Mind over Matter

Well I got my first long run over with! Got up at 5am and ran 8 miles in the rain. It was KILLER. I really didn't think I was going to be able to finish. I was already dying after like a mile and a half! Actually running on real ground is SO much harder than running on a treadmill, and I forgot what a big difference there was. I was trying to keep up with my friend, but she was keeping a much quicker pace than I was. I just kept thinking that if she wasn't there, there is no way I would have kept going. I would have quit or at least walked the rest of the miles.

But then, I lost her. She had gotten up ahead of me and pretty soon I couldn't see her anymore. I figured, I've already lost her anyway, so why not start walking? But I didn't. I kept running. I think I needed that, because I needed to know that I was doing it for ME, not just to keep up with her. And I proved to myself that if she had not been there, I wouldn't have given up. I would have kept going.

Now, I did stop and walk a few times throughout. But at my best estimation, I would say I only walked a total of about 7-8 minutes, and no more than one minute at a time. In TWO hours of running, that's not too bad.  Still, I need to get better. I am giving myself some credit because this was my first long run and my first run off of the treadmill. But hopefully next week I'll be better.

It's such a mental thing. I just felt like I needed to stop so badly, but when I really stopped and a thought about it, even at the finish, I really wasn't THAT tired. It's just about getting your mind into a place where you know you can do it and just making yourself keep going. It's definitely not an easy thing.

But I did it. I really wasn't sure starting out that I would. It probably didn't help that I sort of got dragged out last night and only got 4 hours of sleep! Plus had a few too many glasses of wine. So next week, I am not doing that to myself! I am going to make it as easy on myself as possible!

After the run I got back in bed and slept for 5 hours. lol. While I'm not exactly happy about the 6am start time, it is kind of nice to go back to sleep and then wake up and feel like you have the whole day off from running, plus I take Sundays off, too, to let me body recover. So I basically feel like I have the whole weekend off. Sweet!

Anyway, I guess that's about it. I've continued to eat healthy the last few days, too, so I'm feeling good!