I have been dreading running lately.
There. I said it. It seems like as soon as I signed up for the Half, I stopped enjoying what I was doing.
Then yesterday, I had a great run. I was doing hill repeats -- and I had a great time. I felt strong, I was able to push faster and harder than I thought I could, and at the end, I had this amazing cool-down run. I'd been doing the repeats up a hill, and walking on the way down. After my last interval, I started jogging on a flat level -- and it felt like I had discovered the "turbo boost!" button. My legs had gotten used to working at a certain level to propel me up the hill, and when I engaged them to push me forward on flat ground, my muscle memory kicked in without me knowing it, and I had this unexpected boost of speed and energy. It was crazy cool! I burned it off in a minute or two, and then I felt like normal, but man, that was SUCH a cool feeling. It made me realize I actually AM getting stronger, and all this training IS having an effect. I am SO looking forward to my next run now.
It also made me realize why I haven't been looking forward to running lately. Its getting really hard! I've been pushing and pushing myself, either through distance or heat or fatigue. It takes a lot to get through those runs, and then there's the recovery. The first workout after a hard run is generally not fun.
I was forced to take an extra day of rest this week because we had an earthquake. You might have heard about that. I was JUST about to go down to the treadmill at the gym when it hit, and we were all forced to evacuate the building. Which means I got stranded outside for 2 hours wearing heels. Ugh.
So it took an earthquake to teach me this little lesson (I might add, this is not a new lesson, but one that I seem to need to relearn over and over): rest is just as important as effort. Without the rest I need, I feel like crap, and that affects not just my physical performance, but how I feel about running and taking care of myself in general.
I also learned that hill repeats are awesome, and I HAVE to keep them in my normal training rotation. That turbo-boost feeling is AWESOME.
Hill repeats are friggin hard! I'd be doing...NONE of those during my training days here on "Did you feel the earthquake" long island. I have those days when I hate that I am training but I also know its what gets my lazy butt out the door. I am going to post soon...tried all types of compression shorts and chose a pair I really like!...highly suggest even if you wear just after (because they are pretty damn tight ;)
ReplyDeleteYou are going to be faster than you think you are in September...I can feel it. Best part is you are going to finish and you questioned that in the very beginning...remember?!?!