Monday, July 23, 2012

There's a thin line...

...between mental toughness and stupidity. I ran that line today. I had one of the most horrible runs EVER. I think it was at a 12:00ish pace and I simply could NOT go any faster. My calves were in knots for the entire run. My quads and hammies aching with fatigue.

I stuck it out, but as I gimped through it, I realized that this exactly what I tell people not to do. Every time I had to pull off in the grass and stepped into a dip or on a rock, I realized that my calves were so tight that one stupid roll of my ankle could have strained or pulled anything and everything from my heel to my knee.

What did I get out of this painful, dangerous, painful, super slow run (yes, double painful)? Not much. Maybe I sweat of a couple of chocolate chip pancakes from yesterday, but that's but a drop in the big bucket that was my binge o' the month. Maybe the legs have gained a bit more tolerance, but it's the first week of training. Still have 11 more to build up the legs on days when I feel much better.

I think in order to be successful at achieving my goal for this next half marathon I have to train smarter. I need to adjust my schedule to make sure I don't have back to back hard run days and do a recovery run on Sunday to break up some of the lactic acid early on. No sitting all day snackin' just because it's supposed to be a day of rest!

I keep forgetting I'm not 20 Something anymore. I've got to be kinder to my aging limbs.

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