Monday, July 23, 2012

Monday Morning, Back on Track

My plan today was to run 3.5, and that's what I did.  I also used Run Keeper for the first time, which was kind of fun for me.  I had the audio turned on so every half mile or so the voice told me how far I had been and my pace.  I have never paid attention to my pace while I was running, as I don't have a GPS watch yet (but I did back bia on kickstarter, so I'm getting one in April hopefully!) but I had a full phone charge so I figured I'd give it a go.  In the beginning my pace was 10 minutes and 5 seconds per mile, in the middle I slowed to 10 minutes 10 seconds, even as I tried to up my pace.  The air was thick with humidity, and I only had shade for half the run, so between that and the up hill on the way out, I was not surprised.  The way back, I knew it was down hill, but the shade was completely gone and I really had to push myself back home.  I ended up hitting a bit of a wall about a mile away and went to my tried and true push, I started counting.  I usually count 1-100 on my left foot, "and" on my right.  1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and so on...then when I get to 100, I count down the same way.  Sometimes in the middle I count with more steps to 'trick' myself: thirty and one and thirty and two and  thirty and three and.... kind of a 4 for 1 with the steps.  I was still feeling the drag after I got back to 1 so I started counting by twos.  I figured I could count by threes if it came to it, and practice my mad math skills, but at some point on the way back down I forgot I was counting and I was through the push.  I concentrated on my form and my foot turn over the last quarter mile or so and as I got back to my driveway, I heard that my average pace was 9 minutes 59 seconds.  Yes!  It might not be a 9 minute mile, but the nine is in the front (barely, but still!) and hearing my pace along the way prodded me to not give up and walk a bit when the going got tough.  I'm going to make sure my phone is charged the next few times I go out.  It was just the push I needed to get me through the hard part of my work out.

I'm also back on track food wise.  I have put on a few pounds this summer, and although I'm fine where I am, I know that it's a slippery slope to be back another 15 lbs heavier.  I know 15 is not a lot, for some people, but it makes such  huge difference in how I feel in my clothes, while I'm running, everything I do, I feel so much better closer to the bottom of my weight range than towards the top.  I've used myfitnesspal since January, and it really helps me make better food choices.

Those are my ramblings on my run today.  I'm glad to be back on track and actually following the plan hanging on my fridge :)

Today: 3.5
This week 3.5
July: 51.7

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