Sunday, February 26, 2017

Learning From Doing: Part 2

Hey running friends! It's February 26 and, coincidentally, today's long run was 26 km. One word to sum it up: ouch. But I had a few thoughts to keep me going which I figured I'd share with y'all here.

Garbage in, garbage out
Today's run was pretty sluggish overall, which came as a surprise since last weekend's 23 km long run felt generally okay. The only thing I could chalk it up to was having a friend in town last week, which meant eating a little worse and drinking a little more than usual over a seven day average. I'm not saying my eating habits are great anyway (this body ain't no temple, that is for certain), but after slogging through the first 16 km, and then bonking hard between 17 and 19 km this morning, I figured my poor nutritional habits from the last few days probably played at least a small part. 

Run the tangents
My GPS map from the Royal Victoria Marathon in 2009:
the longest distance I have ever run in my life. Ever.
I ran my first marathon in 2009. A marathon distance is, of course, 42.2 km. My actual distance covered in that race, based on my Garmin GPS data: 42.7 km. That's right - a whole half a km more than necessary. Ever since then, I've learned to run the tangents: the shortest distance or line in the curves/corners. Around every bend and every curve, I reevaluate and change things up to make sure I'm running the shortest distance possible for that route because - let's face it - these long runs are ass kickers and I don't want to be running any longer than absolutely necessary.

Love those hills
Okay, so maybe "love" is a strong word. But I'm a firm believer that every hill, while daunting, is a moment of fantastic opportunity - to set a new goal e.g. to jog or run the entire hill without stopping, to refocus one's position in a race e.g. to try and pass someone up ahead, or to decide what you're made of e.g. to walk or run. Next time you find yourself looking upwards at another bridge or incline, instead of thinking, "Oh holy jeebus", try thinking, "I'm gonna own you." It's an attitude adjustment, for sure, but you might just surprise yourself in how you approach that hill. If nothing else, remember: for every up, there's a down. So, there's that to look forward to. Right? Ahh, the yin and yang of running.

Today's run: 26 km long run. Weather: started out around 2°C and overcast, but warmed up to about 6°C with scattered sunshine by the time I was done (yup, I'm pretty slow). Feeling: tired but good. Looking forward to the distance backing off next week... "only" 19 km scheduled for the long run, yippee!

2 comments:

  1. I'm going to start using "Oh holy jeebus" in casual conversation. Don't worry, I'll credit you! :)

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    Replies
    1. Ha ha, I'm looking forward to hearing you say it!

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