Well, this looks a little different from my usual running route, right?
I was in NJ this weekend for my high school friend Marisa’s baby shower, so I ran in NJ.
I’m so excited for her! She’s due in May, but I chose to hear she’s due on Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Baby?
I ended up sleeping for 12 hours on Friday night, so a run pre-shower didn’t happen, and the shower went long, so a run afterwards didn’t happen. I was kind of bummed at myself, but it was what it was.
I woke up this morning and, quite honestly, had no desire to run. 15 miles? I was tired, my bed was wonderful, I didn’t want to run alone, running in NJ is more boring than running in NYC.
[Side note on suburban running? Or at least suburban Bergen County running? Cars will literally drive over the yellow line to avoid coming anywhere near you…which, you know, probably creates its own problems.]
I woke up and did sunflower butter on an English muffin with a banana, puttered around some more, and finally got going around 10 or 10:30.
I still wasn’t feeling it, so I popped in one headphone and got going. I rarely run with headphones, so I reserve headphones for when I really need them: when I’m not feeling motivated or when spending hours with my own thoughts is the last thing on earth I want to do. Today? Both.
I know how negative self-talk can really sabotage a run, so I tried early on to reframe my thoughts. THIS IS GREAT! YOU’RE HAVING FUN! WHAT A GREAT RUN! I didn’t get pissed at myself (which sometimes happens when I try to talk myself happy during a run), but I didn’t totally turn things around either, though it did help a bit. I stopped to take a Gu at mile 6, and hoped and prayed that the run would get better.
It had gone from just not being into it mentally to my body not cooperating either. Upset stomach, fatigued legs, tight chest. DEAR GU, PLEASE DO YOUR MAGIC.
Spoiler alert: they forgot to sprinkle the magic in the Gu, and the run never got better.
Around mile 7 I stopped at Dunkin’ to use the bathroom and saw this ice cream truck. It looks delicious now, but at the time, it made my stomach turn even more to think about digesting dairy.
Somewhere around mile 8, I realized how depleted I felt and that I didn’t want to run myself down any further so close to my goal race, and I made the decision to end at 9 miles and call it a day. My mom met me at Starbucks (yay suburban running?) and gave me a ride home. I felt a little weak as I got in the car, so I know I made the right decision as frustrating as it was.
I emailed Jess basically the second I stopped to tell her how (poorly) the run had gone. She reminded me to eat healthy, stretch, recover and take it easy this week and “shake it off.” I stopped for a soy latte and tried to let it go. Tomorrow is a new day, and I have 5 more days to rest and get this bad run behind me.
Bad run, great race?
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Happened to me yesterday, but I gave up at mile 2.5! Trying again tomorrow...
@Clare @ Fitting It All In: you got it tomorrow, girl!!
To answer your question, YES! I truly think next Saturday is going to be a good run.
@Jess: I refuse to believe otherwise :)
This is your body telling that it wants rest. You want your body to crave and scream a run by Saturday!!
I had a bad run today too. It was actually a race.....I neglected to look at the elevation graph because I live in a super flat area and there are never any hills, but somehow this race was ridiculous! And it was 10.4 k instead of 10k. And now I'm laying in bed with a seriously upset stomach. Better luck next time, right?
I had a really crappy run Saturday that sucked up all of my confidence. I ended up cutting it short as well. I was pissed about it for a few hours but then juust let it go, knowing that bad runs are part of the process
Hi. I just started reading and I did a 20K race in NJ today, Middlesex County so much further south than where you were, but it was all in a park so it was wonderful not having to deal with Jersey drivers. They are, in fact, a problem. They either go all out to avoid you or see you are about to cross a road and then speed up. I moved here recently from Colorado and the first thing I noticed was the drivers and worried about the possibility of running/biking around here. Some long run days are just not meant to happen. Shake it off and you will be fine.
Ugh I hate having a bad run so close to a goal race. But you have the week to recover and some times the best that you can do is listen to your body it is often telling us what we need. Rest up!
What is it that they say...bad dress rehearsal, stellar opening night? Something like that :)
@Meggie: That's exactly what they say! I've been a dancer for over 20 years and I seriously would breathe sighs of relief if the dress rehearsal went badly!
Way to keep going through 9 miles! You will totally be ready for your race, and if you can struggle through 9 on a bad day, you'll be able to push those last 2 or 3 on race day!
Just found your blog, 50 pounds is AWESOME, nice work! Crappy run, I usually have about one a week but I just keep pushing!