off track.  My normal running days would have been Friday and Sunday...but instead I went Saturday and I'll go today and then again tomorrow.  I increased my running intervals from 15 minutes up to 30 minutes!!  I walked my usual 10 minute warmup, then trained to the HRM (staying between 165ish to 175ish), then walked to cool down for 5 minutes.  Since I was out of town I got to train on HILLS!!!  I am going to have to find some hills around here to train on because that adds a whole other level to intensity!  (Duh, I know.)  It's beautiful where my friend lives--out in the country with farm land and forrest all around.  It had snowed before we got there so, although the roads were clear, the ground was mostly white every where.  I felt like I could have stayed out there for hours...well, I wish I had felt like I could have stayed out there for hours.  That brings me to:

WHAT I LEARNED

 ((Warning: the following section is FULL of psychobabble...not meant for mere light reading!!  

Feel free to skip on down to the next section...it won't hurt my feelings one bit.))

The way I see it, there are four main components to me as a runner: my physical heart (not to be confused with the 2nd component...), my determination/drive/moxie, my body, and my mind.  

My heart is pretty strong, despite slight mitral valve prolapse/mitral regurgitation, and I can tell it's gotten stronger in the last month.  As far as moxie...I am determined to continue running...more than that, I enjoy it. I don't get out there because I have to.  I don't dread it.  I don't want to love it, I just DO!!  Those two parts are strong....but there's a problem with one or both of the other two...

I used to think my body just wasn't physically able to run.  My legs would hurt, my lungs would feel like they were going to explode, my heart would beat out of my chest...you get the picture (all those things your body does when it's out of shape).  After some considerable pride-swallowing, I made the decision I can run.  I say it took some humility because I had to admit running for any length of time, much less a whole marathon, is not something I can just go out and do, I have to build up and train.  

The "problem" is, almost every time I start my first interval, I think I have an ache or a pain somewhere.  It sometimes feels like I'm running in super slow motion and can't seem to speed up.  I can't describe it.  It's almost like my body is behaving completely contrary to what I want it to do!!  Intellectually, I know my body is stronger than I think it is.   To wit, I haven't been sore, I haven't felt fatigued, I haven't thrown up or collapsed after a run.  So I think the idea of not being able to make my body react the way I want it to must be all in my mind.  But my mind is the one that has decided to run, so why would my mind be causing problems???

As I was running Saturday, I spent the better part of my 45 minute "rulk" debating whether my mind or my body was the weakest link.  They were both pointing a proverbial finger like school children deflecting responsibility to the other one!  I think, because of all I said in the previous paragraph, I have decided my mind is the main saboteur keeping me from my best training.  Unfortunately I can't just tell it, "goodbye" like they do on the show...although my husband might say I did that long ago!!  

So, what I learned Saturday is that I have to continue to train by "my instruments" as my darling husband so aptly put it in his comments to a previous post.  My body is good, my heart is good, my determination is strong.  All of these components MUST overcome my mind.

What I think is funny is that if my mind were weak, I wouldn't be having this "discussion" in the first place!  The thoughts in my head really do have the power to override all the others....which is why it's so important to remember that running was a decision first made in my mind!!

((Hey, I warned you--complete psychobabble!!  My husband says, "Welcome to (his) world!"))

WHAT I'M GOING TO DO

In an effort to bring my mind into submission to my drive, on top of the change I implimented Saturday (increasing my run interval time to 30 minutes), I've decided to run every day.  The only thing that might change that decision is if the running group I joined that starts up next week has a different plan.  In that case, I'll simply follow their plan.  

I'm completely aware that this whole thing might make no sense to anyone other than me...but I'm okay with that.  On the off chance anyone reading has any idea what I'm going through, I'd LOVE to hear your suggestions....even if you're reading this years after the fact because chances are I could still be dealing with this issue!!!

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!

:D