Running Has Been Hard Lately

I'm finding out that Sciral Consistency is a very powerful tool for getting things done. I have been using it for a month now. So many times, I have been dog-tired at the end of the day, and nevertheless have flossed my teeth, done 25 sit-ups, and worn my retainer ~ things I normally would say "No way. I'm too dog-tired to do this." I have even dragged myself down to the laundry machines or gone for a run, all because I don't want to get a red square the next day.

I'm doing really well at it! I have a few red squares, but those all date back to the trip to Wyoming. Once I got home, and got caught up on things, I have managed to stay on top of it. Because I have the kind of personality that likes to keep from getting red squares, at all costs.

Since I am back to school (but on my own), I added a task to my Sciral program: "Journal Day's Academic Progress." That means that every day, I have to write down in my beautiful lavendar notebook what steps I took to get my little scholar of a self closer to union with my masters degrees. I have to write something each day, even if it is "I didn't do a damn thing today." So far, I haven't had to write that. In fact, I am pretty pleased with what I have written. I've made a good start in this three-semester marathon of a project. I realize I've only gone a few steps, but it's early, and I'm on pace.

Since running has been hard lately, it's been kinda nice to have another Big Project, because I can use that to avoid having to run (just as I have used running to avoid having to do research or study). Yesterday, we had thunderstorms, and then it was humid. I was nice and cozy, inside, with my smart glasses on, doing a lot of reading. I knew I should be running. I had only done one short run all week, and there were only two days left in the week.

I have rules about running, and I was in serious danger of violating two of my own rules. I schedule four runs per week ~ two short, one medium, and one long. The first rule I was thinking about breaking is that I may skip one run per week, and it has to be one of the short runs. The second rule is that the long run is absolutely sacred. I can only skip that if I have a medical excuse, and then I have to worry about whether I can do the marathon.

So, as Saturday went along, and I was doing so well on my studying, it got to be 8pm, and I finally got my gear on and got out there, intending to do my long run ~ 16 miles. It was raining lightly, but then the rain stopped and it was just humid.

I got 4 miles out, and started rationalizing. I reasoned that if I turned around and made this an 8-mile run, I'd get home at a reasonable time, and I could call it a medium run, and I would be guaranteed to do a long run tomorrow (because the long run is sacred.) But if I continued, and made this the long run, I would get home at midnight, and would almost certainly not do a run the next day. So by running less for this run, I would end up running more. If I ran more this time, I would end up running less.

I turned around and made it an 8-mile run. It turned out to be the right decision. The rain came back, and it was rather heavy, and I stepped in a deep mud puddle, and it just wasn't pleasant.

So today came, and I was obligated to do the long run. Physically, running has been very hard in recent months, and psychologically, it has been even harder. The prospect of this 16-mile run felt like an ultramarathon. It really isn't all that far ~ but sometimes things seem more overwhelming than they actually are.

When you have a long run, there are ways you can make it seem more doable. Here are the things I did today. The run was still hard, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I was making it out to be.

1. Make sure there is good weather. This is the most important thing I did ~ I ordered nice weather. Just kidding. I was really, really lucky. It was perfect ~ around 60 degrees, and dry.

2. Pick a route that inspires you. Sometimes I am in the mood to do out-and-back, instead of looping around all over the place. I have about 3 miles of runnable terrain to the south, and 5 miles to the north. But I didn't want to do one loop, come back to the starting point, and do a second loop. That felt like two runs! So I drove down to the 3-mile point of the south loop, and parked in the hospital parking garage. From there, I could run 8 miles out, and then back. An added benefit is that it was uphill (mostly) for the first three miles, and therefore downhill for the last three! That helped!

3. Break the run up into segments. In the first mile, I mentally did the math. 16 miles breaks up into five segments of 3.2 miles each. Three-point-two is not very far! I just had to do that five times. I decided that for the 2nd and 4th segments, I would listen to music, and for the 1st, 3rd, and 5th, I would just listen to my own thoughts. That gave me intermediate points to aim for.

I further broke the 3.2-mile segments into 5-minute units. I used the timer on my watch, and had it beep every 5 minutes. When it beeped, I took a walk break of up to one minute. That was a good run/walk ratio for me. Even if I didn't feel like walking, I walked a little anyway ~ I really think it is the reason I have not had injuries. Most of the time, though, I wanted to walk ~ in fact, every time I started running, I thought "only 4 minutes until my next walk break." 16 miles is a long way, but 4 minutes is something I can handle.

I always have a plan when I set out to run. This time, I planned to run from the hospital to the place where I teach ~ that would be about 8 miles. But as I always do, I changed my plan during the run. I see a road, and I think "I wonder what's down that road?" and I take it. With a Garmin Forerunner, you can be spontaneous, and divert from your planned route.

I have never run down this road before, because of narrow shoulders. But it was still light out, and not much traffic, so I took the road. I thought this scene was kind of pretty.



My father-in-law said that they were going to outlaw this kind of round hay bale soon, because it was bad for cows. "A cow can't get a square meal!" he said.

To get to the 8-mile turnaround point, I had to run into this neighborhood, which I don't normally see.

Hey! Someone tell McCain! I think I found one of his houses! It has his name on it! I wondered if he knows about this one?



But then I saw another, and I realized I was in the Republican Ghetto. I'm just not used to seeing this kind of sign, and it confused me.

The new-to-me road also took me 'round the other side of a cemetery that is a site on my regular runs. I just haven't seen it from this angle. It's kind of pretty from this perspective ~ I'm not in a hurry to see it from underneath, though. This is mile 7.5, and I saw it again at mile 8.5



And here, at mile 11, is the view I usually see of this cemetery.



At about mile 12, I took an extra walk break, about 6 minutes, and took some time to read my email, and appreciate this gorgeous sunset. I wish I had my better camera!


I was glad to get back to my car. It was not an easy run, but parts of it felt easy. It was only during the middle miles that it felt as difficult as I had been thinking about it in my head. And that was only a small portion of the total run.