Got my a** kicked today!

Today, I had scheduled an 11 mile GA run. I decided last minute to run it after work and was debating last second about whether or not to run the hilly route or the safe, easy treadmill option. Last night, I went out to eat with Lisa at her favorite Chinese resturant (she loves stir-fried szchewan string beans). The food tasted great, but all day today, my stomach was not feeling good, plus, I got a horrible night's sleep (only 4 hours). So, I was thinking that maybe I should just run at the gym so in case I wasn't feeling great, I could just bail on the run. The other thought on my mind was, 'just take a day off!' I hate when negative thoughts like that get in my head. I know that if I let that thought in, I'll start skipping workouts left and right. To give me some inspiration, I hopped on Youtube and watched the Rocky IV training montage. I love the music of his training and it always gets me going, especially on the early morning runs.

I decided to run the hilly route, figuring that once I got over the first steep incline, there would be no turning back, unless I would want to re-climb the same hill going in the opposite direction. Everything started out fine. The initial 3 miles were the climb portion and I was running around 8:45/pace. After that, it was downhill for the next 2 miles and my times sped up to 8:20/pace. Mile 6 and 7 were flat and I started to tire, running them at an 8:50/pace. Then mile 8 came. I knew that I would be climbing for a mile and tried to break it down into 10 0.1 mile chunks. I made it through the climb without stopping, but by the end of the mile, I was spent. I stopped to finished my Vitamin Water, walked a little, and then tried to pick up the pace to finish the last 3 miles.

By the time I was finished, I was done, defeated. No runner's high today, no
fast time, just a completed run . . . barely. The thoughts returned to head to quit the training and take a break. Tried to cheer myself up with a good cup of coffee and some dinner, but was still exhausted from the run. Listened to the song, "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. That helped. I think it's time to go to bed, call it a day, and start a new day tomorrow, forgetting about what happened yesterday. There's a great quote from the Bible that always helps me:

". . . forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal . . ."