Running Continued

I am living in a constant state of DOMS from excessive lunges, squats, burpees, and jumping in strength class.  However, if constant muscle soreness is any indication of improvement in my present physical condition, I can only believe that in 6 more weeks I will have become a stronger athlete.  Until then, I will have to hold back my lame excuses at swim practice and look alive and happy while my sinking butt is getting handed to me.  

I have made it to 4 miles running- and I am killing it with a 10:35 pace.  Yep, like a big bonk at mile 22 of a marathon, except I am not bonking.  The success, though, is not about pace or distance- it is the fact that I can run 4 miles now and not absolutely dread it.  On Thursday of this week, I forced myself outside in the cold, dark, rainy night for a run.  I told myself I would love it like I used to and to heck with everything else.

Why is this significant?  Training log 2009- running:

March 15- Injury

Remainder of March- 0 miles

April- 6 miles...for the WHOLE month.  

May- progress, I ran a total of 4 miles one week, 5.5 miles one week, and 6 miles one week.  

you get the picture.  The rest of the summer looked basically the same.  A 2-miler here, a 1-miler there, until I just stopped trying.  

Last time I attempted 4 miles?  July 8.  Training log reads:

Run:  4 miserable, painful miles.  

So, when I finally realized that it had been almost 8 months since I had run 4 miles, I perked up.  My training log this time did not have the words "painful or miserable" in it.  Progress!

I am really trying to block out that voice that says "you used to run at such and such pace.  how will you ever get back to such and such time in a race?"  Blah blah blah.  That negative voice can be so overwhelming!  

The negativity just makes the task at hand seem even harder, and the solution is relatively simple.  With time and hard work, I will reach my goals.  Thursday was one of the first days I felt decently successful at just getting out there and running without dreading the slow pace or the overwhelming feeling that comes along with the task at hand.  I was just running, and that was good.  I didn't have to stop every half mile to stretch.  I wasn't paranoid with every little twinge.  I didn't walk home crying.  

This weekend I plan to run a little bit on the trails and solve all of my problems- as I tend to do on a good run.  I will solve yours too, probably.  For some reason I seem to forget the answers, though as soon as I stop running.  Maybe that is why we are compelled to run more..and more...and more....

To hopefully be continued....