While it certainly wasn't my intention to take 3 days off, I can now confirm it was a much needed break. I normally run 4 days a week with one one-day break and one two-day break. This three-day break arose from running my long run on Friday instead of Saturday leaving Saturday-Monday with no running. And while I did briefly consider running last night, I'm glad I opted for another day off. Not because I felt like I particularly needed the rest. It was, in fact, mostly because I was being lazy. But today's 3 miles felt amazing - no pain or discomfort anywhere and, in general, I felt about as good as I've ever felt running. I think an occasional long break is exactly what my body needs... especially after so many years away from healthy fitness habits.
I started this amazing day (sunny and high 70's - crazy for Cleveland in March!) with a nice long walk through the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo... a great way to get some exercise while entertaining my son! Unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy this weather with an outdoor run and was stuck with another treadmill workout.
I took the first two miles pretty easy and figured I'd see what I had left for my last mile... which ended up being 7:52... a time I am most definitely proud of. However, even though I felt like I was giving it my all at the end of that mile, I know that I was holding back at the beginning... which I seem to do every time I decide to see how quickly I can run the final mile of a workout. I guess I'm afraid that, once I pick up my pace, I'll find that I can't keep up. But, I really do think I could run even faster... if only I had enough faith in myself to try it. By slowly increasing my speed the entire mile, I'm limiting myself to shaving off a few seconds right at the end. If I hope to continue improving my time, I'm really going to have to increase my speed a little earlier. At this point in my running, I have no reason to question whether or not I can do more, but I can't seem to shake the fear of failure... a pretty silly fear considering I have no idea what I could possibly do at this point to consider any workout a 'failure'... except for maybe falling off the treadmill :)
Guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and get past it!
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