Sunday, April 18, 2010

Owning it.

I woke up this morning somewhat ready for my 8km run. I was somewhat ready because my last week was a fairly uneventful week in the exercise department, my last run was especially uneventful. So I had this last experience firmly etched in my brain and I did not want this run to be a repeat, so off I set at 0630. I set off with the mindset that I was not to look at my watch once, not until I finished my 8km's.

Air was cool, actually it was cold and all I kept thinking was "hurry up sun and shine your rays on me, Im freezing". There was not a single car on the road and all I could here was the dull pounding of my joggers on the road under the blaring of my Ipod. I took a different path this time and decided to attack the hill. It is about a kilometre and a half of a fairly decent incline - enough that it got my heart pounding hard and my paced dropped off quite a bit. So much so that if I got any slower I think I may have been walking - but I wasn't. Today was to be another no nonsense/no walk day. Once I got to the top of the hill I was amazed at how good I felt. I didn't feel tired, my pace picked back up to it's pre-hill pace and I continued on.

I no longer felt cold, actually I felt boiling. I was sweating quite alot and it was dripping off my nose - GROSS. I now was looking for shade just to cool off a bit. But no such luck, most of my way home was in the sun. This just made me want to get home even quicker, my mouth was dry and all I wanted was a nice glass of cool water. But I resisted the temptation to go quicker once again. I did not want to fade in the last stretch and I wanted to finish feeling good once again. I must admit I felt like this whole run was slower than the previous Sundays pace - and even though I wasn't happy to be going slower I was just happy to be running it.

With the last 600m in sight I decided to up the pace and try to lengthen my stride again as I had the previous Sunday in the hope that my run time wouldn't be to poor. But guess what?

I finished it in 48min 56 secs. Almost 4 minutes faster than last Sunday. I was so happy and astounded at how good I felt for having done it at a faster pace. I have learnt that although running is physically quite a demanding discipline, it is by far more a mentally challenging discipline for me. I have to talk to myself quite alot while I am running - not outloud of course, but quietly - every so often just between you and me though, some words do slip out. Thank goodness no one is looking. If I can continue to talk my way through every hard challenge ahead I am more than 100% confident that I will have this running thing home and hosed.




Your hard work will be rewarded.

"The path to a dream is paved with sacrifices and lined with determination. And though it has many stumbling blocks along the way, and may go in more than one direction, it is travelled by belief and courage and conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances" Barbara Cage