So, we're right in the thick of marathon training. Last week we were scheduled to go 19 miles, and that happened. But, wow. Here's the story.
Last Friday we went to TRX. I love TRX. We went hard that day, harder than we have in a while. It was a great workout and I wasn't worried about the effect it would have on our run the next day because we'd have a good night's rest to help recover. Anyway, I went about my day as usual. I play the piano for our high school choir. I'm there every afternoon. Our chamber choir was having its annual retreat that Friday and Saturday. I had a conversation with the choir director and realized the speaker he was planning to have come talk to the kids on Saturday had backed out. We spent a while trying to come up with a new plan. Finally, I told him about some yoga we could do that would promote unity and he was sold. He asked me to do sunrise yoga, starting at 6:30. Here's the problem: I'm supposed to be running at 6:30. My husband and I decided we'd just do our run when I got home from the retreat. I got home just after 11:00. PM. We changed our clothes and headed out at 11:30. PM.
For about the first five or six miles, I was feeling okay. The first hill was eye-opening though. This run was going to require some grit and I definitely had not had enough recovery time. Running so late shocked my system and we had to stop several times to use the restroom. SLOWLY, miles after mile ticked by. About miles 8-ish, someone actually swerved toward us. That got our blood pumping. Usually during a training run, we don't have to stop to walk and recover but that night we had to several times. Finally, finally we crested the last hill on the parkway. That was about 12 1/2 miles in. Thankfully the next few miles are downhill. Around 14 miles we stopped, again, to use the restroom. Starting again made me want to cry. I hurt. I was tired. I was done. I never bail on a run but if someone had stopped us and asked us if we wanted a ride home, I would have happily said yes. Those last four or five miles were brutal. They took all my will power to finish. We walked through our door at just after 3:00. We showered and crawled into bed about 3:30. At 6:00, my alarm went off. I was so confused. It's not a time I normally get up and I couldn't remember why I'd set my alarm. It took a bit to get my brain working enough to remember I needed to get up and teach yoga.
Things went well with the retreat and I survived. Thankfully, my family let me sleep the afternoon away. Now, the reason I blogged about this run is to show we all have runs where we just don't feel good. Sometimes it's not about doing better or being faster. Sometimes it's simply about getting the miles under your feet. It's about better developing your mental toughness so that you can learn to endure when it gets tough. Sometimes it's about learning to negotiate with yourself so you can just keep moving.
It's been, literally, years since I've had a run like this. And, I still haven't completely recovered a week later. I'm still a bit worn down which made my 21 mile run today tougher than I would have liked. I'm grateful for the "ugh" run I had last week. It gives me an appreciation for my good runs, for the runs when I simply feel great. It also gives me compassion for other runners. For people who are just starting out, people who are just coming back from an injury. I can say "I know how it feels. Hang in there. It gets better." I've been there before but a reminder now and then is good for me. That being said, I DON'T need another run like that in a loooong time!
I hope you are setting goals and achieving them. I hope you're getting stronger, tougher, better. Thanks for checking in with me. Let me know if you have questions or comments. Good luck!
