I've been running sporadically, but with little success in getting my long runs in. The longest I had run was 6 miles, and it was okay. Then I missed a weekend so no long run. I was sort of keeping up with mid-week runs, accomplished very little speed work, and even dropped some cross training. All of this on top of the fact that the few runs I had were mostly awful led me to believe that today's long run would be horrible. I was determined to complete it, even if it was miserable. And it was....
Awesome! Okay - I really felt it was going to be bad. It had all the makings of a bad long run. Seriously. What made it so successful? A few things:
- I finally paced myself. I started slow, let myself warm up, and then didn't let my pace get too fast. I really had the slow and steady mentality. It works!
- I focused on good form and just put one foot in front of the other. The new shoes helped with form as well.
- I didn't allow myself to think "if I make it to mile X, I can reward myself with a walk break". That's been a huge obstacle of mine, and I've suspected for some time now that if I could get rid of the mental blocks and challenges then running would be easier. This allowed me to run all 8 miles this morning. No stops!
Post-run I actually feel really good too. The only issue I have is my left heel is really tender again. I have got to see a doctor about it. This pain started around April, and it's not going away.
That's it so far. Hopefully this momentum keeps up!
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