Week 2 of training went surprisingly well and was actually enjoyable. I was only supposed to run 20 miles total but ended up running 22 miles. I had some really good runs with Mogul and Sarah. Sarah would accompany me for part of the way and then peel off. Mogul stuck with me the entire way and kept telling me that he wanted to go faster. Go figure...if only I had four legs maybe I'd be four times as fast, too.
Yesterday I started Week 3. I have already passed my projected mileage so I will try to take it easy. Tomorrow is a rest day (supposedly) so we'll see how that goes. I have been frequenting Salt Lake Running Company and trying not to spend my entire paycheck there. I picked up some Hammer Recoverite to help my muscle soreness and recovery. It seems to have really helped. Strawberry flavor was not so delicious, don't buy it. I tried chocolate today and it was pretty good, actually. I have yet to try orange but have a feeling I'll stick with the chocolate.
Today I realize that when I train, I'm not just training and strengthening my muscles, but I'm training my mind just as much, if not more (Yeah, yeah, who knows why it took me so long to actually understand this). Today I ran six hilly miles. I was thinking to myself, if I can run 6, I can run 7...If I can run 7, I can run 8. I've been actually training my mind the entire time! As everyone has said, this whole running ordeal is 90% mental. So if I just get out and do the run, I have strengthened my mind for the next big run. Even those days where I'm sore and the weather is crappy and I just want to vegetate on the couch, if I just get out and run, even if it's not as far as I'd like, I've conditioned my mind for the next time I run and I am more motivated for that. It'll all seem easier for me if I remind myself how much I dreaded running the other day and "Today is beautiful and I feel great, so get on it and go!" I like to take advantage of those moments when I feel full of energy and I feel like I could run forever. For those times when it feels like I'm stuck in a cement mixer, I just gotta do my best and use the fact that I got out and did it to propel me into my next run.
I did end up with some goofy blisters on my big toes. The first one started on my right foot, and today I got it on my left. It could be the socks (even though they're expensive running socks) and it could be the shoes (little did I know my toe nail cut into my other toe and my shoe was covered in blood from the inside out. I realized that about 4 hours after my run when I thought a choke cherry, or something similar, must have splatted on it when it was, in fact, my own blood). I really think it's just like getting callouses for playing guitar and getting your fingers used to the strings. The blisters were on the inside where my second toe was rubbing against the inside of my big toe...maybe my feet were just squished from the shoes...I have no idea. It's a good excuse for a new pair anyways :)
Anyway, I'll continue on into Week 3 with a goal of 22 miles (which I already did last week but I was an over-achiever last week).
All the best and Happy Holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment