Run to Me

I'm trying really hard not to bore folks with my tales of the gym. Honestly though, what else do I have going on that isn't Shep / Sophie related?  

Sure sure........there's my drinking, but I am truly trying to limit that to weekends........for the most part. 

I'm kind of stuck on the running part. The lifting part, I think is starting to show results - but of course, not as fast as I'd like. 

Instant gratification takes too long. 

I can see improvements in my running. Daily now. But I'm smart enough to know that won't last, per se. 

On my 12 of 12 a few weeks back, I mentioned getting to a 12:13 mile that day. On a weekend, I made an hour run, which seemingly was unthinkable for me. Sure I was dead afterwards for about 10 minutes, but worth it. 

Still, it's my time and pace that keep going down. My 12:13 eventually got down to its lowest yesterday at 10:41.  That was with almost 4 miles I kept that pace.  And yes, I shared it with my friends. 

As it turns out, Morty has been holding back to give me advice. He's run like 113 marathons (I have no idea how many, but I'm assuming he'll correct me in the comments), so he knows from running. He did step up to tell me to take a day break after this last Saturday run. 

I set the treadmill for an hour, but mentally broke after 47 minutes. As I mentioned a little while back, focus and a strong mental state is as important to my success as the physicality. I find I have triggers that set me back or break me.  I'm aware of these but haven't fixed them. Or avoided them. 

When I mentioned this, Morty told me to take a day off. 

Honestly, this stumped me. Truly. 

I joked-texted him, "but who am I if I don't have my 10,000 steps done by 06:30?".  There is truth to humour though. I was joking, but I actually wasn't.  I am horribly competitive. I hate to admit it, but I am. Mostly with myself, but not always. 

The other non-joke joke was, if I stop for a day, will I ever go back to it?

I'm competitive, but I can kind of be a quitter too. 

Like that mental break I had in running, this was a bigger one. I shouldn't really have worried. 

The girls didn't join our Sundee call, so the boys talked a few things, including running. I told Morty I'd welcome his advice, I just didn't know what to ask. He was literally about to explode, after he knew he had a willing participant. For the most part, we talked about schedule:

Run my 30-45 minutes per (most) days during the week. Take at least two off (not in a row) and on weekends, maintain the pace I've worked up to for longer runs, but that's probably not the time to increase speed. 

I am smart enough to know that my now success comes in single digit seconds. I've shaved off 7:10 (ha! 710!) minutes from my first run when joining the gym. That's in less than four months, and almost  one of those months I didn't even run. That's a lot. More than expected. 

So when I got below the 12 minute mark, I would only drop maybe 15-20 seconds per run. Still not bad. I wasn't sure I'd break the 11 minute mark ever. But I hit 10:50, then 10:47, then 10:45. 

The day off, I think helped.  I wanted it to, but maybe I tried harder because I missed a day. Or maybe that was the point. So, I wasn't expecting to fun faster than my 10:45. I was just trying to make it through my 40 minute run. 

Damn if the guy six machines down didn't do his full cool down.  I know his pattern:  30 minute run; 5 minute cool down and out the door.  In my pea brain I figured I'd only have five more minutes of a run. I could do that. 

Stupid me looked at the timer when he got off his machine.  SEVEN MINUTES TO GO.  

I almost called it at the 35 minute mark, but I found a faster beat song and pushed through - and am glad I did. 

I am also smart enough - but have a fragile ego too - to know that I won't always keep at that pace and it will go up and down. The going up will mentally challenge me. I know in my head it is not backsliding, but it will be difficult to relay that to motivation. 

Now I have to figure out which days I'll take off from running.  That's my new challenge. 

I somehow mentioned to Mort that I'd run a race with him sometime. I have a feeling he'll hold me to that, and that is not a bad thing.  That my challenge after that last challenge. 

Song by: the Bee Gees