My run yesterday was a
success in unexpected ways. I was hoping
to be able to run 25 miles in 5 hours putting me at a 12 minute per mile
pace. Instead, I ran 18 miles in 4.5
hours, putting me at a 15 min/mi pace.
My run gave way to annoyance when I embarked along a trail that took me
along the back side of the mountains where the park staff has been unable to
clear the trails as fast as the trees have come down in recent storms. Being unable to run at a steady pace for
having to stop and crawl over, under and around trees, I finally let go of the
frustration and decided to continue on anyway.
The most important part of the day was getting my body used to moving
for an extended period.
I realized too that the road
running I had done during training for my recent marathon had softened me. O boy…trail running is no joke and my run
yesterday was a great reminder for me. I
love road running but trail running is my first love and the more challenging
of the two. So, over the next three weeks leading up to my 50K, I get to go
back on the trails and re-connect with my original running passion – trails. I will be tapering off the distance from now
until race week, but it is essential that I hit the trails at a minimum 5 days
a week this week, 4 days the following week, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
before race day Saturday, January 5th.
I will say after yesterdays
run that I am certain I have set an unattainable goal of finishing my first 50K
at the 10:10 per mile pace I had set ~ but I can guarantee, universe willing,
that I will finish this race at the best pace possible for that day. I have no idea what I was thinking signing up
for a 50K less than 2 months after running my very first marathon, but I will
remain loyal to my ambitious nature and keep moving forward as planned.
Not every training run is
perfect and I can say that I felt more alive after finishing yesterday’s run
than before I started even though a bit soul destroyed that it had not gone as
planned. I think I’ll be fine after a
few more days on the trails because there is where I learned my passion for
running and that it what my body craves.
“Nothing can stop the man
with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can
help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
Right mind, right action ~
at the end of my run when I started feeling pain throughout my body, I
remembered something key I have learned along the way. The more I focus on the
hurt the more hurt I feel but when I change my focus to the stepping of my feet
and the good feeling that movement brings throughout my body, the pain disappears. And when I did this during my 17th
& 18th mile yesterday, the pain disappeared and I was
encouraged. I knew at that moment that I
could’ve completed all fifty kilometers by staying in that mindset.
Do not underestimate the
power your mind plays over your body – EVER.
For those of you interested,
a link to the map of yesterday’s run
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