Two Bad Runs Sandwiched Between a Good Run

The last few runs have been interesting. A good run sandwiched in between two bad ones! Well, when I say good that might be overstating it, but it was a run that made me feel a little bit like a runner again.

On Saturday, I ran two miles again. Yes, that's all I'm trying to conquer-the two mile run! It was awful. My legs hurt by mile one. They had been sore since earlier in the week even though I had used the foam roller on numerous occasions. I'm still not sure how someone gets THAT sore from two mile runs!

 During the run, I kept having flashbacks of the training program I took the first time I trained for the Indy Mini-Marathon. One of the instructors said, "The first week is the hardest. If you can get through the first week, you can get through anything." I remember that being true. I still remember that first week when I ran a mile, two miles, and another mile or two. I even tried eating cheese fries from Outback and then running one day during that first week. That certainly didn't turn out so well! Anyways, back to Saturday. I struggled through the entire run. Then, came the last tenth of mile. I know, I know a tenth isn't much, but it was a huge deal to me. For the last tenth, I turned the treadmill up a notch. Now, that may not sound so great, but I have been stuck in the same gear for over a year now. It is almost impossible for me to make my body go even a tiny bit faster so that was a huge deal that I was able to do that even if it was for a super short amount of time. Because of that, I was able to be okay with a bad run.

Then, Sunday came. I didn' t stop for the entire first mile. Again, this may not seem like such a big feat for most people, but I was ecstatic about this considering I had stopped 4 or 5 times the last couple runs. It even felt good as I was running; maybe it even felt easy! Even better, instead of raising the speed on the treadmill the last tenth of a mile, I was able to raise it up for the last five-tenths of a mile. And, then for the last one-tenth, I even pushed it a little higher. This particular two mile run made me feel like I had just qualified for Boston! I felt like what I heard a few years ago about the first week back was absolutely true and I was on my way into week two where it might get a little bit easier.

Today, I intended to go to the gym to cross-train at my favorite spin class. I headed out the door, looking forward to working out, but not running. Then, I couldn't find my lock for the gym locker. After spending ten minutes looking all over for it, I realized it was too late to leave for the gym if I wanted to make the class. Thanks new January people who sign up for my weekly class thirty minutes before the scheduled time even though you won't be there in a month! So, that meant I had to run my big two miles again. I wasn't mentally into the run today, but I did it anyways. It would have been SO easy to just do nothing tonight....so easy. I was very proud that I got miles in when I didn't want to. It was a hard run. I stopped at least three times. I only went faster the last one-tenth, but I was also proud that I did that because I did NOT want to. My mind is starting to let my body know who is in charge!

Three days. Three different runs. Two-thirds of those runs weren't good, but I still feel like things are going in the right direction. This road is a long one...