Remember when I said that my motivation was directly proportional to the temperature outside?
Well, apparently my suffering is also directly proportional to the temperature outside.
If the temperatures are bitterly cold, I have no motivation, but at least the run itself is pretty easy.
If the temperature outside is a beautiful, sunny 60-degrees or higher, I have all the motivation in the world to go out in it. But then I must endure the most miserable runs of my life, as my body struggles to understand how to run long distances in heat (which I am obviously not used to doing).
Needless to say, my two shorter runs this week were actually pretty difficult, considering the soaring temperatures and the beating sun. (I will interject here that I LOVE the springlike weather we’re having…when I’m not running, that is.)
I am happy to report though that our long run yesterday was fabulous; we had perfect, overcast weather (50 degrees with a slight breeze) and my body felt like it could fly, I had so much energy. Basically, it was night and day different than my 18-mile run last Saturday, which left me feeling defeated and broken.
It’s funny how three miles can make such a difference.
High of the Week: Coming off of my 15-mile run and discovering that I’d run the entire thing at a faster pace than normal (I always just shoot to finish the long runs without stopping–I don’t even focus on speed). Oh, and catching up to Matt during the long run yesterday at Mile 10. That felt pretty amazing (of course, he’d stopped at the gas station to take a bathroom break, which bought me a few minutes). I’ve discovered that I definitely have good days and bad days for running, and I am just praying that marathon day will catch me on a good day.
Low of the Week: Running in the sun was so difficult for me to get used to–I was constantly thirsty, and I felt like my body weighed 300 pounds. Of course, that fact might also have been due to my body still recovering from last Saturday’s 18-miler, but still…
# of Miles Run: 25
Avg. Time Per Mile: 9 minutes, 45 seconds