Training Day #4

I know...I had promised to talked about gear on Thursday (a rest day), but after a long week, I was so exhausted I simply went to bed. Friday, a cross-train day was derailed when one of my little guys came home screaming with an ear ache. We spent the evening at urgent treatment and thankfully were able to get some medicine to ease his pain and deal with the infection. But after several hours of caring for a little one, and not getting to settle down until well after 10 PM cross training was out of the question.

Saturday, my scheduled long run day turned out to be a bitterly cold day. I drug my feet getting out of bed, and eventually the day passed by me before I knew it. I desperately wanted to get outside and do my long run, so we choose to attend church Saturday evening, allowing me this morning to run.

The good news: It was warmer that Saturday and my new Garmin watch worked perfectly!

The bad news: No, you didn't miss anything in the good news. Today's run was hard. While the temperature was not as bitterly cold as Saturday, it was still a balmy 32. I was dress correctly, but the cold really hit me hard and as a result I struggled with my breathing. My other challenge, I started out fast. Much faster than I normally run. I even covered the first mile in 11:54. I also failed to plan to bring some water. Being that I usually drink something every mile, I was struggling. Thankfully, my husband came out looking for me and brought me water. It was just what I needed to push through the last mile.

So the details of my run.

My pace wasn't horrible when I consider that I'm only 4 actual training sessions back and how much I actually walked. I purposefully picked a course that had lots of hills to help get me used to race conditions.

One of the neat features my watch gave me was a graph of the elevation along with my pace. My goal as time progresses is for there to be less peaks and more consistent pacing. But I'm reminding myself, one day at a time. One day at a time.

And finally, for those interested in my splits. It's obvious that my overly energetic start caught up with me. I struggle with pacing myself because it always feels like I'm going too slow, but I'm learning that most likely, I need to be going slower to help build up my stamina.

The Hot Chocolate Run is just 35 days away. I'm struggling with the feelings that I'm never going to be able to get there. That I'm never going to make the progress I need to. But I'm also determined to finish, so I'm working on setting realistic expectations.

Until tomorrow!