14 mile long run (14.58) in 2:20:20 (9:38 / mile)
A crutch fails:
I had yet another crutch fail on me for part of my run: My Garmin Forerunner 305 lost signal in a low-lying area in the dense fog this morning. It was less than 2 miles into my planned 14 mile long run, and I actually considered ditching the run because of my GPS.
Of course, I didn’t. Instead, I let the watch continue to run, assuming that I was just going to have to assume 10 minutes per mile, and run the run that way. After about 1/2 mile of not having signal, I was back on one of my “normal” routes, and turned the GPS on and off, which enabled it to acquire GPS signal almost instantaneously. For the next few miles, my watch was showing 5-6 minutes more than a 10 minute/mile pace for that distance would require, so I had to “let go” of where I really was with my run and just run.
I’ve already been trying to avoid using the watch for feedback during my runs the last week or so, and this experience just reinforces my interest in letting go, at least for planned routes–I need a basic wristwatch/stopwatch instead.
Other crutches of mine:
- MP3 player (let go, at least for outdoors, due to having dead batteries in the middle of a run, and my wanting to run on more roads)
- shoes – probably a permanent crutch, but I may barefoot run on a treadmill for extremely short distances to stengthen the muscles causing my feet to be so picky
No excuses:
My summer of running last year was challenging, but some of my worst moments involved blowing up on midday runs in July and August. Wilting under excessive heat is one thing, but these meltdowns were on reasonably warm days. My problem? I had been doing either 6AM runs or running inside on the treadmill just because it was “too hot.” I’ve decided to tackle this problem head on by making an outdoor run for lunch time runs the primary option. I not necessarily going to run outside if the temperature is near 100 or storms are approaching, but Louisville is temperate enough to run at midday for at least half of the summer.
Other excuses:
- Kids (I take my son in the jogging stroller occasionally now, or run on the treadmill in the basement)
- Time (I dropped out most of what little gaming I did.