Holy Monday Night.

Bad runs. Awful runs. That has been the story for a week or so. And I have the Kalamazoo 1/2 this weekend and I was nervous. I tried to run 10 on Sunday night and made it less than 3. Instead of getting too down on myself I just decided I'd try again on Monday. I've been reading Kara Goucher's Running for Women and I have enjoyed it so far. As she advises in the book, I said to myself out loud on the way to the gym, "Tonight I will run 30 min and see how I feel." (Knowing I'd try for more if I could). Saying this out loud made it more real and not just an idea in my head. I like that. Other things I should say at times: "Tonight I will run for 20 minutes only." "Today I will get out and have a fun run." Declaring what I intend to do seems motivating for me.

So, I made it 30 minutes and kept going. Here are my stats for the first 5:

Time: 55:01
Pace: 10:59
Calories: 656

The first 5 miles were not easy. It always seems mile 3-5 are killer for me, but I powered through, then got off the treadmill, went to the bathroom, ate a Gu gel, had some water and got back on . . .

My second 5 miles were easier than the first. I was listening to some old school Fall Out Boy which I haven't heard in a long time and it totally carried me through the first 3 miles.  After that I watched the Lakers game. I love basketball games when I run at the gym. I've kind of become a Lakers fan since their games are on late when I'm at the gym. The last 2 miles were a bit more challenging, and for the last 1/2 mile I was saying the word "fight" to myself (maybe even audibly, I'm not sure).

Second 5:

Time: 53:33
Pace: 10:42/mile
Calories: 654

So, I ran the second 5 faster than the first, but the coolest part was looking back at the 10 miles I did before the NYC 1/2. I ran the first 5 with a 11:04 pace and the second 5 with a 11:25 pace. I ran last night's 10 faster which makes me SUPER happy. I ended up running NYC in 2:15 and I don't want to get my hopes up, but maybe Kalamazoo will be faster. Although I know a bunch of things could possibly get in the way on race day: rest, weather, hydration, heat, stress, etc.

Lesson learned: running 10 miles from 9-11pm at night makes getting to work on time the next day close to impossible. I was 40 min late today. I am sort of feigning an illness, when really I just have a running "hangover." Waaaaaaay better than a real hangover (or a real illness).