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.
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.
