Saturday, February 26, 2011

A not so fun long run

Remember how last weekend's long run was amazing? I felt strong. Surged up those hills? Picked up the pace at the end?

Today? Not so much. More like a struggle. I felt weak. Barely made it up the hills. Wanted to quit 2 miles early, but plodded through the final miles.

In short? It stunk. And that's not even taking into account the nasty blister I managed to give myself on my toe. Ouch.

What made it bearable? Having my friend Krittabug run it with me. She's in town visiting this weekend and needed to log some miles herself. So she ran with the group and kept pushing me to the end. And having the coach run a good chunk of the last 4 miles with us was nice too. I guess that's one of the perks of running with a group. Had I been solo I bet I would have thrown in the towel and found the shortest distance back to the starting point. But I didn't.

What made it so hard today? Not completely sure. I think it's a combination of things. That whole car accident/getting stuck in a ditch fiasco from Sunday, a stiff, sore, achy back. Not running since Tuesday. Who knows.

I know not every run can be amazing. That sometimes a bad run can end up being just what you need in order to give you the confidence that you'll be able to fight through it when the run gets tough on race day. But today? It was just ouch. I was never so glad to see my car parked in the parking lot. But 9 miles is in the books.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Sorry you had such a tough run today. Part of me wishes that every run was amazing, but if they were, then the great runs wouldn't be so fantastic! It's great that you were able to run with your friend while she's in town. Running is a great way to socialize & catch up!

Hope you're next run is better!

Run with Jess said...

bummer your run stunk, but at least you did. DONE. Move on, right?!

Suzy said...

I think it is something about the weekend because my run sucked too. I hope the next one is better!