Long Distance Training Run- 6 miles

I had 6 miles scheduled for Saturday this weekend, but I spent the majority of the day cleaning the house. It looks beyond fantastic, but it left very little energy for a run by the time Patrick got home from work. 

Thankfully there are two days in the weekend and thankfully I had the opportunity to switch my long run to Sunday. 

The original plan was for Isabel and I to run about 1.5 miles together (she does have a 5K coming up on Thanksgiving after all..). This would take us to the soccer fields where my niece had a game. After the game I would finish the rest of the 6 miles while my mom watched her for me at my house. 

Due to the rains on Friday/Saturday, the game was cancelled and my plans changed slightly. Instead, my mom came over around 10am so I could do the 6 miles alone. 

Unfortunately I didn't do things correctly. I had fueled at breakfast thinking we'd start our run at 9am. I had whole wheat toast, crunchy peanut butter and honey. It was delicious, but I ate it too early since my run didn't start until 10. I didn't eat anything in between. 

I also started out way too fast. For whatever reason my first mile was a lot faster than normal and I felt good. So I started playing the numbers game in my head and felt the need to push myself further, faster. My comfort pace is around a 12:30 minute mile. Mile one was 11:56. So I kept pushing, thinking it was good to get out of my comfort zone, which it is, but not a week after a half, a week before a 20 mile run, two weeks before another half and on a long distance run. A 2-3 mile weekday run, sure! In fact I should be doing this, but my mind told me to go, so I went.. 

Mile 1- 11:56

Mile 2- 11:13

Mile 3- 11:30

Mile 4- 12:38

Mile 5- 14:57

Mile 6- x

Total distance- 5.30

Total time- 1:07:10

Avg pace- 12:41

As you can see, something happened at mile 4.

I've had training and race day runs where my mind tells my body to slow down or stop. But that's usually when my mind is tired or weak, not my body. Yesterday my mind wanted to keep going and keep going fast, but my body had to convince my mind to stop. Elevated heart rate plus dizzyness is not a good combination when out for a run alone, so I made the decision to cut my run short and up walk the rest of the way. I went out way too fast and would rather stop short of my goal than risk an injury two weeks out from race number 12.

Normally this would have been cause for me to mentally beat myself up. "I'm not good enough." "I'm not fast enough." "I'm not strong enough." "I'm not a real runner." Etc.. 

That's not what happened though. Instead I simply told myself that I did the right thing and that I was proud of myself for listening to my body. I didn't feel weak or slow or like I wasn't a runner. In fact, I felt like more of a runner. Everyone has off days. Yesterday was my off day. I pushed hard for 3 strong miles and that's a good baseline to improve on speed. But for now, distance is my focus and I need to stay in the comfort zone of speed while I push past my comfort zone on mileage.