Long, random thoughts

Why was 8 miles yesterday SOOOO difficult for me? I had a good night sleep Saturday night. I had food in my stomach (but not too much) and seemed to be fairly hydrated. I ran outside in 70-degree weather and the park was packed with other runners, walkers, bikers, and rollerbladers. It was an environment very conducive to being active. I have run many more than 8 miles in one afternoon before. I have felt better after wards than I did yesterday. WHY??? I came home discouraged that I could barely make my legs work the last mile and only ran 1/3 of what I’d run next week. I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong so that I don’t do it this week. So far I’m at a loss.

I was supposed to do 8 miles but could not find anyway to get to the park that would only be 1 mile so I ran 1.8 to the park, 6.2 around the park and 1.8 back for a total of 9.8. Considering I shorted myself 2 miles the previous week and a few weeks ago I was running over 10 miles twice a week, I figured it couldn’t make that much of a difference. I’m hoping that’s why I felt so terrible…..Can I say that’s the reason? Although I somehow managed to maintain 10 min/mile pace (it’s sick how consistent I am) I felt like I was barely moving for a while there. I finished at exactly 1 hr 36 min. BUT, I felt like it’d been 4 hours.

I wore a cotton T shirt and felt very uncomfortable after only 20 minutes, I did not wear my knee brace because I was wearing shorts and do not like to wear it when others can see it. On Friday I took my knee brace and turned in upside down and it worked great (so that the Velcro was on the outside of my knee). The last time, and only time so far, I wore my knee brace with shorts, the Velcro rubbed on the inside of my left knee something terrible. Not something I want to experience on 26.2 miles, so I experimented with running without the brace for 8 miles yesterday. Not a good idea. I will definitely be wearing it on Sunday. In fact I may get a new one as this one has seen it’s better days.

I’ve also been struggling with what to wear race day. Race starts at 7am. I’ll finish around noon. So, there is bound to be a variety of temperatures. Yesterday, I was out at around 11am, which is about when I’ll be starting the last leg of the race. I was comfortable in shorts and short sleeves, had it been not cotton. I’m gonna see how it feels at 7am every day this week and the re evaluate the situation. As of right now, I bought a short-sleeved dry fit shirt yesterday at TJ Maxx for $6 that I plan to wear with some of my tried and true running pants. The only problem is they were great for cold, windy, wet runs and I’m afraid they will be too thick for this run. I also bought shorts yesterday but I don’t like to show my knee brace. Should I suck it up and wear the shorts? Probably, but we’ll see. This week it’s going to be pushing 80. On Sunday they are calling for scattered thunderstorms and 68 degrees, PERFECT as long as it’s not lightening and there is minimal wind.

So this last week I’ve got some major mind control to work on. I need to prepare for a 26 mile run and then I can do a 26-mile run, right? Mind over matter is all it takes at this point.
Checklist for the week:

• Watch what I eat
• I think I can, I think I can
• Make sure what I plan to wear is clean and dry
• Get enough rest
• Positive reinforcements
• 3 more runs, 1 day of cross training to stay loose
• Remember this is supposed to be fun