As I ran in from my 4.38 mile group run this morning I was extremely proud of myself. I pushed my lungs but not my legs. It always amazes me at how quickly the body loses its fitness level, especially cardiovascular health.
My goal was to turn around at the water station and I did, my goal was to slow down if I felt I needed to and I did.
I completed my run in 39:38. I finished sore but not in pain.
On a different topic; competitiveness
I have a problem with wanting to always compete. I do not like to be in the back of the pack anymore. My entire life, up until a year ago when I lost all this weight, I was totally fine with being on the sidelines or last or just finishing. Now every time I go out I want to do the absolute best I can do.
For me it is not about my last workout it is about the workout NOW. It is about today. If I don’t workout today then I don’t feel like an aspiring athlete. If I go out mentally easy then I feel like I’ve lost my mental edge.
Today when I went out I started out harder than I usually do because I’m tired of going out easy and feeling like I have make up my speed to lower my average pace. I’m always thinking “what do I want my average pace to be” If I want my average to be 9 min mile or under than I know I have to go out at no slower than a 9:15 because I don’t want to have to spend the last 1/2 of my workout going faster than I can handle to make up for a slow start. I know starting slower is important but I think I have, in the past, taken that a little too literally. Now I feel like I’m sprinting off the block.
So anyway, today I was told, “hey, yo, Mel, this isn’t a race”. In my mind it always feels like a race.
The clinic before the run today was on Mental Toughness, I’m thinking, I’ve got that but I don’t know if my body has as much as my mind. I’ve got so much to learn with my aspirations to become a long distance runner. I guess that’s life, always a learning process.
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