The Most Brutal Run

I did one of the hardest runs the other day. I can't say it was the hardest run of all time because I'm pretty sure that's reserved for the days when I couldn't run without gasping for air, but it was brutal! Why? Well, I'm so glad you asked! :)

I've been given my weekly runs by my coach and one day a week I run intervals. I do a warm up run, intervals, and then my cool down. Now, when I hear warm up or cool down, I usually would think 5-7 min. But, no! I'm supposed to run 6 miles that day, my intervals total a mile, so I run 2 1/2 miles, do the intervals, then another 2 1/2 miles! And, no, I am not kidding.

The whole reason I needed a coach in the first place is that I couldn't seem to make myself do intervals. I would tell myself, most severely, that I needed to do them. I would list all the benefits, like increased speed, it boosts calorie burn, it'll increase my cardiovascular fitness, but to no avail. I just could not make myself run them. Well, now I know why. They are HARD! They make it hard to breathe, take lots of energy and make me really, really tired! But somehow, when my coach (who lives in Iowa by the way) tells me to do intervals I do them. And so, I configured my gps watch for 200 meter intervals with 1 minute rests between, ran an easy pace for 2 1/2 miles and did my intervals. I can't tell you how tempted I was to quit, but I could hear my coach's voice in my head telling me not to rest more than a minute between, to start slower and end faster and all kinds of things. He never lets me get away with anything...or at least I imagine that he doesn't. I imagined myself writing my email to my running team and their disappointment as they read that I'd wimped out on my run. I rested after my intervals and even talked myself into running the next 2 1/2 miles, continuously talked myself into it. I told myself that I really should finish, each and every time I was tempted to quit, because I was building brain stamina. You know, the ability to keep going when you're tired and want to just walk home. I figured it would be wise to run the opposite direction of my house so that I wouldn't turn onto my sidewalk and quit early. I reminded myself that when you run a marathon everyone says you hit a wall and that I needed to learn how to keep going once I've hit walls. And, I just kept talking myself through my run. I let myself run slow, downhill and the easiest course I could find that was away from the house. Wouldn't you know it, I did it! I finished. I imagined how proud Coach and my team would be of me when they found out that I'd worked so hard. But even more importantly, I was really proud of myself!