Motivation & the Good Run

This evening was a good run. I ran a full 50 minutes, made it to the library and back. Last time I did this route it took an hour. I'm motivated to be stronger, faster than so far. For starters, I ran the hill. The hill is early in the run from my house. Last time I speed-walked the hill. I'm supposed to warm up easy for the first 10 minutes or so. I did run it "easy" but I still ran. I was already at the top of this hill by the time my timer beeped 15 minutes of running. This is good. I walked the prescried two mintues and was ready to run when the timer beeped again. By then I was on flat land and was able to elongate my stride. Nowhere today was I running slow enough to carry a conversation. And getting air into my lungs seemed more labored than I had anticipated, but I kept at it.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day. No running. I have tomorrow off work so my plan is to run in the morning and rest for the rest of the day. Saturday is the team run. It's only 90 minutes this week (130 minutes last week). I don't want to be left behind anymore. I understand that by pushing myself I get stronger. I was happy to just be running before. But after two team runs that left me feeling less than stellar I see it is important to push myself when I am not with the team as much as I push myself when I am with the team. The work needs to be done behind the scenes if I am going to be able to step up to the plate with the confidence I felt going into this. As much as working my body, I've got a mind game to work out too.

I had no idea what I was getting into. And still, I'm glad to be here.