Well, I guess that'll teach me...
I started out with the intention of simply running 3 miles on the treadmill... no pressure, just get in the miles and call it a day. The problem, of course, is when I get half way through my run and start thinking 'hey, I feel pretty good... maybe I should be going a little faster...' Which is fine... until I start thinking 'maybe I can beat yesterday's time... maybe it was just an off day and today would be a better test of my current fitness level...' So, off I go to better my time. I was so sure yesterday that I could have gone faster, so let's see what I can really do...
Seriously?!? 2 seconds? That's it?!? That's all I managed to shave off my time from yesterday? I'd tell myself to take a deep breath, but I'm bent over and sucking wind so hard I can barely pull myself together.
So this proves it. Regardless of how fast I want to pretend I can go, this is most definitely where my current fitness level is... just shy of a 9:00 mile for a 3 mile run. One might think that, based upon my disappointment in yesterday's time, I would also be disappointed in today's. But, truth be told, I actually feel much better. After 2 days in the same conditions and with the same goal, it turns out that a 9:00 mile is about as good as it gets right now. I have no reason to be upset with that. I'd say that's consistency at its finest.
With that out of the way, it will be my intention to simply run 3 miles tomorrow. No more competing to improve my time. Just log the miles and enjoy the workout. Now we'll just have to wait and see if I can actually follow through on that :)
glad you ended this post w/ a positive outlook! worst thing you can do is compete w yourself on every run. you need diversity in your training. hard days where you push yourself, and easy days to give your bod a breather!
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