I may have mentioned this before, like all other runners, about how much running is so mental. This week was not the most pleasant training week for a number of reasons.
First off, I am completely stressed out and have been trying to use yoga and running to "ease" the stress if that is at all possible (my stress has been significantly reduced due to a most recent event yesterday, which I will share when some things are confirmed). Secondly, my shorter runs have been terrible. When I started training for this marathon, I wanted work on the speed of my runs, but this week just didn't cut it. Finally, I keep having flashbacks of my 14 mile (my distance this weekend) run in January: horrible knee pain, frigid weather, and a lack of drive.
With this unmanageable stress, terrible runs and a mental mosaic of flashbacks, how was it going to be possible to stay positive about my 14 mile run on Saturday? In preparation I tried to eliminate all the bad feelings and think positively. It seemed impossible and pretty much was. I just decided to accept that this run was going to be a bad one.
And guess what? IT WAS! I mentally blocked myself from having a good run. I made it impossible. Of course, I don't realize any of this until I have finished and was thinking about why it was so terrible. It was hot and I didn't hydrate well enough the day before. That's all. There weren't bad omens out to get me. I did it to myself.
Now let me clarify. It was not near as bad as my run in January. I love running in Overland Park in the mornings because of the wonderful shade that it provides, so I really can't complain about the heat. Maybe when I run 14 miles again, I won't psych myself out.
The 8 miles this weekend won't be too bad, even though I have to do it by myself before I head out for a wonderful bachlorette weekend with my girlfriends at the lake. And I know 16 miles the following weekend will be great, because my last 16 was strong (well, actually I don't remember specifically, but only 14 shines out as terrible in my memory thankfully).
Sometimes I think I am a mental basket case. At least we have surpassed the unlucky number of 14.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Day Before Vacation
It being the day before my vacation is actually irrelevant to anything that I did today. I have two profound subjects to cover here: water & shoes.
First: Water
It's 97 degrees today in Kansas City. Its too hot for a raccoon to be found in the Johnson County water supply this morning and cause the county to be on Boil Alert. Today I learned what a Boil Alert was: a pain. Convenient that my "landlords" left town and forgot to leave bottled water for unexpected contamination problems. I also learned today that you don't drink distilled water, only purified. Thank you to the lady at Target. I should have known when there were only two gallons of purified left next to shelves of distilled.
Are these two gallons of water going to get me through the rest of the evening, a yoga class, a ten mile run tomorrow, and through 5pm when conveniently the Boil Alert is over and my flight leaves? I sure hope so. I have learned a lot about water today and my pre-vacation brain might be overloaded if I find out other hidden facts about the one component of my nutrition that I now see I take for granted.
Second: Shoes
Note: Please just agree that the man at Gary Gribbles was laughing with me today.
This shoe predicament all started on a run with my friend Brent on Tuesday. I have known that it was about time to retire my mildewy marathon shoes from LA. I have ran over 200 miles in them, so there is some attachment issues I have been working on. Brent basically told me I needed new shoes; he clearly didn't want to go on another run of me complaining.
I had some time to kill on Wednesday, so I headed over to Gary Gribbles hoping that seeing all the shoes would inspire me to try some new shoes. No it just overloaded my head with confusion. I am not adverse to change. And really there is no reason for change considering I could have just got the same shoes (Brooks Ghost 3). I am, though, "cautiously adventurous." In other words: I want to be adventurous, but this is a difficult task and takes many hours of over analyzing and evaluation. And this is exactly what Shoes #1 brought.
Shoes #1:
These shoes even got a photo shoot in the "product photo booth" at work, but they just didn't make the cut. After I tested them out on the treadmill for 3 miles, I went through an extremely annoying war with myself. That run was very unpleasant for the mere fact I was trying to find something wrong with them. Here is what was wrong with them:
- They didn't make running easier
- They didn't help me run faster
- They didn't provide a sudden burst of energy to do more than 3 miles
So basically nothing was wrong with them. Basically it was operator mental error.
So back to Gary Gribbles I went. Really this was more of a mental journey (my Gary Gribbles life saver asked me how long I sat in my car contemplating if I should come in or not; he hit my personally type right on). I wanted to know if someone could figure out why I was having such a problem deciding on shoes. I am sure that dealing with customers like me is not in their training, but this man was well-trained in the art of dealing with "mentally unstable shoe buyers." He listened intently to my problem (well me just going around and around with why I don't know if I can change shoes) and my jokes about the timeliness of the patriotic color (I couldn't have him believing I was a total nut-job). And, then he somehow made the decision I should try on the Brooks again, while making me think this was all my decision (all men should take note on this).
Two choices now. Two feet. Ghost 3 or Ghost 4?
Just like a car: a new version.
The quick jog around Gribbles (with my work dress bouncing about) helped me make the decision.
So here is Shoe #2
Small change was better than large change. I opted for the newer version, which I am still thinking I need to try these babies out on the treadmill before I make any big decisions (like running 10 miles outside in them tomorrow). So I might test these out on a short scenic mile on the treadmill later tonight.
And the best part: these were cheaper so I was talked into buying some new fuel. I mean the impression of "unable to make change" must have not been that bad if he was trying to convince me to "try" a new fuel.
First: Water
It's 97 degrees today in Kansas City. Its too hot for a raccoon to be found in the Johnson County water supply this morning and cause the county to be on Boil Alert. Today I learned what a Boil Alert was: a pain. Convenient that my "landlords" left town and forgot to leave bottled water for unexpected contamination problems. I also learned today that you don't drink distilled water, only purified. Thank you to the lady at Target. I should have known when there were only two gallons of purified left next to shelves of distilled.
Second: Shoes
Note: Please just agree that the man at Gary Gribbles was laughing with me today.
This shoe predicament all started on a run with my friend Brent on Tuesday. I have known that it was about time to retire my mildewy marathon shoes from LA. I have ran over 200 miles in them, so there is some attachment issues I have been working on. Brent basically told me I needed new shoes; he clearly didn't want to go on another run of me complaining.
I had some time to kill on Wednesday, so I headed over to Gary Gribbles hoping that seeing all the shoes would inspire me to try some new shoes. No it just overloaded my head with confusion. I am not adverse to change. And really there is no reason for change considering I could have just got the same shoes (Brooks Ghost 3). I am, though, "cautiously adventurous." In other words: I want to be adventurous, but this is a difficult task and takes many hours of over analyzing and evaluation. And this is exactly what Shoes #1 brought.
Shoes #1:
 |
| Asics Gel-Cumulus 13 |
- They didn't make running easier
- They didn't help me run faster
- They didn't provide a sudden burst of energy to do more than 3 miles
So basically nothing was wrong with them. Basically it was operator mental error.
So back to Gary Gribbles I went. Really this was more of a mental journey (my Gary Gribbles life saver asked me how long I sat in my car contemplating if I should come in or not; he hit my personally type right on). I wanted to know if someone could figure out why I was having such a problem deciding on shoes. I am sure that dealing with customers like me is not in their training, but this man was well-trained in the art of dealing with "mentally unstable shoe buyers." He listened intently to my problem (well me just going around and around with why I don't know if I can change shoes) and my jokes about the timeliness of the patriotic color (I couldn't have him believing I was a total nut-job). And, then he somehow made the decision I should try on the Brooks again, while making me think this was all my decision (all men should take note on this).
Two choices now. Two feet. Ghost 3 or Ghost 4?
Just like a car: a new version.
The quick jog around Gribbles (with my work dress bouncing about) helped me make the decision.
So here is Shoe #2
 |
| Brooks Ghost 4 |
And the best part: these were cheaper so I was talked into buying some new fuel. I mean the impression of "unable to make change" must have not been that bad if he was trying to convince me to "try" a new fuel.
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