Tempo runs aren’t my thing. I’m terrible at picking a
sustainable pace that is faster than my usual comfortable training pace. What
is this pace? I have no idea. I think this is why tempo runs aren’t my thing (On a
side note, whenever I hear tempo, I think of music. This makes me think of
band. I played the trumpet and wore a terrible outfit with a funny hat).
 |
| Not my finest fashion moment. |
But Thursday, after months of training, I finally rocked a
tempo run. I picked a faster pace, and I ran that faster pace for 45 minutes
(for a 60-minute total run). My average pace, including the warm up and cool
down, was 11:04. For me, this is downright speedy. And, I felt awesome.
After this rockin’ tempo run, I was ready for my 9-mile long
run on Sunday to be a breeze. I may have been ready for it, but there was no breeze. I felt
some kind of strange calf pain for the first half of the run. Then, my left
foot went numb. Strange.
During this time, my thoughts were:
“Why does my calf
hurt? Running sucks.”
“My foot is numb now.
Awesome. Running sucks.”
“I’m never running
another half marathon. Running sucks.”
You may notice a theme here.
But, I just kept running (which is what I’m sure you’re
supposed to do if you think you’re injured) and eventually it went away.
I stopped once to retie my shoe. I tried to put it off as
long as possible because I hate stopping. I’m always afraid I won’t start again
or I will want to keep stopping. But after retying, I restarted and didn’t stop
until I hit the 9-mile mark.
From about the 5-mile point on, my thoughts were:
“This is awesome.
Running rocks!”
“I love running, and
it loves me. Running rocks!”
“I can’t wait for my
next half marathon. Running rocks.”
Wide range of emotion, folks.
Hi! Thanks for following my blog. I love your turtle theme. It reminds me of this race shirt I always see at expos and will obtain one day that has a turtle on it and under it says I AM RUNNING. So perfect:)
ReplyDeleteI need that shirt!
DeleteOMG - this post just totally made me laugh! 1st off...the tempo run is supossed to push you...and not be exactly that much fun. I have mine tomorrow and the times are crazy fast...already dreading it kind of...and Im in Canada where it's really cold outside. 2nd - the same thing happened to me on Saturday with my 10 miler - weird knee pain and like you...I kept running. Like you...it went away. 3rd - I feel the exact same way about stopping - i feel like my legs are going to "lock up" and I won't get into my flow again. That is why I have started making myself stop and drink water at least once on all my long run days. It's been hepling..alot. I'm not as scared of stopping and starting again anymore. Good luck girl...
ReplyDeleteEek! I don't do cold weather! Good luck on your chilly tempo run.
DeleteThat's a great idea about making yourself stop at least once. I think I need to start doing that! Thanks for sharing.
ha ha! I think that's how a lot of us feel at times. Love it, hate it and on and on. Way to push through on an awesome tempo!
ReplyDelete