Running this past week has had its ups and downs. Last Tuesday I challenged myself to do my first cluster run. I ran 4 miles in the morning followed by another 4 miles in the afternoon. With Ragnar, I will have to run 3 legs of the race in 36 hours so it's important to start clustering some days together to be prepared. Tuesday was great; I ran into a friend along the way and while we didn't run the whole 4 miles we definately walked at a good pace. When I hit the trails a few hours later I felt great and completed the 4 miles at a reasonable pace. Cluster Run #1 done and checked off the list!
Then came Thursday, the weather was gorgeous and I couldn't wait to go running. The only problem was that once I hit the trail nothing went right. My breathing was off, my calves ached and my feet felt like they were encased in concrete blocks. Seriously, what was up with that? I took a brief break, stretched and started again. It was no better, I tried telling myself it was no big deal, I changed the music on my ipod, I thought of the reason I started running and the reasons I keep running. Nope...none of it worked. Thursday's run was a slog (a slow jog) and nothing I did made it better. I thought of all the reasons why it wasn't going right and I concluded that maybe the crazy life we've been leading the last few weeks had caught up with me. Maybe I didn't need to do everything by myself. Maybe it's ok to ask for help once in awhile. And maybe it's ok to have an off day, they've happened before just not recently.
This week is a new week and I put last week behind me. The only problem is I'm still hitting a brick wall. Nothing feels right when I run. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong but nothing seems to be jumping out at me. Maybe I'm not drinking enough water, maybe I'm drinking too much caffeine, maybe I'm not eating the right foods for fuel or just maybe the whole Easter debacle involving chocolate has caught up to me. But then again maybe having 2 daughters graduating in a matter of days and all of the planning and preparation that go along with that has just left me overwhelmed.
As I was reading a magazine yesterday I came across a quote that really struck a chord with me. "Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now."
So what's my plan? I'm going to add a little more positive thinking to my life and I'm going to face life with open hands because God can't take problems from closed fists. And I'm going to get by with a little help from my friends!
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