There.I said it.
Hate me if you want. Scream at me if you will.
Running? Hate? Your anger level is probably slowly creeping up the veins in your neck right about now. You probably want to tell me those words don't belong in the same sentence.
But I said it. So there.
Yesterday's 16 miler was epicly bad. Horrendous. I hated almost every step of it. By mile two I was ready to call it quits. By mile 9 I hated life. WHY?
(Photo credit)
I almost wished it was because my knees hurt. I almost wished it was because I was still sick. But no. The body was feeling as good as it possibly could. My lungs were 95% better. The weather was good. I had James to keep me company.
So why?
Yes, running against the wind for 90% of the run didn't help. Not having run a long run for over a month didn't help either. But it wasn't that.
I can't figure out why it was just SO DARNED BAD yesterday. I just mentally clocked out 2 miles in. I could not stay in the game. I just kept thinking about the horrid wind, how I had another hour of running left, how slow I was.... basically just downright being a Negative Nancy. And for no good reason. Seriously, like every step was a struggle. Curse words were shouted. A LOT of breaks were taken. Somehow..... I managed to pound out every damned last step of the run, all 16 miles of misery.
I know that you can't have a good run every time. I know you have to live through the downright atrocious ones to truly enjoy those fabulous runs. But still.... Gosh. All I can say is, I'm glad it's over and I know next week's run is going to be an improvement compared to this one!
How do you deal with mentally challenging runs? Do you have any advice on how to stay motivated through the tough patches? Have you ever wanted to throw in the towel?
Well. Now that all of the negative memories have been spewed out and purged, I do have to apologize for being such a wuss. I'm not giving up on this crazy running journey any time soon. It's just that it's so darned hard sometimes!
And besides this running catastrophe, I did have quite the pleasant weekend.
I took my new bike out on its maiden voyage! It was the first sunny day we had in over a week, and you bet I was out that door faster than you can say "crotch burn"! (haha)
Since I don't really have any "cycling clothes" yet, I had to improvise:
Don't laugh.Yes, those would be running shorts (the only pants I own that doesn't have a crotch seam), leg warmers, an orange long-sleeved tech shirt, Target jacket, and Dollar-Store gloves. Stylin'.
I am getting legit gear soon; gloves for sure and some cycling shorts. I'm debating weather to get Tri shorts or cycling shorts though. I currently have $$ for only 1 pair of shorts. Since I plan on triathloning it up soon, should I just go with the tri shorts and get cycling shorts later? or Vice versa? hm....
I also got out for dinner Sunday night too, with James and my brother. I don't eat out like.....ever, but it's nice to have a bomb meal every once in a while. We went to this cute little Italian place in Montecito called Piatti, and HOLY COW!
'Twas some of the most orgasmically good food I've had in a while. Serious grub. Braised short ribs, anyone?
And just to prove that I'm not always sweaty and gross:
(My younger brother Alex, me and James)
Good food to forget the horrid 16 miler from a few hours earlier.Well, here's to hoping this week's long run goes much smoother! And here's to the last week of the first month of the new decade! Wow. Time sure does fly.
I hope you all have a great and lovely weekend ahead! I have some product reviews and another Feature Friday coming up :)
I'd suggest cycling shorts first. You could always suffer through a triathlon wearing swimsuit on the bike. But you'll really suffer on all of your training rides without the extra padding.
ReplyDeleteI've also found an unfortunate truth about cycling shorts, you get what you pay for. My first shorts for about $65 and were good. I tried a $30 pair to save money. Well, it was a waste of money. Then at some point I splurged, maybe with a gift card, and bought a $90 pair. The $90 pair is AMAZING! I know they have ones that go $125+, but I haven't ventured that expensive, yet. Good luck!
Ack, sometimes runs are just like that. I must say, that is the appropriate way to finish out the day with a run like that though, dinner and wine.
ReplyDeleteBig kudos for pushing through a HARD run. When that happens to me, I just try to break it down into small chunks. Sometimes counting steps helps, but sometimes it makes me go crazy. :p
ReplyDeleteSorry about the tough run. I don't have any advice, but I do want to say that I'm impressed that you pushed through it. That's an accomplishment in itself.
ReplyDeleteI have no advice on the shorts. I bike in my running shorts on the rare occasion that I bike...
ReplyDeleteI always feel way more accomplished after the toughest runs. Shouting curse words throughout the run, that's about the only way I cope, too. Way to push through it!
during mentally challenging runs, i count. i count foot falls, i count breaths, i count lamp posts. somtimes i don't anything but just say the numbers to be thinking about something other than how crappy of a run i am on.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for toughing out the run. I probably would have quit at mile 2! As for the shorts, I say get the cycling shorts first. You will need them for longer rides. Personally I prefer my cycling shorts to be a little longer so they don't ride up, but that could just be my legs. However you do get a wicked leg tan line!
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad, everyone has a bad run every now and then. Next time you will go out and be just fine. I love the pictures, you look very cute in your biking outfit:)
ReplyDeleteYeah, sometimes runs suck. I just do what I think we all do, curse like a sailor and press on. Good for you for sticking it out. It's runs like these that let you know that YOU are a runner.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good weekend. And thanks for the kind words.
It's never fun when you are not mentally into a run! We all have it sooner or later. I mostly have it sooner :-)
ReplyDeleteYou take the good, you take the bad, put them both together and have the facts of life... Isn't that how the theme song goes? It's so true though. We have bad runs to appreciate the good ones and if we always had good ones we'd never appreciate the accomplisment of overcoming a bad one. Just keep running... Just keep running...
ReplyDeleteI look silly when I ride my bike too. I need to invest in some gear!
I've had some bad runs! I had an epicly bad 16 miler this past summer. It was awful- i hated my life every step of the way but eventually i made it through- it was done and it hasnt been quite that bad. The bad runs make you appreciate the good ones & they also make the good ones that much better! :) u look cute in your biking gear! :)
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