« Interesting Factiods from the HRM | Main | Week in Review: 1/30 - 2/5 »

February 07, 2006

The Surprise Run

So here's the thing about working with a coach: you're accountable to someone else. You're paying someone to work with you, to build a schedule and a plan for you. In return, you follow the plan and report back with how things are going. The reporting back is all good and wonderful... until you miss a workout. On Sunday, I missed my long run for, well, for no good reason. I didn't get to it first thing in the morning, and then just ran out of time. By the time I was ready to head out, I only had an hour of daylight left to complete a 90-minute run. I headed to the gym, only to find out that they closed in half an hour. Crap. I put in a half-hearted 20 minutes on the treadmill, but it wasn't good at all. I was annoyed that I'd put off my run all day and missed it, and I was dreading reporting back to the coach and telling her that. It wasn't like I was stuck working all day, or had an appointment, or was kidnapped by aliens. I just didn't do it.

Thankfully, she was perfectly nice and understanding about it. Which, you know, I knew she would be. I was just too wrapped up in my self-flaggelation and feeling like I'd somehow gravely disappointed her to actually register that. Perhaps I need to relax a wee bit? (But, also, I need to make sure I get my long runs in first thing in the AM - the weather may not be forcing me to get up at 6 and run, but if I don't? It just doesn't happen. Am morning runner person. Must embrace this.)

Anyhow, I wound up staying up way too late last night. Which, really, is what I get for a) not doing my laundry over the weekend like I was supposed to and b) going to swimming last night instead of coming straight home and doing laundry. When I finally hit the hay at 11, I was not at all enthused about waking up at 5 to run this morning. As I was setting my alarm, I did a quick reality check and realized there was no way on earth I was going to get up at that hour, and reset the alarm for 5:30, figuring the extra half-hour of sleep would be a lot more beneficial if I wasn't getting up every 9 minutes to hit the snooze. As I went to bed, I don't think I was actually expecting myself to get up and go to the gym when the alarm went off. I think I really just set it so I could say I tried.

Sure enough, when the alarm went off this morning, I was less than excited. I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom, and as I stood there contemplating going back to bed and figuring out where in the day I could fit my run if I didn't do it now, I realized I was actually pretty awake. Definitely awake enough to pack up my gym bag and head to the gym. So I did.

Of course, when I got to the gym, I discovered what happens when you're rotating two pairs of the same shoe and you pack your gym bag before you've fully woken up: I had two right shoes. Oops. (Mental note: store pairs of shoes on opposite ends of room from now on.) This... was not a good sign. I didn't have time to go home and get the right shoes, and I wouldn't have time to do so after work. If I didn't run now, I wasn't going to get it in today. I took a look at the mismatched shoes in my hand. I took a look at the cross-training shoes I'd worn to the gym. Heavy, not very flexible... but supportive, and mostly appropriate for running. I was only running 4 miles...

I put my cross-training shoes back on, grabbed my walkman and HRM and headed up to the treadmill. I scoped out the TVs, picked a 'mill in a good location to watch the news, and turned my walkman on to get the sound. Then I turned it on again. And again. And then I realized the batteries were dead. No sound for me, apparently.

At this point, I pretty much expected the run to suck, as not much else had gone right this morning (I didn't even tell you about the pile of cat barf I found this morning... with my socked feet. At least I had socks on?). I didn't have the right shoes, I probably could have used another couple hours of sleep, and now I wasn't even going to get sound with my news - I'd have to read the closed captioning. I took a deep breath, pushed all these thoughts out of my mind, and started up the treadmill.

And you know what? Before I knew it, I'd cranked out the first mile. Then the second. And the third. And then the fourth. And then I was done. I couldn't believe it. The run that by all accounts should have sucked flew by and felt great. My HR was a little higher than normal, so I turned down the pace and incline gradually through the run, but that didn't bother me. I just kept running. (Also - would the fact that I wasn't as well-rested as usual be why my HR was a bit higher? It recovered just as fast as usual after the run - it was just a little high during.) Despite the hot spot I could feel forming on my right instep and the fact that running in those cross-training shoes is not an experience I'd like to repeat, I was glad I'd gotten up and gotten the run in. After stretching, showering and changing, I left the gym feeling absolutely fantastic.

Sadly, the post-exercise rush wore off right around noon, so this afternoon has been a little rough between that and the post-lunch slump, but that's OK. Because today, despite the setbacks, I got up, got out, and showed that treadmill who's in charge.

Yee. Haw.

Posted by Dawn at February 7, 2006 03:19 PM

Comments

Posted by: Dawn (aka Pink Lady) at February 8, 2006 06:57 PM