Friday, September 2, 2011

What Was I Thinking?!?

I have been overly tired for one too many days.  In addition, and for no reason I can understand, I have been dealing with severe itchiness in a few localized areas for about 3 days that has been driving me insane!  So when I woke up this morning, still feeling not-so-great, I just went back to sleep, not wanting to deal with either issue.  I finally got up and moving around 10:00, and took an allergy pill (which I know makes me tired, but I just couldn't deal with the itchiness anymore).  At that point I remembered something very important:  Today marks the beginning of Week 8 of Couch to 5K.  Might as well go for a run right?

So I decided to go for my run despite:  1-being tired, 2-having taken a pill which makes me even more tired, 3-it was already over 90 degrees outside, and 4-it being the day to add an additional .25 miles to my run.  Needless to say, it certainly was not the best run I have ever had.  Far from it, in fact.  I never take water with me on my runs, mostly because when I drink on my run, it tends to give me stomach cramps.  I decided that today needed to be an exception because of how hot it was, the fact that no ones sprinkler systems would be running (which I normally run through to cool off), and because I have been extremely thirsty the past few days.  The water turned out to be a lifesaver!  While I knew I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I have the past few runs, I was pushing myself as hard as I could today.  The sun was beating down on me, which I am not used to, and I poured a great deal of the water on my head to keep me cool.  I did drink a small amount of water, too, and I ended up getting stomach cramps the last .25 miles, but that was a small price to pay for being able to quench my thirst.

I pushed myself so hard I began to cry during my last half mile-in all my running in the past, I have never pushed myself hard enough to cry.  Crazy!  But I was determined that today was Day 1 of Week 8-and I was supposed to run 2.75 miles with no walking, and I was not going to let a few circumstances stop me from that.  Yes, I know I can be stubborn at times.  It will probably be the death of me.  If I was not already worn out, the run took the last little bit of energy I had left in me.  It took me 39:34 to complete my 2.75 miles, which, if my math is correct (for some reason, I am not certain it is today), that is a 14:23 per mile pace.  Certainly not my best run pace, but compared to two weeks ago, it is still a major improvement, and I will gladly accept it for the way I felt during my run.

My lifesaver today:

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