Getting back on track following a recent illness has been more difficult than I’d like to admit. Last Saturday’s long run was a measly six miler. My legs felt like lead and they wouldn’t “turn over” quickly. This week I made it to the gym twice for weightlifting and I completed two three-mile run sessions in my neighborhood. Today’s scheduled long run was a 12-miler. I was underwhelmed at the thought of running that many miles but with a half marathon only three weeks away it had to be done.
The alarm jolted me out of bed at 5:40. It takes about an hour…and massive amounts of coffee…for me to become alert enough to run, or operate machinery such as my car, or speak in complete sentences. So it was about 7:30 before I arrived at the YMCA. There are many trails near the Y and when I run 10 to 12 miles I often do so in that area and patch together a long course using the various paths.
I knew it was going to be a long morning as soon as I turned on my Garmin GPS watch and discovered my pace. Today was an unseasonably warm day in gracious Nashville and the heat got to me a bit. As with most Saturdays, I had commitments to keep and errands to run later in the day. My slow jog in the heat was stressing me out. How would I accomplish everything if I was spending the first half of the day running 12 miles?
About four miles into the run, I decided to go with the flow and let the rest of the day take care of itself. This was my longest distance to run since doing a half marathon in mid March. I recently missed nine consecutive days of exercising due to the above-mentioned illness. It was hot outside. It was time to cut myself some slack.
I eventually covered the 12 miles. When I hopped crawled into my car I discovered the heat index was 81-degrees…the warmest day of the year. I’m not yet acclimated to warmer temperatures (no one here is), so I’m just going to feel grateful that I was able to run my training plan’s prescribed distance.
Mission accomplished, slowly but surely.
482gr8 