I Want You to Love the Run Today!

(You probably don't care too much but I have to say it anyway. I wrote a post very similar to this one last night already and then, when it was all ready to be published, I lost it. It was gone. Just like that. I was extremely pissed. To say the least. I went to bed even earlier than usual and, before my head hit the pillow, I declared out loud: I am not going to let this defeat me!!! So here I am again:) 

 

I love it when Coach M tells me how I am supposed to feel during a certain workout. It is usually the run since running is mentally the toughest for me. Her orders for Saturday's brick run were as follows:

Focus on feeling strong. 

I want you to love the run today!

You are strong and you can run. 

Hit the pace! 

Ok. Will do. No problem. I am going to hit the pace or at least die trying. But wait!?!  What if I don't feel strong? What if I feel weak? How can I force myself to feel a certain way? What if I happen to dislike the run? Or not even feel like running at all? I decided to just forget about it since worrying was not going to help anything. Once I got to the run, I would just see how I feel. 

This is how Saturday went: 

Since I missed out on last week's 50*100 meters in the pool, I was more than happy to accept Coach Liz's (who was also out of town then) invitation to our own 100s party this morning. I am so happy to report that time flew by and before I even knew it we were done! It was not nearly as hard as I thought it might be. Maybe because we did not swim super fast and I was drafting the whole time... A nice guy offered to move over so I could have my own lane but I declined: No, thanks. I'll just draft behind Liz. And that's what I did. Liz happens to be the... Holy cow! I just did some research to get my claims right and... WOW... I mean: I knew Liz is an amazing swimmer and coach but little did I know that she is a 15-time national champion and former world record holder! Good thing she did not really swim at all last month or she would've been lapping me once every 100 meters. Yikes! I'd better shape up during Masters. 

Afterwards: whole-wheat crêpes à la Karl. This time (unlike last time) the boys actually left some for me! Lucky! 

Followed by: playing/cleaning/skateboarding/ice chipping with the boys while Karl works out.

 

Then it was time for my 'little' brick. Temperatures were above 40 and it was sunny, so I had no excuse to stay indoors. Or so I thought! I bundled up (or not) and headed outside - only to be greeted by a rather strong winds. Still in the parking lot, I seriously considered turning around and packing my bag for the gym but then remembered that my training log is called What Headwind?!?** for a reason. So I went on pretending that there was not any wind for the next (almost) 3 hours. It worked rather well. By the time I got home, however, I was done pretending. So I did pack my bag after all and headed over to the treadmill. 

The good thing about the treadmill: you just punch in the numbers and hang on. Much easier to hit the pace than outdoors. I had to choose between staring out the window or watching a movie. Since the first option was not going to be conducive to feelings of love, I went with the movie. Now I am not sure if I was loving the movie or the running. Either way I was feeling some sort of love. That should count, right? 

The bad thing about the treadmill: I was clearly being a wimp. If I was strong, I would be running outside. Braving the conditions. Honestly, at this point I did not care too much. It was Saturday afternoon and I had logged more than 20 hours of training that week already. I just wanted to be done and spend the rest of the weekend with my family! 

I was sure that Coach M would give me another chance to focus on feeling strong soon. And she did! Today!  

I could write a novel on that workout as well but let it suffice to say the following: After my warm-up I spent 5 minutes in the bathroom of the gym giving myself a nice little pep-talk and trying to convince myself that Coach was not actually trying to kill me. Then I found a computer with internet to double-check the workout. Then I called Coach M to triple-check. Just in case. Her words of wisdom: If you are not dead after the 3rd set, then repeat the 2nd set. Oh. Ok. Thanks. That won't be necessary... But it was! I repeated the 2nd set, went to boot camp, did some P90X, stretched and foam rolled until I was late to pick Max up from preschool! What a morning! It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes: 

What lies behind us and what lies before us 

are tiny matters compared to 

what lies within us. 
- Emerson

PS: Yes. These pictures are supposed to say something like: I always love running when on trails. I feel stronger on trails than on the road. But, unfortunately, I can't hold any sort of pace on trails. I am considering being an ultra runner in my next life. My next life might start when I am in my 50s... 

** Who knows what book this is from?