Monday, August 31, 2009

When It Feels Right...

...you just go for it. And that's what I did on Saturday! I've been sick of all the downtime the last month or so, so I finally just went for it and finished my 20 miler on Saturday. I decided to do a couple shorter out-and-back routes so that if something went wrong, I wouldn't be too far away from the car.

Turns out things went great! I completed my run just 1 minute 22 seconds over my goal, which isn't bad considering this is the first time I've really had to deal with any bonking at all. I was actually under my goal by about 15 seconds until the last 3 miles where I started to lose about 30 seconds per mile or so. I just couldn't go any faster! But hey, at least now I can say that I've been there, done that, and dealt with the adversity. It was really more of a mental game than a physical one, though. Gives me a greater respect for the guys/gals that have to deal with this type of mental toughness on a regular basis. Really though, the lesson I've learned over the course of the last few weeks, is that I need to listen to my body, instead of my head. My head, I've decided, is the devil's advocate!

When I woke up on Saturday I felt good. As my run went along I began feeling stronger. My head told me to stop once I hit mile 12 (turnaround point when I was back at the car), but I didn't. My sinus was burning at mile 15 when I choked on a Shot Blok, then coughed a chunk up the back of my throat and into my nasal cavity. My mind was telling me no, but my body was telling me yes! (for you R. Kelly fans out there, lol). My body was pissed that I had depleted it of energy by mile 18, and my head was telling me to stop... My legs wanted to keep going though, and so I did.

At the end of it all, I was a little sore, sure. No major pains however, and the mental high I was on more than made up for minor aches in my body! Can't wait to do it again! Just with more gels instead of Shot Bloks next time ;)

1 comment:

LYDIA said...

I don't see nothing wrong... with a little bump n grind