Keep Running

RUNNING...

This past Saturday, I shipped my older daughter off to sleep away camp for 2 weeks. Then on Monday, I put my six year old on a bus for an all day wilderness adventure around 8:00am.  I had a 15 mile run to tackle that morning and I was pumped.  My stress level was at an all time low, I had some solid new music on my iPod, I was sporting my new fuel belt - recently purchased after (stupidly) suffering through my last couple long runs without water - and I had the added bonus of relatively decent weather (for summer).  Given all of these factors, I assumed it was going to be a solid run.  Not so much.  I started off nice and slow, as I always do; giving my legs plenty of time to wake up and let the caffeine kick in.  Around mile 4, my head was in the game and I was freshly hydrated (really nice for a change), and my legs, well, they didn't really want to go any faster.  I tried not to think about it and reassured myself that I just needed a little more time to settle in.  I might have skipped a song or two at this point thinking a higher beat per minute might help.  Whatever works.  At about mile 8, I checked my Garmin, sure that I was finally cruising at a faster pace.  No dice.  I was still holding strong at a quick shuffle.  Naturally, I started to feel a little discouraged.  I had done multiple long runs just weeks before in hotter temps with no water at a pace significantly speedier than this.  Nothing was working. My music was not giving me the usual boost.  My new fuel belt was not working any miracles either.  I literally just didn't have it.  Hours later, I finished.  So that was good.  But, that's about all that was good.  The night before this particular long run I had emailed my coach and told him that I was feeling really strong and fired up about how my training was going.  Seriously, what was I thinking?  Why the hell would I do that to myself?  Murphy's law, jinx, fate, call it what you will, but when you're feeling good and you shout it out, you're just asking for it.  You would think after all of these years of running I would have learned my lesson.  Things are good, Rebecca.  Don't rock the boat.  But here's the thing.  There are runs that suck.  And there are runs that make you feel like you are a superhero.  And once in while, those of us who run a lot have full WEEKS when we feel untouchable.  And when that happens, man, it feels good to tell someone about it.  So I did.  And then I ran.  And it wasn't so great.  Later that day I sent my coach an email and gave him the low down.  In so many words, he told me three things - 1. it happens 2. it will happen again and 3. don't worry about it.  So I stopped worrying about it.  On Tuesday morning, I woke up, put my daughter on the bus and...yep, you guessed it...went for a run.  And I will keep running because, well, you know.

...AND MUSIC

 Listen to this:
Live Your Life - MIKA
Mika - Live Your Life (Official Audio) from Javier López Cortés on Vimeo.