Monday, November 02, 2009
The "Bad Run Day"
Saturday's long run called for a backdown in mileage so the run should have been a piece of cake. I was wearing my favorite running gear (the shorts that guarantee "no chafing"). I felt good, energized. It was a cool, breezy day, birds chirping in trees and such. I anticipated a great run. And then, for no reason at all, I had a "bad run" day.
Ask any runner. We understand that sometimes this happens. Scheduled for a backdown run of nine miles, this should have been so easy. I started out happy as can be, and for the first mile, I think I was even smiling. Then, the run turned into a slow, agonized lope. This happened gradually. First, I had to stop and walk for a minute after three miles. THREE miles! I thought: Well, now that you've walked for a minute, you won't need to do that again. Wrong! At mile four, I took another minute break. At mile four and a half, I walked again. At that point, I altered the route knowing that for whatever reason, there was no way I was going to make it the full nine miles. I rounded the corner to my house at 5.25 miles. Disappointed.
While I showered, I analyzed why this happened. Not enough fuel? The dry wind? Just plain burned out? Who knows. Perhaps there is no real reason except that I had a "bad run day." It happens. It has happened before and I'm sure it will happen again some day. The good thing is, at least I got out there and did what I could.
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