Thursday, August 18, 2011

What Happens When You Get Knocked Down?

"Did you go home and boast about your greatness after your 2 mile wuss out?" 
 - Rachelle of Running for Trevor "mocking me" after my horrible run yesterday

Don't think for a second that I was "offended" by Rachelle's comments!  That might have been my most favoritist comment that anyone has ever left me.  I literally "lol'd"!  Rachelle "gets" me, and I know she was just jabbin'!  Plus, Rachelle is one of my favoritist runner/bloggers!  You should check out her AMAZING reports of SPEED on her blog, but more importantly read about her amazing story and why she runs.  She's awesome! (Yes, I know favoritist is not a word.
 But Rachelle was right ... I did "wuss-out" after two miles on Wednesday.  I was energy depleted, dehydrated, it was humid, excuse, excuse, excuse!  In the past, when I've had huge failures like that, it would really bum me out and I might really slide the next couple of days ... but not this time baby! Today was different! 

I really feel like I'm in a good groove right now and getting stronger and faster than ever.  So I got right back on the ol' "workout horse", and ran 10 miles this morning in Ankeny, IA - which is awesome because it's flat!  I had a tempo run scheduled and wasn't sure how it would go ... but here are the splits:

9:21,  8:11,  7:53,  7:17,  7:10,  6:45,  6:55,  7:13,  6:48,  7:13
Avg HR 162 (a little higher than I would have liked, but it was pretty humid)

Even though they were kind of all over the place as far as pace, the last seven tempo miles were at an average pace of 7:03 ... which is right were I want to be right now for the "lowish" amount of effort I seemed to be running with.  I felt really fluid and smooth and I'm running almost 95% pain free these days - which is nice!  (I still have a little soreness below my right butt cheek in the top of my hamstring.  But it's getting better!)

This evening, I got 7 more miles in with a nice smooth recovery run, for a total of 17 today.  So far for the week I have 70 miles with an 18-20 scheduled back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday.  I've been averaging 80-90 miles for the last few weeks and I feel great!  Hydrating and refueling are the biggest challenges, but overall my energy level is fine!

I know I'm getting stronger as a runner, but yesterday's disaster of a run was a good life lesson I guess. Not that anyone is gonna learn much from me.  But we're gonna get knocked down from time-to-time. Our character is revealed by how long we stay down.  Hopefully I'm gaining "character" as a runner and not staying down as long ... even though most people would probably define me as just a "character"!
... be great today!

11 comments:

  1. That pain in your right butt cheek is probably from Michael kicking you in the ass earlier in the week ;D

    Seriously though, glad you're getting some good runs in....that's some serious mileage!

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  2. You are putting in some amazing training, well done! I find I seldom eat enough while in heavy training. Fueling enough is the key to "keeping it going". You are doing great!

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  3. Ankeny may be flat but Des Moines is a different story... Good thing that you have hills to train on in KC.

    Jackie (in Des Moines)

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  4. Ankeny may be flat but Des Moines is a different story... Good thing that you have hills to train on in KC.

    Jackie (in Des Moines)

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  5. Ankeny may be flat but Des Moines is a different story... Good thing that you have hills to train on in KC.

    Jackie (in Des Moines)

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  6. There's nothing wrong with a "wuss" 2miler. That was just your body telling you it needed a break. I'm sure it thanks you for listening and will only get stronger and faster. Way to not let your ego get in the way of listening to your body.

    Keep up the good work. Your blog is soooo motivating.

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  7. ha ha I am glad you did not take offense to my comment because I was totally messing with you. Thanks for your kind words. Your blog inspires me in so many ways and I always look forward to your updates. You don't just blog to blog like so many out there, rather there is meaning to every post and I appreciate that.

    Great workout and good luck with your double 20-milers. Go slower than you normally would even if you want to go fast. Save your legs for the actual races.

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  8. Rachelle is one of my favoritest runner bloggers too!

    Great job on the ten. Nice redemption for the two.

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  9. Oh, oh. I could actually hang with you for the first mile. Then I'd eat your dust. The 9's are where it's at!

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  10. And I thought that this post was going to be about some old school "Tub-Thumping" (isn't that the song about getting knocked down and up again?) Oh never mind...

    I think we learn the most for the runs that don't go so well. You my friend, are right on track!

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