Giving in

I started my run in the wrong mindset. I had tired legs during the week and immediately “knew” that I was going to suffer during my 16 mile trek. It could have been those pre-run thoughts, the 90°F weather or my body, but I didn’t make it the whole way running. Around mile 9 I really started thinking about why I torture myself. I kept telling myself that if I get out of the Reserva things will start looking up as it means I’m headed home. The mental battle that ensued for the next hour was a tough one. I even had a young boy yell at me, “Más rápido! Vamos despacita!” If I had the energy, I would have turned around and screamed at him but he got lucky. I got to the unpredictable bridge to find cars were turning their engines on to cross again. I made the decision to not wait and just ran. The navy guys stared at me and didn’t say a word as I crossed and continued on my way. As I was struggling, I convinced myself to run for 2 hours and 40 mins, which would have been 16 miles at a 10 min/mile pace. As I was running slower, I think I only got to about 15 before I walked 4 blocks and then made myself go again. Although I finished I still feel like I gave in as I had to stop and wasn’t happy with myself afterwards. I’m going to have to rethink things before next week.

Halfway mark

As of today, I have run half of the total mileage I will run after I finish the marathon. I’m gone 204 miles in just over 33 hours. It’s crazy to think that the race is in 6 and a half weeks and I’m going to get another 200+ miles in that amount of time. I think scary is a better word. This event was also marked by the return of Running Club as Laura is back from England. We did our separate paths as she had an extra mile, but it was nice to have the high fives and a smiling face to see as we ran around the port.

Pacesetter

I headed to the Bosques de Palermo in a roundabout way to get a bit more mileage in before doing my 2 laps. I had 8 on the schedule and was surprised by the amount of people there. On my first lap, I managed to find a guy that was running just a little quicker than me. So I passed him and then was determined to not let him pass me. I kept him on my heels, but it gave me that extra push to make myself go faster. At times I thought he was going to pass me, but I prevailed and got my 2 laps in while keeping him behind me. I was tempted to ask him when he was going to run again so we could do a repeat. Not sure if he was happy with his run, but it worked well for me.

Goose bumps

The other day Laura and I were discussing what our thoughts are while running. I explained that I try to focus on anything other than running to distract me from what I’m doing. She, on the other hand, thinks only about running trying to push herself faster and the ultimate goal of crossing that finish line. I decided to try that on my 5 miler and ended up with goose bumps, but not from the cold. Just thinking about crossing the line and the feeling of knowing what I was going to accomplish was incredible. I can only imagine what it will be like to actual do it.

Detour

I strapped on my CamelBak, taped on my gel pack and was ready to start on my 15 miles. I had decided to go for 15 instead of the 16 on my schedule as it has that for 2 weeks back-to-back. I figured I would continue to build gradually instead of another 2 mile jump last week. I went down to the Costanera Sur again and was making what I felt was great time. I was upbeat and thought that I was on track to possibly run a sub 10 min/mile. I made it to the final bridge crossing to see that all the traffic was stopped. The bridge was just leaving and I thought about running across anyway, but decided against it. I turned around and went to the next bridge and was rethinking my pathway. I decided to finish up Cordoba and would go until 2 hrs 30 mins and would assess the damage later. I was quite thrilled when I mapped out my new course and realized that I did get my 15 in although I think I could have run faster if I hadn’t been stopped and had to turn around.

Rejuvenated

As I hadn’t gotten in a full run since Saturday and got a normal amount of sleep, I was rejuvenated for the 7 miles that was ahead of me. I had mapped a weird plan as I was trying to avoid looping around the lakes various times. Redundancy causes me to think too much, which can cause problems. Yet for these “short” runs I just keep in mind that it’s nothing compared to the real long ones. I finished in a time that pleased me so it made me appreciate my day off even more.

Cold & Wet

After studying for 7 straight hours, commuting to and from and taking the CLEP test, I was exhausted. I fiddled with the idea getting out and doing my 7 miles, but the rain and coldness was very discouraging and added to my desire to curl up and do nothing. After a little thought (it didn't take that long), I decided to take the day off and just do nothing. I think a day of rest is deserved every now and then.