The Best Laid Plans

Not every run can be your best run, right? So you should not feel bad when a run does not go as planned, right?  Especially when you are overtired (from moving all week), dehydrated (despite the massive amount of water consumption), and feeling pain everywhere, how can you be upset with yourself, right?

This all makes perfect sense, and yet why do I allow myself to get so caught up in the fact that this morning's run was not everything I planned it to be.  I know that I am too hard on myself and need to take a step back and realize that I have had a great series of runs, pushing my body harder than it has ever been pushed before and now it is time to give myself a little bit of a break/rest, literally and figuratively.

Today, was the day I was finally going to get to run along the Charles again and I was psyched to run the 8 miles.  I woke up nice early but could already feel that I was still too dehydrated and that my nagging knee pain was still present.  But, of course, I was not letting this stop me, although I probably should have just given in and taken a rest day (G-d forbid, we runners listen to our body's and take the rest day even when our schedule does not call for it!)  So on we went and actually the first four to five miles were great. no pain whatsoever and despite the fact that the dehydration was awful and I was huffing and puffing a bit, I felt pretty good.  We ran 7:48, 7:35, 7:38, 7:49, 7:54.  But then we hit the dreadful stairs (up and down) followed by a long ramp down, my IT Band and knee would not have it = PAIN! The next mile, I felt it a long 8:17 mile. It was at that point that running buddy was like "I will meet you back here and I am going to run 2 miles fast" and proceeded to run two miles at 6:45 pace (yea, no problem! WOW!)  I meanwhile ran hobbled another mile, of 8:56.  It was more like run, stop, pain, ow, run, pain, eek!  Oh well, I knew it was time to stop, no 8th mile for me.   I am officially blaming all this on the move, more intense running, and my nagging knee (that's my story and I am sticking to it).  Oh well they can't all be great runs - earlier in the week had some decent, but tired runs (Monday 8 - miles in 1:02:15 and Thursday 5 miles in 38:45 - not my best but respectable).

Anyway, I need to take from this and learn.  Learn to listen to my body and when it wants to rest, REST and not be so hard on myself. I have been running faster and harder than ever before. So what if not every run is the best run. Oh well, that's life MOVE ON.

So that is what the goal is for today, plus lots of refueling, water drinking, and resting.  I am running a 1/2 marathon next weekend and it is my first race since Falmouth last year (for many reasons) so I would love to set at PR with a 7:50 pace, but if I don't, oh well, and move on!