09/22/07: Swim, a lSd run, and Focus

Thursdays swim went ok, although the unfotunate combination of bad thai food and chlorine didn't go over so well....

Got in 2850 yds

wu: 200 swim, 100 kick, 50 pull

4x100 on 2'15"

4x25 sprint

16x25 kick on 45" (on stomach odds, on side evens)

3x200 (kick 100 swim 100)

8x50 descend 1-4 and 5-8 on 30" ri

3x200 descend

cd: 50

My stomach was a total and complete mess, so I skipped the hour run afterwards

This morning was a lSd run (long SLOW distance), and it was SLOW. For whatever reason my legs felt like lead weight, and I could just never get going; plus, my heart rate was much higher than usual, in zone three for almost the entire run...except for when it was in zone 4 for the last 1/2 hour or so.

I ran the first hour straight through, and did last 1 1/2 hours using a 9/1 (run 9, walk 1). Even with the 9/1 strategy, I continously wanted to stop and walk. That's the part where the workout shifted to mental training more than physical.

To keep my focus on positives instead of negatives (have you seen the secret?) I started continously asking myself "How can I enjoy this run even more right now?" Although I can't quite say I ever got to the point of enjoying today's long run, constantly asking that question at least kept me from focusing on the suffering....

The other thing that kept me going every time I wanted to stop and walk (which was a lot) was asking myself if I was going to be in more pain if I kept running....since the answer was no, I kept running.

Just to make the mental workout complete, I got back to my car with 165 minutes to go, and REALLY wanted to stop....after all, 2:15 is close to 2:30, right? DING...No, but thank you for playing....I kept going for the remainder, even though my HR skyrocketed to the top of zone 4 for the last 10 minutes or so....which is interesting, since my pace had slowed to 11 something minutes per mile....some days it's there, some it's not....this was a definite NOT....

Overall I got in 13.98 miles in 2:30, for a 10:44 average...not horrible, although considerable slower than usual.

Time for a quick (or maybe not so quick) nap before doing 4k in the pool.

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure....