Much Better....

It is 8:30 am on Saturday and I just got back from a 2 mile/30 minute run. After this week's disaster run, I feel much better.  On Thursday, I only made it 23 minutes and was REALLY mad at myself.  Last night, I kept waking up in the middle of the night, worried that I was not going to be able to make today's run of 45 minutes either. That it was just a fluke that I ran 3 miles straight last week.

I also found this post on ANOTHER MOTHER RUNNER: How Hard Should You Exercise Today?   I have been so used to just following my 16 week running plan, that I haven't had to think about which workouts make sense when.

I thought to myself, "What would Tonia say?" (I think I need a bracelet or a shirt that says the same thing.) My gut tells me that she would say it was all mental.  That it was a confidence issue and I could do it.

I got up this morning and knew that if I didn't get my run in early, I'd be thinking about it all day.  And I have way too much to do to be thinking about this all day. (We are having my 21 year old daughter and many of her college friends over for brunch tomorrow so today is a day of cooking:-)  Anyway, I decided to set myself up for success. Here is what I did.

1. I decided to run outside.  It is only 63 but VERY humid.  I knew that the indoor track was making me crazy and I had to move past the treadmill for this run.

2.  I decided to do a 30 minute instead of a 45 minute run.  The quiz above made me realize that I can control my workouts a bit. I am having a really yucky-feeling week. Low energy, not a lot of good sleep. Typically, in this situation, I would just skip the workout, but the quiz taught me to just rethink. I knew I was up for a workout, just not my hardest. So I decided on a 30 minute continuous outdoor run.

3. I put on my Lululemon capri running pants, my newest Mizunos and my SparklySoul headband. Some favorite running attire.

4. I decided to go with no music. The music seems to be fine on the treadmill but I think it messes with my pacing when I am not on a treadmill so I decided that I would go back to what I learned earlier and go without music so I had one less thing to worry about.

5. And I had a Shakeology about 30 minutes before I left. Shakeology for breakfast on a Saturday usually sets me up for a decent weekend run.

The first 5 minutes were iffy, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it. But then once I got to 15 minutes, I knew I could do another 15. I'm so glad I didn't try for 45. With it being my first outdoor run where I ran more than 10 minutes straight, I thought 30 would work.

So, I feel a little back on track. My goal this week is to do mostly 30 minute runs but to also add in 2 days of cross training. The runs got hard for me at the end of the 16 weeks so I stopped all other exercise and I feel like 2 more days of cardio is critical now.  Walking, bike, etc.

Now, I can get on with my day:-)