Excuse me while I wax philosophical for a moment…
Some days, it seems that you just can’t get started – nothing seems to go right from the moment you wake up. This was one of those days for me. But you know what?
It doesn’t matter.
When things go wrong, it is a challenge. An opportunity. A chance to figure out a way to overcome whatever the hell is going on and learn from the experience. That is how I am going to view these days – I started this morning and I feel much better.
When I first started training for half marathons, I did all of my training on a deserted metropark trail. I got all the miles I needed, but I never had any external challenges to overcome. That lack showed up at the Santa Hustle, Cap City, & Columbus. Since I never had to work my way through a crowd in training, I had to relearn how to do so in the race. Not so good Dr. Jones!
I embraced my fear this morning – I grabbed the Espresso Love GU for my pre-workout gel. Coffee seems to be such a difficult flavor for companies. So many of them get it all wrong and the product tastes horrible. I’m glad to say that GU got it right with Espresso Love! The gel has a smoky flavor, with just a hint of espresso-esque bitterness behind it (I feel like an energy gel sommelier talking like this). Not as much pure awesome as Peanut Butter, but I won’t turn an Espresso Love away, either!
Today’s workout: 6 miles, easy pace (8:00/mi)
Since I had an early appointment this morning, I wasn’t prepared to waste time. So I decided to largely ignore the pacing instructions for today’s run and go as fast as was comfortable. Getting done a little faster would ease the time crunch to get to the appointment. Solid logic, right?
To do so, I just ignored both the Garmin and the clocks at the YMCA. I think I only checked my pace on the Garmin three or four times total in what I stretched out to a quarter marathon run. As it turns out, the comfortable pace I settled into was just under 7:30/mi – the pace I have been practicing. Surprising to exactly no one, I’m sure.
So, plenty of both ups and downs for today. But I feel better trying to appreciate both of them for what they can give instead of grousing about the latter.
