Monday, September 1, 2014

Progress is progess. I think.

Here are how my runs have been lately.

1. Not happening
2. Amazing and awesome
3. Horrible

No middle ground.  If I get out at all, I either do fantastic and amazing and unicorns gallop next to me, or I make it a mile and sweat to death and wait for puddle-me to dry up and then I walk home.

Yeah.  I'm finished.
                                                                
Work BLEW UP in my face a bit ago.  A round of lay-offs that left more casualties than I was even prepared for left a small amount of people to do the jobs of...not a small amount of people.  Though, we're doing it, so I guess it can be done.  It's taken time to get things into a manageable rhythm but I did make it out for some runs of 5ish miles from time to time.  Not what I needed to marathon train, but at least I wasn't sedentary.  It does mean that I missed two long runs and I'll somehow have to find a way to get back in the swing of it.  If I wasn't too lazy to tab over to Garmin Connect I could confirm my longest run this month, but I'm pretty sure it was 10 miles.

How. Ev. Er! That particular ten miles that I am thinking of went swimmingly (as in hot and good, so ha!) and I rode the wave for a few days.  Broke my 10-miler record by 15 minutes!  Granted, I don't run 10 miles all that often. 

I've also broken 30 minutes for a 5k a few times now.  Almost enough where the excitement it wearing off when it happens.  Two months ago I started a race with an A-goal of sub 34 minutes and I killed it with a 32.  Now I'm all of a sudden thinking that 30 minutes could be my new normal.  That's the progress.

Endurance, however, is still something that I'm struggling with a bit.  Having little time to run and having that little time also occur during the HOTTEST AND HUMIDEST parts of the days make it seem almost unbearable sometimes.

Sometimes I get to run here.  Sometimes it sucks, but it's pretty enough that I don't care.
I realize that it's hugely mental.  When I peek at the humidity I can feel the doubt creep it.  I talk myself out of doing well.  I wish that I knew how to get over this hump, but I've not found a way to stop the doubt from creeping in. 

Hopefully fall comes sooner rather than later and the cooler temps help me stay cool and collected, too.